The lived experience

Abstract

This article responds to the kind invitation of the Editor and the Editorial Committee of the Revista Ocupación Humana to participate in a special issue celebrating the 50th anniversary of the foundation of our scientific organization and association of occupational therapists. It collects the memories, analyzes, and reflections on the future by occupational therapist María Antonieta Ortega Santamaría, who was in charge of the presidency of the Colombian Association of Occupational Therapy -ACTO for two consecutive periods, 1988 to 1990 and 1990 to 1992. This and the other texts by former presidents that are part of this special issue are full of the strength, energy, and projection of their authors and our profession. The result, then, is a significant historical testimony of what we have built and of the immense and powerful task that the Colombian College of Occupational Therapy has to continue building and responding to the challenges of being occupational – personal, collective, and social –, the country, the region, and the world.