HAPPY WORLD OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY DAY

Today we mark World Occupational Therapy Day, A Day that the World Federation of Occupational Therapists which is the international voice of occupational therapist professionals that globally comprises of 107 national occupational therapy professional organizations. WFOT day gives the opportunity to heighten the visibility of the professional development work and to promote the activities of WFOT locally, nationally and internationally.

In Kenya we have quite a few of these organizations, that not only provide therapy but do it for free. Having just a few well-known therapists

in the country,

some organizations took it as a mission to provide free therapy services to Individuals that are living with Neurological conditions around low-income areas such as Mathare, Kawangware and the county of Kajiado in Kenya.

Normally going to visit an occupational therapist will cost a caregiver between 700ksh to 1500ksh per session in a public hospital, in a private hospital it will cost between 3000ksh to 4000ksh per session and each session lasts about 45 minutes. These rates are too high and if you were to calculate the sessions done in a month, it would cost caregivers between 16,800ksh to around 36,000ksh in a public hospital and in a private hospital it will cost between 76,000ksh to 96,000ksh for the individual to progress in like a school like setting. 

Fortunately, we have organizations such as Ready Aiders Foundation is based in Mathare, the foundation provides free occupational therapy services to individuals living with Neurological conditions such as Autism, Cerebral Palsy and down syndrome. The inspiration behind the foundation came about when gentlemen from a boy's secondary school started a goodwill charity for their underprivileged peers that couldn’t afford school supplies, pocket money, or transportation. After the success of establishing that they decided on focusing on community work. The founder, Mr Kenneth Apopa came up with Ready Aiders foundation which later came to be a foundation that provides free therapy to the neurodiverse and empowers young girls in the slums of Mathare with digital skills. The foundation boasts of having served over 300 kids with different disabilities by giving them free occupational therapy since 2017. Through such services, many kids in the slums of Mathare and Kawangware have been able to achieve their developmental milestones.

The work done in ensuring the provision of occupational therapy services by organizations like Ready Aiders Foundation and Step Up 4 Autism in the slums fits perfectly with today’s theme of World Occupational Therapy Day which is “Opportunity +Choice= Justice”. The achievements are the justice that we deserve especially for kids with disabilities who live in low-income and rural areas.