9A- Testing the Hypothesis Part II

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 1st World Countries from 1st 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 WFOT to assign occupational therapists to refugee camps.  He told me about how there is always a need for doctors but also that not all refugees are in the camps.  He informed me that WHO does work with outside NGO’s to assign human resources to different areas.

Interview 2:  I spoke to an OT professor who put me on to the idea of practicing and teaching occupational therapy abroad after getting experience here in the states for a handful of years.  He was talking about how he has some colleagues that work with other occupational therapists abroad to teach them what they know from their education here. 

Interview 3:  This was a short conversation but basically, I contacted the Florida department of children and families and the woman was telling me about how they do not always have the funding for OT’s and PT’s to work specifically with refugees in Florida but that the funding is usually spent on emergency medical aid and other therapies.

Interview 4: I know we were supposed to talk to other this time around, but I met up with Cindy Nelly again and talked more about her experiences working in Turkey with the refugees.  She said she is only there for period sometimes of two to three weeks and that sometimes they get there, and the contacts do not show up, so they cannot complete their mission.  To recap, Cindy flies out to Turkey illegally and under the radar to provide emergency medicine to refugee camps with a group of people from the states and a group of contacts in Turkey. 

Interview 5: So because I cannot actually find any refugees from Syria or Myanmar,  I talked to a girl who is Syrian. She said that she hopes that there are more people out there planning to work with refugees like this. She said one of her cousins over there did get killed and that family friends have lost children but that her family has been in the States since before the war so that she does not have many ties over there.