Photo Exhibition

The exhibition
"Sudan: Waiting for the future" is a poignant collection of over 100 photographs at the Powerhouse, Brisbane, Australia April 2006. They show the strength and resilience of the human spirit. In 2004, three photojournalists lived in Kakuma refugee camp in the North Kenyan desert, where 60 000 Sudanese people sought refuge. They risked their lives (one even had to officially join the rebel party to access rebel controlled land) to capture rare scenes of beauty amidst adversity.

Occupational reflections
As an OT, I reflected on the daily occupations I glimpsed. Food drops. Distribution huts. Ration cards. Tribal court systems. Mud brick making. Huts reinforced with flattened cardboard porridge boxes. Children making toys out of rubbish. . . then I reflected on the challenge of settlement.

The cultural orientation program they get to settle in the US included ADLs such as managing door handles, flush toilets and taps. But given the enormous disparity between the skills, occupations necessary to survive and thrive in a refugee camp vs settlement - I wonder if OTs should be more involved in the more complex IADLs that can't be taught in a simple orientation crash course?

Out of the mouth of a photojournalist. . .
Matthew Albert desribed the people he photograhed in such a way that should resonate with occupational therapists: "people from the long line of refugees who regect the "refugee" label and its connotations. They are a people who build a castle form the rubble. . . These refugees are not recipients. They, like us, are participants."

Now the challenge to occupational therapists is to enable participation in a new world. To enable occupational opportunities that allow refugees to self heal and build (rather than wait) for a future.  - Clarissa Wilson

More infomation

Sudenese Online Research Association (SORA)