OPT for Refugees

ELEVATOR PITCH 1

Who is in Need: Refugees from Syria, Myanmar, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Somalia. Also, WHO, WFOT, and UNHCR Who is Not in Need: Those who have OT’s and PT’s readily available. Those who are in 1 st World Countries from 1 st world countries. This need is not for each refugee, but it is a What the Need is : Occupational and Physical Therapy for Refugees What the Need is Not: This need is not the need for medical doctors, or public health. These are met by WHO and UNHCR.   This need is not Why the Need Exists: War, Displacement, Injury, Poor Health Conditions, Trauma. Alternative Explanations: Injuries after displacement. Injuries from traveling. Injuries from abuse. Injuries from old age. Injuries from exposure to the elements. Interview 1:   For this interview I spoke to an individual from UNHCR on the phone and he said that it is WHO’s job to work with organizations such as...

1. I believe that there is an opportunity in refugee camps for occupational and physical therapists to rehabilitate individuals to cope with their circumstances and become more independent. 2. WHO: Refugees from Syria, Myanmar, Somalia, or elsewhere. WHAT: Many may suffer from wounds from war, ptsd from witnessing trauma and death, and they may struggle from living in impoverished refugee camps. Volunteer workers usually only go in, provide some aid, and get out. This kind of help usually only has short term effects. Individuals may have difficulty living their new daily lives due to complications from their situation. WHY: Modern warfare destroys entire communities, rips apart families, displaces people, and causes both physical and mental pain to communities. 3. Testing the WHO: Not everybody in refugee camps need urgent responsive care. I am sure some people in refugee camps are able bodied and work to help each other. On the other hand I do know that there are ...

Selected Opportunity: The selected opportunity I have chosen to focus on for the remainder of this class has to do with refugees or those in crisis around the world due to war or genocide. Currently the largest population of refugees come from Syria however there are also refugees from Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar, and Somalia that have been displaced and are most likely impoverished. The word “opportunity” in the context of refugees may not fit perfectly. There is however a large need for medical providers and rehabilitation services within refugee camps across the world. The United Nations’ UNHCR division primarily deals with these kinds of crises. They are majorly concerned with organizing refugees camps, accounting for individuals, providing emergency medical aid, and assisting with the transition to a new place. The UN also works with outside organizations to provide aid. Solution: I would be starting an NGO that works alongside UNHCR and WHO. I do not mean to stand i...

Economic Trends 1. A) https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-04-03/millennials-moving-to-suburbs-will-change-economic-development B) The information presented in this article leads me to believe that there is an opportunity to create new types of urban communities for millennials to live in. I personally have noticed more and more apartments going up all around the places I’ve been in Florida and I believe that there could be an opportunity for small local businesses to be integrated into these new apartment buildings or around them to create a better environment for kids. I also believe that there will most likely be either a real estate boom or another crash as millennials are getting ready to start families and mortgages. The next wave of developers could also create suburban neighborhoods that include commercial real estate within the suburb itself instead of creating rows and rows of cookie cutter homes further away from the already established cities and towns. C) The cu...

Be Prepared for the Next Hurricane https://www.gainesville.com/opinion/20180912/editorial-be-prepared-for-next-hurricane This article is about preparing for the next hurricane in Florida. It mentions issues we had last year with nursing homes in South Florida and problems with flooding and evacuation. The problem is with preparation for hurricanes specifically with the elderly population and those who live on the coast. There were issues with power outages and temperatures for those in nursing homes. Decline of Bees a Major Threat https://www.gainesville.com/opinion/20180907/editorial-decline-of-bees-major-threat Bees are the primary pollinator in Florida and pollinators in general are on the decline. It is mentioned that if bees declined past the point of no return that the state of Florida would lose out on 24 Billion dollars of agricultural revenue. The problem is that bee populations are declining due to insecticides and commercial and real estate developments. ...

I believe that there is an opportunity for a bubble tea business to flourish near campus. Bubble tea is very popular across the United States and the demand for this product from what I have seen has been growing over the past decade, especially among college students. This need is highest among the Asian student population however I know individuals of all ethnic backgrounds drink and enjoy bubble tea. At the moment, people who want bubble tea can choose from Tea Stori or Kung Fu Tea, both of which are about a ten minute car ride away from campus on south 34th street. I am about 70% sure that there lies an opportunity here to create a unique and cozy new bubble tea business. · Do you think there is a need for a boba tea place closer to UF? · Where do you get boba tea now and are you satisfied with it? · Do you crave boba tea ever and if so, how often? · Is Bento a satisfactory place for boba? · Do you have any ideas of similar businesses that you wis...

The summer after my senior year of high school, my girlfriend took me to the non-profit research center her parents started before she was born. The name of this non-profit is BFREE which stands for Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education, and it is located in the rainforest in southern Belize. The goal of this organization is to work with the Belizean government to help preserve the rainforest in Belize. I was privileged enough to stay here for ten days with her family and I got to see all of the projects they are working on. Currently, they are working on research and campaigns to save the hickatee turtle which is critically endangered. They also grow cocoa trees in the shade of the rainforest to show that deforestation is not necessary to have a full-fledged plantation in Belize. Every couple months BFREE is the host to students studying abroad from universities all over the United States. Jacob Marlin, my girlfriend’s father, is the mastermind behind this org...

Assignment 2A: Bug List 1. The fact that segregation still exists in Gainesville. WHY IT EXISTS: Historical cycles of poverty that stem from slavery and the Jim Crow era have yet to be broken. Lack of funding for education in Florida, especially Alachua County, allows this problem to persist. 2. That Pascal’s Coffee House closes at 6:00pm. WHY IT EXISTS: To always come out with a profit at the end of the day, even though they have to kick out all of their customers, even when every seat is taken. 3. That even though I have a smart TV, Chromecast, and a Fire stick, Apple restricts screen mirroring with all products except an Apple TV. WHY IT EXISTS: Apple wants to assure they are not missing out on any opportunity to make money. 4. When UF students living in off campus housing leave their furniture out for it to get rained on when their lease is up. WHY IT EXISTS: Students cannot take everything with them and either have no place to store it, or h...