Pre-departure

Hello to all,

J’ai decidé de que je vais écrire ce blog en anglais puisque:
- c’est la langue dite universelle
- mon environnement au Sénégal va être en français (pour garder le côté anglais de mon cerveau vivant)

So this is my first blog entry for my Senegal trip. As I’ve probably already informed you, I’ll be giving my updates to family, friends and the world at large through this medium. I won’t be emailing individually. However, I would love you people to email me/stay in contact + ask any questions if I’ve failed to provide sufficient information. Lets hope its as good as the Asia one I did ;) http://melissa-in-asia.blogspot.com

The departure for my big adventure is September 1 at 8 pm. I ended my employment with TMOT in Ottawa at the end of July. Ending my life in Ottawa was bittersweet as I loved it; but now I’m moving on to bigger and better things? We’ll see! I spent the month of August in Montreal with Philippe. For two and a half weeks, I participated in the pre-departure orientation provided by my host organisation, Montmorency International. We covered a variety of pertinent topics (learning Wolof, rehab efforts in Senegal, meet past internshippers, intercultural efficiency, pediatrics in international context, discussions on international development) + did all the tedious but necessary administrative stuff (plane ticket, expenses budget, visa, insurance, yada yada yada).

I had this week off to prepare for my trip. Conveniently, Phil is on vacation too. I have come to reconfirm for the Nth time in my life that vacation suits me better than work. I’ve been enjoying Phil, Montreal, North Hatley and my family. I feel I have gained weight (or lost tone) since Ottawa as I no longer play sports 3-4 times a week and I’ve been treating myself to all the things I love and won’t be able to eat while I’m away + going out with friends. Poutine, sushi, cheese, salads, mmmm. Last week, Phil and I did an ice cream blitz – ice cream every day for seven consecutive days! Wow! A gang of us went camping in the Adirondacks on the weekend.

This week, I cut my long hair very short for two reasons:
- I might have to wash my hair in a bucket so the shorter it is, the better!
- long hair is heavy and HOT
While I was at it, I figured I’d combine the task with an altruistic act: I donated my hair to the cancer society for wig making. So, the hair-dresser had to cut the back part off pretty short. Stylish or not, I love my new haircut. I feel so FREE! The photo to the left is not the most becoming of me, but it was taken right after the haircut (while my crazy wavy poofy hair was still under control).

Why am I going away?

“One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.”

Andre Gide

I am going for both personal and professional reasons. On the personal side, I love travelling and more specifically, discovering different cultures (and cuisine!). I think travelling is like a drug; the more you do it, the more you need it. – sorry Phil, I know that’s the last thing you want to hear from me –

Professionally, I can’t think of any other sort of Occupational Therapy (OT) experience that would enable me to be so independent in my practice and be exposed to a variety of clinical populations. The sky is the limit as to how much I can learn in Senegal and the ball is in my court! I also can`t think of a better context in which my work efforts will have major repercussions as I`ll be working with a clientele in dire need. And did I mention I`ll be the only OT in the province of Casamance? I see this experience as being an opportunity to share with and learn from Africa. Sounds corny and romantic, but its true.

To find out what OT is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_therapy

If you would like more information on my internship, here is the official description:
http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/cpb/zonejeun.nsf/En/CHA-426133358-NLU

A bit about my expectations and objectives. This is the first time I’ll be working abroad. I’m sure I will run into a fair share of issues in my work. For the time being, my biggest concern has to do with the framework with which OT is based on (functional independence) and the culture I’ll be working with which is apparently collectivist and hierarchical. I could see there being some clashing in the perception of my work/interventions.

(Image to the right: Gaspardo)

My biggest fear is that I’ll be so far removed from my professional culture that I won’t be the best OT I can be anymore. How terrible would that be??? I’ll be giving my 110% to be the best OT I can be! I’m currently debating bringing old Willard with me to ground myself in times of professional confusion. (Willard and Spackman is an OT textbook which is like a bible since it is covers everything – but nothing in depth). The problem is it is big and heavy. TBD.

I’m purposefully trying not to come up with too many expectations because a good lesson I’ve learned in life is that high expectations in combination with uncontrollable variables is a nice formula for disappointment. My plan right now is to keep an open mind and be as resourceful as possible.