Professor Returns to Africa to Teach, Research, Educate

When asked the infamous question, ‘what did you do on your summer vacation,’ very few can answer that they served as a researcher, professor, peace educator and a Lay Spiritan in Africa. Dr. Anne Marie Hansen, assistant professor of occupational therapy (OT), is doing all of the above this summer as both a University and Spiritan congregation representative during a six-week trip to Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

Meetings with Spiritans and Lay Spiritans in each country as well as visits to their ministries are an important component on Hansen’s itinerary, during which they will discuss ongoing and future collaborations with the Rangos School of Health Sciences and the University. They also will meet with members of Our Lady of Charity in Uganda to discuss current initiatives and future collaborations regarding a women’s development project developed there in 2008 to improve and promote sustainable economic livelihood of marginalized girls and women from the Mulago-Nsooba slum area.

During her trip, Hansen will meet with OT colleagues from various institutions, including Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College and the Kenya OT Association, whom she visited in 2013 to follow up on results from research collaborations, present continuing professional development workshops and discuss potential joint projects.

Other highlights from Hansen’s trip by country include:

Ghana

Hansen and her daughter/Duquesne student Anna, were invited by the Africa Justice and Peace Working Group of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to participate in a Youth for Peace and Reconciliation training event in Accra. “The event will bring together former child soldiers from the civil war in Liberia and Sierra Leone and persons with disabilities maimed by the war to discuss how to live in peace,” said Hansen, who also was meeting with CRS members to determine a research project as a follow-up to the event.

Tanzania

Hansen will return to the Olkokola Vocational Training Center (OVTC) to follow up on a study she there last year. Operated by the Spiritan Olkokola mission, the OVTC provides training in trade and life skills to disabled individuals who, in Tanzania, are often excluded from daily activities. Hansen’s study included recording the challenges and victories of the OVTC’s graduates. “I’ll meet with my research team at the center to discuss the results of our study, the lives of the center’s graduates and the next steps in our collaborative project,” said Hansen.

A Duquesne OT student and three physician assistant students will join Hansen for the inter-professional service-learning course, Focus on East Africa: Health, Disability and Social Justice, which is also part of the new African studies minor. “It’s important for Duquesne students to experience this type of course abroad to learn from others about life, healthcare, education, culture and social justice as well as to recognize our interconnectedness to a larger global family and to understand Spiritan ministries worldwide,” said Hansen.

Uganda

Hansen will present a three-day workshop co-sponsored by the Ugandan Association of Occupational Therapy that will serve as a follow-up to one that she presented there in 2013. “One focus of the workshop will be on our research collaboration about the development of OT practice in Uganda,” said Hansen. “But the OTs there also requested that we examine issues of occupational therapy injustices faced by their clients and persons with disabilities in that country and discuss strategies to advocate for justice.”

Hansen’s work and activities on this trip strongly reflect the goal of the Strategic Plan to emphasize Duquesne’s commitment to Africa and the African Diaspora.