Just Keep Breathing

When we arrived at the IPU this morning, the nurses were trying to administer an IV into a man. It was the same man who was muttering nonsense yesterday as I held his hand. Today he was staring off into space, not blinking, not flinching or showing any signs of response as he was prodded over and over with needles into his collapsed veins. The nurses tried to get the needle into him for almost 45 minutes. They said, “He had already started to go cold”. He lay on his bed motionless, lifeless. His concave chest was exposed. His chest rose with each breath, then back down. I waited in anticipation for his chest to rise every time. There was about 5 seconds in between each gasping breath. Through out the day when I would look at him, I was always surprised when his chest would rise again with breath. All day he looked as if he was sleeping with his eyes open. They never got the needle into his veins.

Today Nurse Barnard taught us the precise way to make beds. I never knew there was such technique to it. He showed us exactly which sheets and blanekts must go in what order, and folded exactly which way. When putting the sheets on you must center the crease of the sheet, aligning it at the top first. You should try to fold the corners of a sheet like an envelope to tuck it into the bottom. There is a correct way to fold the sheets at the top. Nurse Barnard pays attention to every detail, as it will affect the patient. The sheets must be pulled tightly, with no creases, because bumps in the sheets can cause stress sores to the patients. Also, if a patient is tall, you shouldn’t tuck the bottom of the sheet into the bed, because it might stress the feet. Nurse Barnard amazes me. He is caring for the patients even when he is simply making their beds. So we made every bed in all the wards of the IPU. For the patients who are mobile, they took a break outside in the sun so that we could make their beds. During this time the patient Thabo cleaned his sneakers in anticipation of being discharged. Many of the patients are bed ridden. For some of them we just adjusted their linens with them in the beds. For others we managed to help them into a chair next to their bed so we could do a full change of bedding. Nurse Barnard was instructing us and helping us the whole way. I can’t get over how caring he is. He was so attentive to teaching us because he knows that we want to be nurses and doctors, and he believes that we will be better with our future patients because of this training. He even taught us to tie up the curtains with out any ties, so that it is aesthetically pleasing.

There was a new patient in the male ward today. He seemed in critical condition. I spoon-fed him his lunch. When I first took a spoon full of the egg salad and put it to his mouth he shook his head. So then I put the bowl in front of him and pointed at the different options in the bowl. He nodded his head when I pointed to the beans. He ate the entire serving of beans. He settled next on the beats. When he had enough he gave me a thumbs up. Noticing that Nurse Barnard wiped a patients mouth after feeding him, I cleaned up the man who I was feeding. I wet some gauze and tried to gently scrub the red beats from his lips, trying to be sensitive to the sores on his lips. Afterwards I held his hand for a bit. He didn’t talk all day.

In the late morning a woman in the female ward died. We summoned the courage to visit her. She looked a lot more peaceful than I expected. Her body was stiff, but looked as if she was just resting. Her face was the difficult part to look at. There were wet paper towels resting on her eyes to help them close. There was a bandage from the top of her head along her jaw. This was meant to help shut her mouth. Her mouth was not shut though. We watched Nurse Barnard as he kept pushing her mouth shut, but it would just keep opening. He put her pillow on her chest, with the edge against the bottom of her jaw. This seemed to help close her mouth better. Later she was taken away.

In Patient Unit

Today we shadowed Nurse Barnard in the in patient unit (IPU) at Tapologo. Barnard began working at the IPU as a care worker. He took a nursing course at Tapologo and now he works as a nurse. He did not receive any university education to be a nurse. I can’t imagine that happening in the US, but he is a great and sensitive nurse.

A typical day for a nurse at the IPU: When the shift begins at 7am the nurses take vitals of the patients, and changes the bedding of those needed. Then it is breakfast. Nurses assist patients who cannot eat by themselves. Afterwards, nurses attend to patients as needed (bathing, giving pain medication, talking to them). Lunch. Attending to patients’ needs. Take vital signs again at 4pm. Shift ends at 7pm. Yes, the nurses work 12 hour shifts. There is always a nurse on duty at night.

There are separate wards for the men and women. There were about 4 patients in each ward, and about 4 empty beds today. Barnard said that they usually never have to turn someone down to be admitted because there is usually room. There have only been 2 white patients at the IPU… ever. Almost all of the patients have HIV/AIDS. Some patients also have TB or cancer. There is another unit for TB patients. They keep them separate to avoid infecting the other patients. When we went into the TB ward we wore masks.

Today we met the male patients and TB patients. We spent a long time talking to the men. They seemed to really appreciate the company. Two of the four men spoke English. One of the English speaking men translated the non-English speaking man for me. One man only mumbled at me. I was told that he is very confused and speaks his own language. As he mumbled at me I just held his hand. I think he liked the attention. While I was talking to the other men he was staring at me, so I went over and kept him company for a bit. I learned about one of the men’s family and work. This man, Thabo, really wanted to leave so he could go back to work at the mine. Some of the other men said that they were very content at the IPU because they were supported, fed, and were getting stronger there. They are very bored at the IPU. The said their entertainment consisted of walking around and watching TV. I was then really glad to be providing conversation for them. We helped spoon feed lunch to one of the patients.

The TB ward: when we first went in there were 3 women. One of them, Pauline, was behind a curtain because she was in critical condition with TB, AIDS, and cancer. The other two women were happy to talk to us, but they seemed pretty miserable. They said they were aching to leave and go home. One of them showed us her stomach. At first I thought she was pregnant. She had a large swollen belly, while the rest of her body was skin and bones. We were told that last week she had 10 liters of fluid drained. She told me it was a side effect of the TB medicine. Later, Nurse Barnard said it was a result of not taking her ARVs. The women showed us their medicine and said they were responsible for taking it themselves. Ceasing treatment seems to be a major issue with TB and HIV/AIDS patients. While we were there, a TB patient named Regina was admitted to the IPU. She had been there before. Last time she was a patient she had regained strength at the IPU, and when she left she stopped taking her medication. Now she is again in critical condition.

At 11:45am today, Nurse Anna found Pauline dead. Nurse Barnard said that after a while they get more comfortable with death, but it never gets easier. When a patient dies a nurse lights a candle and allows time for people to reflect. We were present while Barnard called Pauline’s family. He said that it is always difficult to make this call. The woman on the other line cried during the conversation. An hour later a vehicle came to collect Pauline’s body, after her eyes and mouth had been closed, and she was changed into the clothes she arrived in.

Barnard said his job is very difficult but he is supported by the staff. He said that the staff is like one big family. They give each other support, comfort, and laughter. There is even a day care on site for the children and grandchildren of the staff. Barnard said he is also given strength to do his work from the patients. He makes it a point to get to know them and talk to them often. Having a strong relationship also allows the nurses to understand the patients’ life, and stressers, which can help the nurses communicate to the patients the importance of continuing treatment after being discharged from the IPU. Even the cleaning ladies have relationships with the patients. Some of them come into the wards often to chat or feed the patients even though it is not in their job description. I could really sense a genuine want to care for the patients by every staff member.

Equipped to Serve: Crisis Counseling Course

This week I attended a three-day intensive crisis counseling course. The course is called “Equipped to Serve” and was created by an America. I was invited by the staff at Neo Birth. Maurie, the founder of Neo Birth, led the course. She told us that by the end of the three days we would be ready to counsel people in crisis. Maybe not. I have received a certificate for completing the course, however, I will take a test and if I pass I will be certified by the South African Course Qualification Accreditation (SACQA) to be a non-professional crisis counselor. Pretty cool right? Here’s the catch… it was a Christian counseling course. There were many positions discussed in the course that went against my own beliefs. We were taught how to counsel someone against the sin of a homosexual lifestyle. Wow. This section of the course was incredibly tough for me to get through, but I managed to sit still in my seat and keep my mouth shut. We learned theories, that as a non-Christian, I do not think I will ever be able to apply to the counseling I might do in the future. We learned that God gives us the authority to counsel. We learned that as counselors we must not be sinners. Instead we must have a strong and loving connection with God because it is impossible to love others, be genuine, or humble without God. We learned that a client will not be able to recover from a crisis if the client does not have a relationship with God. Maurie strongly believes that all counselors on a team must believe in the same God.

Despite having different views on some of the principles and theories of crisis counseling, I was able to appreciate many of the techniques. We learned very useful communication skills, the phases of a crisis, and obstacles of both the client and counselor. The most interesting thing that I learned was the Chinese definition of crisis: “opportunity riding on a dangerous wind”.

In total, there was about ten of us attending the course. The other people were mostly OVC (orphan and vulnerable children) care workers in various Rustenburg communities, and volunteers from Neo Birth. My favorite part of the course was this morning when we each shared about our lives. I was very moved by many of the people’s genuineness to help hurting children. A couple people shared details about their lives that were clearly very hard to share. One woman was nearly in tears when she confessed that she had separated with her husband because he had become abusive. Other women shared that they had children outside of marriage. I finally felt that even though all of these women are Christian, they are human. I have met many of these women before while working in their communities, but I now feel that I have a real connection with many of them. After the woman who had separated with her husband because of abuse sat down next to me, I gave her a smile of appreciation, and she rubbed my leg. At the end of the day, one woman gave me a big hug and told me to come to her community and she will take me on home visits to her OVC homes.

This course really tested my patience at times (we prayed three times each day), however, I have learned incredibly practical counseling skills, and I have had the opportunity to better understand South Africans who want to make a difference and help their people.

Targeting Children for Medical Assessments

Tapologo offers free health assessment clinics for the orphan and vulnerable children (OVC) living in the squatter villages. However, many children do not attend these clinics. It is Tapologo’s goal to have a medical assessment of every child in these communities so that they can better understand the health situation in every community and also so Tapologo can give ARVs to the HIV positive children.

It was our task to find out which children have not been medically assessed in Freedom Park and Boitekong. We started by finding out which children have been assessed. We asked each care worker to tell us which of their children had been assessed. Each care worker could tell us off the top of their head which of their children had attended the health assessment clinic. I was very impressed by this. Each care worker looks after about 15-25 children. They did not even have to look at any files. It showed to me how close their relationship with their children is. Once we had the names of all the children who have already been assessed, we compared it to the master list of OV children to find out who still needs to be assessed. Tapologo will use this information to target these children and encourage them to attend the next health assessment clinic.

4/21 Training Session

Today’s training session was very informal. Angela, the counselor from Neo Birth, had no objective but to check in with each of the OVC care workers. I am very impressed by how dedicated Neo Birth is to having close relationships with each care worker. The counselors from Neo Birth meet the care workers weekly to give them training, and the care workers must report to the Neo Birth counselors. The Neo Birth counselors put themselves on an equal level as the care workers. Today Angela brought sweeties for the meeting. She was very vocal about her appreciation for the care workers. She acknowledged how important and hard the care worker’s work is. Angela asked each one of them how they are doing. She knows what is going on in most of their lives. She asked for feedback from each of them about how they are handling their work and personal lives. Neo Birth brings donations to the OVC program for the children in need, but Angela always makes sure she gets the care workers the clothes and supplies they need for themselves and their families. Many of the care workers themselves are sick and living in poverty, and on top of it their job is very stressful and they receive incredibly low pay. These care workers are battling HIV on the front lines by working daily with orphaned and vulnerable children. I think it is very important for them to feel support and appreciation. Neo Birth does a very good job of providing this.

Quote of the Day...

"On a lifelong search for the right balance of epic and solid."

Thanks Benny.

4/14 Training Session

Today we accompanied Maurie, from Neo Birth, while she lead training sessions for the OVC program child care workers at Boitekong and Freedom Park. The purpose of these weekly training sessions is to provide the child care workers with the skills to intervene, counsel, and empower the orphaned and vulnerable children they look after everyday. This month was the most accomplished the OVC program has ever been with 7,000 interventions collectively in Boitekong and Freedom Park this month. The childcare workers each work full time without a salary. The Impala Platinum Mine gives each childcare worker a 1,000 Rand stipend each month. That is equivalent to approximately 143 dollars.

The method of training that Neo Birth practices is called “equip to serve”. This is what was discussed at today’s training session:

The goal of counseling children is to “speak the truth in love”. Condoms are not 100% safe, so one must not teach the youth to use a condom. Instead, one must teach the youth the true way of staying safe—abstinence.

One must not manipulate when counseling. Instead, one must minister from the Holy Scriptures. Only God can change people

Children send out an “SOS”. S: scared. O: Overwhelming pressures (internal and external). S: Strengths (must help find each child’s strengths and use it to boost the child).

Quality care workers practice “HUGE”. H: humility. U: unconditional love (condemn sin, but always be there for them). G: genuineness. E: empathy.

The phases of a crisis is: denial, bargaining, anger, depression, forgiveness, accountability, and resolution. Childcare workers must help children through the phases.

The five counseling skills: “RIGHT”. R: reflective listening (content). I: interpretive listening (feelings). G: good questions (where, when, who, what; do not ask why because that is a judgment and only God must judge) H: helpful feedback (relate to the child through personal experiences). T: tender confrontation (must build relationship first).

The care workers build relationships with children through playing, helping with homework, and working together to do chores.

We ended each training session with prayer.

The Abandoned

When I arrived at Neo Birth this morning I found the staff gushing over a tiny little newborn. I assumed it was the child of one of the staff members. I asked who she was and they told me she did not have a name. Yesterday her young mother came to Neo Birth and explained their circumstances. Afterwards, while the counselor was holding the little girl, the mother just walked away, abandoning her 1-week-old child. One of the Neo Birth staff members took the baby home with her for the night. Apparently she was malnourished and had not eaten in 3 or 4 days. The little girl was being passed around, receiving so much love, all day at the office. It was today that the compassion and commitment to the mission of Neo Birth was incredibly apparent. The staff members will take her to the doctors and a social worker, and will continue caring for her until she is placed in a home.

I was told that children are abandoned at Neo Birth around once a month. It takes around 4-6 months to place a child in a home. Neo Birth used to send the abandoned children to a shelter called Lighthouse. However, Lighthouse is not currently open, so the Neo Birth staff care for the children in their own home with their own money until the child is placed into a home. I was told that Neo Birth wont let these children go to a shelter or family unless they are Christian. No comment. The founder of Neo Birth, Maurie, told me how important it is to have shelters within the individual communities. This is because the child will be living in a place that speaks the same language and has the same culture. It will also empower the community to look after and be responsible of their own.

Extension 13

Extension 13 is a neighborhood in the Boitekong squatter village. One of the Neo Birth ladies told me that it was a “rough” place. Today we went with four OVC program workers. Extension 13 really did look rough. There was trash everywhere—on the roads, yards, and even in the trees. There were also dogs hanging around most street corners lying under the shade of trees. A lot of the dogs looked pretty skinny. Along with dogs, I also saw many chickens roaming around. The homes were made out of clay or metal panels, and sometimes a combination of both. Some homes were larger than others. Some homes were tiny metal shacks. There was rust everywhere in this neighborhood. Chicken wire fences surrounded some of the front yards to homes. There were many shops. I saw a beauty salon in the neighborhood, as well as food shops that looked like lemonade stands in front of homes. I saw many barefoot children with backpacks that I assumed were on their way home from school. I saw a little boy who looked around four or five years old wandering down a street pushing a tire. It looked like he was playing and not on any particular mission. I also noticed another little boy pick up some scrap metal and start waving it around and playing with it. I saw a man walking down the middle of the street with scissors, cutting something up discretely into his fist. I could only assume what he was cutting up. The only white person I could spot in the entire neighborhood was myself. I really felt like I was in a different world.

Today we went to three homes. The OVC ladies were told that these families were in need of help. We went into each of the homes and talked to the caregivers of the children in the families. The purpose of the visits was to assess the family’s situation and familiarize the OVC program ladies with each home and family. These families will now receive assistance from the OVC program. Each day after school one of the OVC program workers will go to one of these homes and look after the children and help them with homework. Setswana was the only language spoken during the house visits, but I was informed of what went down right after each visit. In two of the families, the grandmother was the caretaker of the children because her daughter had died. In the other home a 17-year-old girl was caring for an orphan boy. The OVC ladies are planning on going door to door in extension 13 to find more families in need of after school care and inform the families of the OVC’s services.

ALIVE

For those of you who know me well, you know that I love quotes. So I thought I would share one of my favorite quotes with you. Maybe you will enjoy it as much as I do…

“The most visible creators I know of are those artists whose medium is life itself. The ones who express the inexpressible - without brush, hammer, clay, or guitar. They neither paint nor sculpt - their medium is being. Whatever their presence touches has increased life. They see and don't have to draw. They are the artists of being alive.” J. Stone

4/7

Today we went to Tapologo’s orphan and vulnerable children (OVC) program at Freedom Park and Boitekong with a woman from Neo Birth.

At Freedom Park we delivered parcels of food to homes. We gave food to four families that were deemed in critical need by the OVC program. Each family who we gave food to had many children. One of the families was headed by a teenage mother and another by a grandmother. One of the families we gave food to is from Zambia and so do not have South African documents, leaving them unable to receive government aid. Almost all of the families had sick members. We went shack to shack delivering the food, trying our best to avoid falling on our face, as there was mud everywhere. The shacks were very small and close together. While we were delivering the food, we were also responsible for taking pictures for Neo Birth. The pictures will hopefully appeal to Neo Birth’s donors. One child of a family we gave food to was very shy. The OVC woman we were with said, “don’t worry, he’s just afraid of white people”. While we were walking around I saw one of the boys who I played with while we set up the reading room for the OVC program. We high-fived. This made me feel really good.

Next we went to Boitekong Village. The woman from Neo Birth gave training to the OVC program workers. We sat in on this session. She characterized the milestones in children’s physical, mental, and social development for children ages 0-5 years. She stressed the importance of tracking and taking note of these milestones in children’s development. Each one of the OVC workers is a care-worker for 11-25 children. Neo Birth gives these ladies training once a week so that they can counsel the children and families they are in charge of. Many of the children in the OVC program are taken care of by siblings, young mothers, and grandparents. Many of these caretakers may not know the importance of stimulation in children’s development. Because of today’s training, the OVC program workers are better equipped to counsel the caretakers about how to provide adequate and proper stimulation for their children. Today’s training session also discussed “stranger danger”. Children must understand that they should not go anywhere with a stranger when offered money or gifts. The program-workers are teaching the children about “no touch triangle”. Children are being taught that there is a zone on your body that no one should touch. Neo Birth is giving the OVC program workers the skills to empower the children in the program. One case was discussed of a girl in the Boitekong Village who is prostituting herself for 5 Rands per trick. 5 Rands is the equivalent of about 75 cents in US currency. This girl is selling herself so that she can buy basic living supplies. I was shocked. It emphasized to me the need for empowerment counseling.

During the training session at Boitekong, one discussion really startled me. The women were saying that HIV positive mothers SHOULD breastfeed for the first 6 months after delivery. This shocked me because it was against everything I have learned about mother-to-child transmission of HIV prevention. I have always understood that an HIV positive woman should not breastfeed in order avoid spreading the virus through breast milk. After the training session I asked about this. I was told that there is a drug that a woman can take up to 48 hours after delivery that will transfer to the child through breastfeeding. This drug will fight the virus in the child and help boost the immune system. However, during these six months the child must only consumer the breastmilk. I was told that is it healthier for the child to be breastfed if the mother has taken the drug, compared to not being breastfed at all.

Today was a great day. We went to two villages, met families, helped deliver food, and learned about the importance of teaching and empowering children and families and how to go about that.

Neo Birth

Neo Birth Care Center is an organization that is partnered with Tapologo’s OVC program. The vision is “to care for, counsel and equip the community of Rustenburg and the Northwest Province with knowledge and skill to make informed decisions in everyday real life situations”. Neo Birth offers training and development for basic life skills, psychosocial care, parental skills, HIV/AIDS awareness, foster care, and counseling skills. Neo Birth is a counseling center for HIV/AIDS, abuse, domestic violence, pre-abortion, and teenage pregnancies. Neo Birth is free of charge and is open to walk-ins off the street.

Neo Birth receives many donations of clothes, baby supplies, and toys. When someone comes into the center in need, they are often given these donated supplies from the storeroom. Once a week Neo Birth opens the storeroom to the public to sell the clothes and supplies. They do this in order to make a small profit to keep the organization running. The storeroom was a disaster—filthy and very disorganized. One of our projects from last week was to revamp the storeroom. What a project. After hours upon hours of folding, organizing, cleaning, and taking out frogs, we managed to turn the storeroom into a makeshift shop—a place that people would not feel ashamed to receive clothes and supplies from, and a place that could attract paying customers. We ended our day very filthy and sore.

Neo Birth has a playroom that is used for play therapy. This too was a disaster—toys EVERYWHERE, filthy toys, empty peanut butter jars, and a wasp’s nest. The playroom was our project for today. We took out the trash, dirty toys to be washed, and even DESTROYED the wasp’s nest. Yes, lives were taken. We regret this, but it was for the children. We ended up having a little fun with this project. We arranged the room into something we thought we would have fun playing in. We arranged the toys in an appealing way—we set up the mega Barbie outside of a castle with dozens of green army men protecting her from the robot man. Working hard.

Neo Birth has a collection of books that they lend out to Freedom Park. Today we entered in all the names, authors, and genres of books into the computer database. I felt frustrated with this work. I honestly thought that it was pointless. I could not picture this database being put to any use. However, I am only here to help, in whatever way Neo Birth feels is necessary.

Neo Birth is a Christian-affiliated organization. I was first tipped off by this during our introduction where we were told that they counsel people against abortion. I later noticed many of the posters about “walking with God”. Most of the books we entered into the database fell under the genre “spiritual growth”. On our first day working at Neo Birth, one of the women asked if we were theology students. I was then incredibly aware of my “raise a little hell” tattoo. While I was doing the mindless manual labor of cleaning and organizing, I thought a lot about the religious message Neo Birth is trying to send. I came to the conclusion that while I don’t agree with some of the messages, I agree with the help Neo Birth is providing to people in need. However, I could not seem to justify the anti-abortion stance the organization takes. I could not see how one could counsel a possibly vulnerable, HIV positive, teenaged, pregnant woman to see that she only has one option. But this is just my view, and Neo Birth has another.

Living Easy, Living Wild

For the long Easter weekend I went to Botswana on holiday. This is an account of one of the most real, relaxed, lively, and grounding experiences I have had.

A Botswana game reserve. Golden dusk. Imagine it.
We entered the gates and drove into the wild. Drove down the long brown/orange dirt roads, if you could call them roads. Endless trees and long dry grass surrounded us. It looked like the savanna. I felt like I was in the Lion King. There was a warthog, monkeys, and ostriches chillen in their homes of this wild place. This place was wild. There were picnic sites spread out throughout the reserve. Each filled with young people having a good time. At each site there were cars, emitting blasting beats. It awoke the still nature that surrounded. Jamming. It was the most perfect time of the day—when the sun sinks deep into the sky and the day says goodbye. The mango colored sky was vibrant against the darkening trees in the skyline. The trees were turning as black as the flesh of the crowd. The sky was still bright, and so were the outfits of the youth. The people popped out against the earth tones that surrounded in this savanna. But in a way, we blended. This was such a chill atmosphere. No worries, just enjoying the good company, food, drinks, music, dancing, and nature. I could tell people were enjoying the nature; an earthy fragrance emitted from the huddled circles of people that were spread out throughout the whole picnic site. There was something so calm and relaxed in the atmosphere as people melded into the nature, yet there was radiating life. The beats of the music were in sync with the pulse of the crowd. People were happy, excited, peaceful, and loving. Barbeques in the States, chohasca in Brasil, or braai in Southern Africa—wherever you are and whatever you call it, there is something about this brilliant combination of heat, fire, music, outdoors, abundance of food and drinks, that brings the people together, and leaves worries behind. Everything about this experience was wild, and I loved it.

I will leave you with a Marley song quote that filled my mind while I was at the game reserve,

“I like it like this, SATISFY MY SOUL”

Peace, Love, and Life,
Lily

Delicious Ambiguity

It has been a week and a half and each day has been incredibly different from one another. One day we are scrubbing dusty books, the next we are taking children’s weight and height measurements to contribute in a health clinic. We usually don’t know what we will be doing until that very day.

A beloved friend once inspired me with this quote, and so I feel it is my duty to pass it on. I think it is very fitting of the work I am doing for Tapologo.

"Some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity"
-Gilda Radner

peace and Mo love

Boitekong Health Assessment Clinic

Boitekong is a squatter village, similar to Freedom Park. It is located near the Thembalani platinum mine. Tapologo has an OVC program here. Today we helped in the children’s health assessment clinic. The clinic was held today because the children are on school holiday. The women who run the OVC program went around to each home earlier in the week to announce the clinic.

Around 50 children came to the clinic today. Each child’s first stop was Lebby and my room. If they had already participated in an OVC clinic, they had a file. If it was there first time, a file was created for them. Lebby and I took each child’s weight and height measurements and recorded it in the child’s file. When we were evaluating the children, I got many grins. I believe this may have been related to the fact that I was the only white person in the entire clinic (out of all the children, parents, and staff). When a child would give me a grin, I would smile back. This would usually lead to an even bigger grin, a shy look, or an enthusiastic wave. Some children seemed happier to be here than others. Some children seemed curious and proud of their measurements. Others cried and struggled to get on the scale. I would say that about half of the children understood English, and the other half solely understood Setswana. For the children who did not understand English, a lot of gestures were required. I would point to my shoes and motion for them to take theirs off. Next I would use my hands to usher them onto the scale.

We saw toddlers through teenagers. Most, however, were primary school aged. We used a baby scale and tape measurer for the littlest ones. There was one child who was not by any means a baby, but did not have the ability to walk or stand. For this boy, we put him on the baby scale. To take his height, we laid him on the table and used a tape measurer.

Because Boitekong is a squatter village, Tapologo is not allowed to put up any permanent structures. The quality of the trailers we worked in was very apparent. The children walked barefoot on the splintered wood floor onto the ant-covered scale. Each child left sweaty footprints on the scale.

The children’s’ next stop was the waiting benches. The children waited to be seen by the nurses. There were two examining rooms. Each had a nurse and a counselor. Each child’s health was assessed. If they had not been previously tested for HIV, and they had parental consent, they were given a blood test to test for HIV. They found out the results immediately. They were provided counseling to help handle the results. I watched as some of the children came out of the examining rooms. Some children had a large smile on their face, others looked depressed and left quickly. I assumed the different moods related to their health status, but I am certainly not sure.

The purpose of this clinic was to assess each child’s health and HIV status. The OVC program has a separate clinic once a month to distribute ARV drugs to the children who are HIV positive. However, some do not take advantage of the treatments offered. Hilda, the head nurse, explained how the treatment of children who are HIV positive, is ultimately up to their caretakers. Hilda expressed her frustrations about children who came to the clinic today in very poor health. She explained that some of these children were much healthier at the previous clinic. She believes that the caretakers of these children stopped giving the ARV treatment, which takes a very detrimental toll on a child’s health. I was very puzzled by this. I could not figure out why someone would stop giving their child life saving and free medicine. One of Hilda’s first explanations was the belief in traditional medicine instead of the ARVs. Another reason is that the caretakers are overwhelmed by the sickness and death they have experienced due to this disease. This leaves the caretaker unable to care take properly because of their emotional state. Hilda believes that Tapologo is lacking in bereavement support. Hilda believes that if these caretakers, who have lost so many family members, had better post-death counseling, they would be better able to take care of their children.

Where in the World is KFC?

Right here. Everywhere! I have never seen a higher frequency of KFC, or KFC commercials ever before! Who would’ve thought. I have always associated KENTUCY Fried Chicken to be a symbol of the American south. Not the south of Africa! But apparently this is because of the tremendous amount of chickens that are here. The KFCs here do not represent the American south by any means. They have a South African style. There is one KFC commercial that explains how the world was once Pangea, but KFC brings the world together in “Fangea”. Once again, the World Cup has found a way into an advertisement!

So since KFC is part of the South African (fast food) culture, and I am trying to be a conscientious world traveler, I HAD to try it out. I mean I was only trying to emerge myself into the culture. Come on now, its not like it’s in my character to eat at gross fast food joints. RIGHT. But yeah, KFC here is good stuff man. I had the “streetwise zinger (pronounced zingah) sandwich” the day after I arrived in Botswana. Mmmmmmm =)

Peace, love, and fried chicken,
Lily

The Robots

“Drive straight through the first robots, then take a right at the second robots”

-“Um excuse me? What?”

“Straight through the first robots, right at the second robots”

-“The what?”

“Robots…”

-“Ummmm”

“Traffic lights…”

Yes, “robots” are traffic lights. Good to know.

The Facts

In Sub-Saharan Africa:

There are 22.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS

There were 1.9 million new HIV infections in 2008

There were 1.4 million AIDS related deaths in 2008

Women account for 59% of the HIV/AIDS population


In South Africa:

13.6% of black South Africans are HIV positive, whereas only .3% of white South Africans are HIV positive

1 in 5 high-schoolers is already HIV positive

28% of pregnant women are living with HIV/AIDS

If the correct preventative measures are taken, there is a 98% chance that a baby born to an HIV positive mother will be HIV NEGATIVE. These measures include prenatal antiretroviral treatment, C-section delivery, and no breastfeeding.


Sources: Avert.org and Kaiserfamilyfoundation.org

"Give TB the Red Card"

During the 1900’s the South African government provided aid to its people to fight TB. TB eventually subsided. However, with the onset of HIV/AIDS in the late 1900’s, TB is back in full force. AIDS depletes one’s immune system causing susceptibility to TB. TB is once again a major concern in South Africa.

With the World Cup coming soon, media is using the soccer appeal to communicate health advisories to the South African people. In a commercial that I have seen constantly on the TV and hear on the radio, the World Cup is the theme to send the message of the importance of being tested for TB. This commercial starts by explaining that in soccer, yellow cards are given as a warning. TB also gives yellow cards. The commercial gives examples of the warnings, or yellow cards of TB, such as coughing for more than 2 weeks, or constant exhaustion. The commercial then states that people must notice these warnings and take action. To “give TB the red card”, one must get tested for the disease. This commercial sends the message that to take strong action, such as giving a red card to a player in a soccer game, one must know his or her TB status

"Twenty-Ten"

There is exactly 76 days until the 2010 FIFA World Cup begins. At any given day I believe most people could tell you the count. The World Cup has taken over South Africa! It is referred to simply as “twenty-ten’. As Rustenburg is hosting games, the madness is certainly all around. The World Cup has really taken over. As South Africa prepares for the games, many of the roads are being redone, forcing people to find new routes. It seems you can’t turn on the radio or television without hearing about the games. Most of the commercials and promotional material is centered around the games. Today I experienced my first “Football Friday” on one of the radio stations, where people called in and said what color jersey they were wearing and discussed the players.

“Twenty-Ten” seems to really be giving South Africa a source of pride. From what I have heard on the radio, TV, and from talking to people, the games are going to give South Africa an opportunity to share their heritage with the world, and show their hospitality to the visitors. I look forward to reporting more about “twenty-ten” and it draws closer and the fans get crazier!

Peace, Love, and Football Fridays,
Lily

The Reading Room

Our main project of the week has been to create a reading room for the children in the OVC program to use. The OVC program had a storage room full of donated books. Yesterday we went through them all and sorted them into subjects, reading levels, and languages. We could tell that those books had been sitting in the storage room for forever. They were covered in dust, rodent pooh, and bugs. Gross. Hello hand sanitizer.

Today we cleaned out the room that will be used for the reading room. Next we cleaned off all of the books—what a task! We then set them up on tables. Through the whole process today, I made some very adorable friends! In the morning while I was walking some books to the room I saw a group of five or six year old children who were waving at me, and so I smiled and waved back. A little later on, the same children were hanging out closer to our room, then eventually they were peaking their heads in. They looked so curious. I gestured them in and pulled a picture book of a table and handed it to one of them. They darted for the middle of the room and sat down in a circle, all hovering over the book. A few minutes later when they looked bored with that book, I handed them another, and they all got so excited. They eventually started walking around and checking out the books for themsevles. As I was walking back and forth from the reading room and the storage room transporting books, I found one little boy follow me into the storage room. He watched diligently as I started picking up the books and copied me. This tiny boy insisted on carrying over the biggest and heaviest textbooks. When we returned to the reading room with the books, the other children had seen what he had done. The next trip back to the storage room, the other children followed. They all started carrying over books. They looked so proud. Their smiles lit up their faces when I would say “thank you”.

They disappeared for a little while, but came back and continued helping us by organizing the books onto the tables. Work time soon turned into playtime. Although I could not communicate to them through language (they only know Setswana), we sure could give high fives. More children flooded in. It eventually became the playroom. There was one little boy who was organizing all of the games. I had no idea what was going on, but they just pulled me around and put me into my positions. They kept coming in and out of the room, but whenever they would walk by, they would stop for high fives. At one point they each had some cookie type of treats and they were very generous to keep putting them in my hands. What started off as three children waving at me from across a distance, turned into about ten children hanging on me. What a day. Best day I’ve had here. Oh yeah, we got the reading room set up.

Our Purpose

Lebby and I have decided to go on an independent study abroad program to South Africa, through Union College, so that we can volunteer at Tapologo Hospice. Tapologo is an NGO that receives all of its funding through fundraising and donations. It is an impressive organization. Tapologo has an in patient unit on site that provides medical care to people suffering from deficient health. There is also an onsite blood laboratory. Because the major cause of death in South Africa is currently HIV/AIDS, Tapologo’s focus is on HIV/AIDS. Although Tapologo is a hospice organization, it does not just focus on end of life care. Tapologo has many programs dedicated to prevention, treatment, and empowerment.

Tapologo runs programs at a place called Freedom Park. Freedom Park is a squatter village located in the Bafokeng region of Rustenburg, close to the Impala platinum mine. There is a center area in Freedom Park where Tapologo runs HIV clinics where people can get there health status checked once a week, and an Orphan and Vulnerable Children program (OVC). These services are free of charge and open to all the residents. Because Freedom Park is a squatter village, and the land is not owned by the people, Tapologo can not put up permanent structures. Instead their programs take place in trailer type of buildings. The structures are in very poor quality, as I have seen construction work being done all week in the buildings. I have been at Freedom Park all week helping out the OVC program.

The OVC program is run by about seven women who come every morning to discuss the status of the children and plan the lessons and activities for the afternoon. When school is let out, the children come to the OVC program to learn life skills. The women who run this program are very kind. They have been teaching me simple words in Setswana and always give me a grin when I speak the words they have taught me.

It appears that we will be spending a majority of our time at the OVC program in Freedom Park. This week has shown me that it will take a lot of initiative to be useful. Tapologo does not have a formal volunteer program, nor the extra resources to waste time giving us instructions. We have had to be very observant to find jobs to do. Our first full day at Freedom Park we arrived before our supervisor. While we were waiting, we saw two women folding clothes outside of the clinic, so we went over and asked if we could help. We took the donated clothes out of the boxes and organized them into outfits. Afterwards, we handed the outfits out to people waiting in line for the clinic. Most of the clothes were for young children. During the week we have made ourselves useful by doing odd jobs such as doing dishes and mopping. It is a great environment. I am so happy to be here!

Good Day from Rustenburg

Dumela! I would like to start by telling you about my surroundings. I am living on the most beautiful farm I have ever seen. Rainhill Farm is located at the bottom of a large mountain range. The view is breath taking. There is a path close to my cottage that leads right up the mountain. You can guess what I’ll be doing on the weekends! Rainhill is a family place. The Hartley’s have owned and lived here for at least a couple generations. The extended Hartley family is currently living on the farm. There is every kind of pet here. The family has dogs, snakes, horses, llamas, hens, roosters (which happily announce themselves as the sun is coming up!), cats, baby squirrels, and more that I don’t even know about! This might give you an insight on the Hartley’s hospitality. They are so kind and really help me feel at home here on the farm. We are in the beginning of South Africa’s Fall. It has been gorgeous since I’ve arrived. Sunny and 80’s. No complaints! In these parts there are three main languages spoken: English, Setswana, and Africaan. Most people know how to speak English, and it is the mainstream language (the road signs, media, and businesses use English). However, English does not seem to be the language of choice. People mostly speak Setswana or Africaan while in conversation. It is very interesting to hear the differences between the languages. I believe I can distinguish the languages based on sounds, but also by who is speaking. It seems that the black Africans speak Tetswana and the white Africans speak Africaan. Another random observation—there are goats everywhere! While I was at work yesterday I saw a goat who appeared to be in labor. I was on a break so I was watching carefully, hoping she would giver birth. I couldn’t stay and watch any longer, but when I returned to work the next day there were two tiny baby goats! Very cool. One more observation—driving on the left side of the road! Or as I have heard it called “the correct” side of the road. Yeah, sure South Africa, whatever you say!

Peace, love, and baby goats,
Lily