Building a future for occupational therapy in Tanzania
In July 2007, Caragh Filose started a two-year placement at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College (KCMC) in Moshi, Tanzania. Caragh had more than 30 years’ experience as an occupational therapist, treating patients in the UK and USA. She had also spent six months living and working in India and a year in Holland, giving her valuable experience of working with people from a different cultural background.
KCMC is a referral hospital for approximately 10 million people in Northern Tanzania. It is the country’s second largest training centre for medical, nursing, allied health professional and chaplaincy students. KCMC Hospital is a huge complex with 500 in-patients (in 450 official beds), 800 students and 1,400 staff and 1,000 visitors and companions daily.
Skillshare International has been supporting KCMC to train occupational therapists since 1998 by placing qualified and experienced OTs as teaching staff. We have also provided teaching resources and materials for the OT school and supported the college to develop its curriculum.
In November 2007 one of Caragh’s second year students, Dawson Muntara, told us about the skills he has developed and why he wants to be an occupational therapist.
“In Tanzania there is a big problem for children with disabilities. They are locked inside and not taken to school. I want to educate their families and raise awareness in the community so that they can have a normal development. If a child has OT she or he can grow normally. OT is a resource for intellectual and physical growth.
It’s been fantastic having Caragh here because she’s experienced and we understand her. She teaches well and uses good methods that we can follow so we understand more. We’ve learnt how to assess children with abnormal development by using play because that is their means of productivity. We’ve learnt about the context of OT at the family and community level and how to use locally available resources because we can’t use modern equipment as it isn’t available in the community. In Tanzania, most people still don’t know about OT. When I’m qualified I’m going to help children with cerebral palsy and mental health problems. I want to work in community based rehabilitation centres to find children with disabilities. I’ll find where they are hidden and help them.”