Manuela can't believe it's over

Even as I am sitting on this plane I can’t believe my days in Cape Town are over; it is unbelievable how quickly three and a half months go.  My experience in Cape Town will be unforgettable. I have met great people, made some awesome friendships and experienced so many things that are unexplainable.

Some of the awesome things I did in Cape Town:

• ·      Shark cage diving
• ·      Hiked table mountain
• ·      Skydiving
• ·      Hiked Lions Head
• ·      Attended Color festival
• ·      Rode an elephant
• ·      Pet a cheetah
• ·      Went paragliding
• ·      SURFED
• ·      Ate amazing food
• ·      Bungee jumped off of the highest bridge of the world
• ·      Went on a bush walk in Kruger National Park
• ·      Saw the big five (elephant, rhino, leopard, lion, buffalo) at Kruger National Park
• ·      Participate in a Treatment Action Campaign march for parliament to change bad patent laws
• ·       Watched two musicals (Blood Brothers and The Sound of Music)
• ·      Watched a play (A Human Being that Died That Night)
• ·      Went to the Freshlygrounds concert
• ·      Went to two soccer games one of which was the African championship game
• ·      Took a road trip to Plettenberg 

Ma Frances & Manuela

I was also able to become part of the communities through my internships. I had two internships for the time I was in Cape Town. One of the placements being at Elonwabeni family and child center; this shelter first started for affected and infected children with HIV/ AIDS. Unfortunately, the need for shelters has increased drastically in Mitchells Plain so it has now become a shelter for children that have been physically and sexually abused or kids who have parents that are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Unfortunately there was not much for me to do at the shelter but I was able to meet an incredible woman called Francis or as we all at the shelter say “ma”. Ma is the social worker at the shelter and her dedication to the children is inspiring. She is such a wise women who taught me so much through her experiences and I could not be more grateful for everything she did to welcome Melanie and I. Through ma I was able to shadow a social worker, Daphne, at the department of Social Development.  Being at DSD and seeing how everything worked open my eyes and made me re-think the kind of social work I want to go into. When I first walked in to Daphne’s office I saw at least 60 files later to find out that those were all of her open cases. It was crazy to think that one person is in charge of so many files because realistically she only has time to work on one or two a day. During my time there I got to witness the middle process of a case all up to the court hearing that finalized the case. My first day at DSD, Daphne was working on a case for a teenage girl who needed to be placed in foster care. The foster family that she was going to be placed with was already the caretakers of her two younger siblings. My second day their I attended children’s court for this same case. I was given permission to listen to the hearing which was a great opportunity for me because 1) I have never seen the process of children’s court 2) it allowed me to see how the SA court system works.

Melanie & Manuela with kides at Klipfontein Primary School

I was also very fortunate to be able to intern at Klipfontein primary school although it was only five days it was my most favorite days. This school is located in one of the poorest communities, Netreg. At this school I shadowed the community worker Deon. Deon was an amazing person and very dedicated to his job he would not stop until he got what his clients needed. Deon took Melanie and I around the community to make home visits. As we did these home visits it was so sad to see how little the students I was with had but yet so astonished as to how happy these kids are at school. It was incredible to see how dedicated the principle was to his students and he always made sure his school was an environment in which his students would want to come to school everyday to learn regardless of the communities circumstances. Whenever there were no more clients Melanie and I went upstairs to the fourth grade classroom to read to the students. It is crazy how attached these kids get to you and vice versa when ever it was time for there recess the kids would come looking for us in the office so we would play duck duck goose with them or sing the “peel the banana song”. I will truly miss Klipfontein.

Melanie & Manuela

I was able to learn so much by being in the communities even though I really wont know what most of it means until I am put to the test after a few weeks/ months of being back home. My journey in Cape Town has come to an end but a new one begins.

Kiya's commitment to make a better world

This is my last blog post and the last one I will be writing while in Cape Town, South Africa. I am having mixed feelings about going home. I truly do miss my family and friends and just being in a familiar place but now I see Cape Town as another home which I am now having difficulty leaving. Of course I enjoyed the classes I`ve taken and my internship but I am proud of how I now see the world around me. I am going to enjoy the various restaurants I have grown accustomed to while here and the many adventures on the mini-bus taxi. I went to the city for the last time and it hit me that this was my last time walking the streets of Cape Town for at least a few years. I began thinking about the first time I went into town alone and how it took me an hour to get to the mini-bus taxi rank from a location 5 mins away. I remembered calling Vernon for directions and when I didn`t find it, I called Ben in hopes of him helping me as well. Good times lol. I came to the realization that I`ve done everything I wanted to do while here and I am leaving on a positive note.  I`ve learned a few things about myself and the people surrounding me and am taking back experiences that I will remember for a life time.

In addition to my final thoughts, I am also very proud of the work me and my activist project group did in the room at Elonwabeni. After about 2 months of planning, painting, fundraising, shopping, and organizing we finally completed the room and provided the teenagers at the centre with a space of their own. A few days ago I was frustrated and was feeling overwhelmed with the lack of support for our project. It made me reevaluate why I volunteer and decide to help people to begin with.  In the end, I realized that as long as I give my all then I am satisfied with my performance no matter what spectators may have to say. This project has opened doors for other projects in the future. I`ve recently read about the importance of shelters who cater to women and children. Most of these women are abused by their significant other and their only opinion is to go to a shelter. The problem lies with the resources and spaces shelters are able to provide because of lack of funding. This is at least the case in the Western Cape and in result women and their children end up on the streets where they are vulnerable to HIV and AID, STIs, TB, rap, drugs and alcohol, and "survival sex". My goal in the future would be to volunteer with shelters and help make it aware of their importance to the state and to these women. 

Lastly, the final dinner was great. For the first time I was able to connect with the director of the Western Cape Network of Violence Against Women. During my time interning there, the originally director resigned and I was working with one of the employees who works for South African National AIDS Council which is an organization the Network houses. I was fortunate enough to do actual Network assignments the last two and a half weeks of my time there. Glynis Rhodes, my director, really contributed to my time at the Network. She gave me projects and allowed me to attend staff meetings and actually have input and an important role in the Networks future endeavors. Overall, I have enjoyed my stay here in Cape Town. I cannot stress enough how happy I am that I came on this trip instead of freezing in Storrs, Connecticut. I plan to share all of what I learned while studying abroad with the people around me and hopefully get people as excited as I am to make a better world. 

Savannah will miss this place she calls home

Now that the trip is coming to an end, there are still so many little things that I want to do. One of the things that I've always wanted to do is shadow the girls at Tafelsig Clinic. 

Today, we showed up and all of the seats in the waiting room of the clinic were already taken. We got right to work and were calling people into the room to take bloods and dress wounds (which is Allie's forte). I watched Emily and Katrina take bloods and was a little nervous trying myself because I have only ever put IVs in patients that were asleep under anesthesia. I have learned from being at Maitland to be more confident in myself and trust that I am capable of doing things. I jumped right in and took two patients bloods and it felt like a great accomplishment. It was really amazing to see what the girls do there on a daily basis and meet all of the wonderful staff. 

Tomorrow is the last day of internship and it's going to be a bittersweet goodbye. The time has really flown by at Maitland and I'm starting to realize how much I have really learned. I never thought that I was going to be interested in surgery, but now I am considering being a nurse in the OR (or the theatre as they call it here). Within the last couple of weeks, I have gotten a lot closer to the sisters and some of the doctors. It's really going to be hard to say goodbye to them. It's going to be especially tough saying goodbye to the kids though. There are some patients that have been there long before I even got there and it's so disheartening that I won't be able to see them again. One of the girls, Emorensia, always greets me with a smile and jumps up into my arms whenever she sees me. It's amazing to think that I can just take a plane ride home and return to my normal life while they're still bound to their bed waiting to get better. 

As I reflect back on my time here, it seems like I've been here for much longer than 3 months. I have gotten so familiar with Cape Town that it feels like home. I am, however, very excited to go home and drink Dunkin iced coffee and meet my niece (not necessarily in that order). I know that when I get off that plane at 7 am I am going to miss this place I call home. What a journey it has been!

Val's new Internship

So last week I started my new internship at The First Community Resource Centre, which is stationed at a local church in Hanover Park. The organization takes a holistic approach to battling drug addiction and violence by providing a range of restoration programs, support groups, drug education for youth, driving lessons, job readiness programs, computer training, counseling, health education and many other programs that battle the influence of drugs and gang violence from all angles. Seriously, they do it all. They even feed the community on a daily basis out of their own kitchen.

One derivative of The First Community Centre that has a huge influence on the community is Ceasefire Hanover Park, which is a well-respected program in which facilitators are sort of like local firefighters of gang violence. They work out in the streets for the most majority of the time, gathering intel and staying connected with the community, and when they hear of a potential shooting, they try to intervene and prevent the shooting from occurring. The program keeps an open dialogue with the local gangs and have established credibility in the community, keeping tabs on certain people who may be in danger as well as the whereabouts of different “shooters”.

 As for the people who work there, you can absolutely tell they are passionate about what they do AND that they know what they are talking about. Whether they facilitate programs, run the rehabilitation centers, feed the community, are a part of Ceasefire, transport people from place to place or handle the administrative work, the people working at The First Community Resource Centre love what they do. Almost all of them have struggled with drug addiction, have been in gangs in the past or grew up within the community of Hanover Park, and that experience makes their organization that much more potent. Would you listen to someone who was talking at you about something tremendously difficult who doesn’t even know what it’s like to experience it? Probably not. But someone who has walked in your shoes before, struggled with those same demons as you and made it out okay? Abso-freakin-lutely. The people of The First Community Resource Centre connect with everyone their program touches, not just with the logistics and education in the programs, but with a level of understanding, love, humor and a sense of togetherness that feels an awful lot like family.

As for the restoration programs, there are two for 6 weeks at a time in a camp-like setting about 15 minutes away from the headquarters where both high-risk and low-risk individuals struggling with addiction come by choice to learn about drugs, coping, self-esteem, how to handle conflict and how to move forward, all while getting clean. There are religious undertones, but rather than religion dominating the educational parts, the facilitators make sure to provide a good balance of each. Pastor Engel, my supervisor, hopes to eventually reach many other towns and communities with his work, and with his tenacity I don’t doubt he will. The people, the program and what it hopes to accomplish is not just incredible and inspiring, but PRESENTLY EFFECTIVE. They’re mission statement is not just a pretty thought, it’s getting accomplished. An NGO having so much success is rare, especially in South Africa, where resources are not always available for NGOs and social problems are overwhelming. I wish I would have been set up with this internship from the start because these amazing, resilient people are doing things. I am in awe of them. They have been to hell, made it back and are now using their knowledge as a force of good. I’ve been there for such a short time, and yet I feel like I’ve learned more in these 5 days than I have during the last 2 months of my previous internship. HIGHLY recommend this internship for anyone in public health, psychology… or anything really. The people you will meet will teach you, inspire you and humble you. Well, that’s at least what happened to me, and I was there for 5 days; imagine what 3 months of working

Katrina's valuable lessons learned during her days at the clinic

Days at the clinic are often filled with excitement, curiosity, chaos, and lots of laughter with the nurses we work with and have come to love. We’re often intrigued with some new or gross health condition, all crowding around the doctor trying to help or nervously practicing our new skills, such as taking blood or giving EKG’s. But some days, like today, are heavy.

The morning started off with a little boy who had fallen at school and split his forehead open. He needed sutures, which the doctor gave, but something about the location or nature of the cut left the child in extreme pain, thrashing and screaming in agony. We had to hold him down to keep him still, as his mom began sobbing as his screams became too much to bear. You know in your heart you’re helping him, but it sure doesn’t seem like it when you hear a little boy in pain like that. You feel helpless, listening to the screaming, and every bone in your body wishes you could do something, ANYTHING, to ease it in the slightest.

Later on in the morning we heard a woman hysterically screaming in the waiting room. The whole place was chaotic when I went outside to see, and the nurses quickly brought her into the emergency room to calm her down. She was having a panic attack, because her father, who was very ill and had been waiting for hours to be seen, had just lost consciousness in front of her eyes. Her mother was on her death bed at home, and she thought her father would die in front of her today. She would have no one left to take care of her in the world. To add to the fact, she was pregnant, with no father in the picture. Once again there was nothing I could really do to ease her pain. I can’t imagine feeling so alone in the world, and dealing with so much tragedy and pain all so quickly. I am so lucky to have healthy, loving and supportive parents, but also numerous friends and other family who would always be there for me to make sure I was ok.

In the afternoon, as I was sitting in Sister Castle’s room, a very tough looking young man came in. The kind of tough you’d never expect to see cry. He was so shaken up, and could barely form words. He had just witnessed a double murder, of two of his friends, a husband shooting his wife and then himself. The man was shaking, and told us they left behind a 13 year old son with no other family. Before he was finished, another boy came in, probably around 15, with a shirt covered in blood. He was stabbed after school, and was calmly asking for some sutures. The amount of pointless violence we see here is incredible, and in its wake is broken, hurting people, dealing with this kind of devastation on a daily basis.

As sad I was feeling by the end of the day, I learned important lessons from Sister Castle. With each and every one of these patients, you could see how she truly cared about their wellbeing as people, not just as patients. While I love medicine and health care, I’ve been turned off by how doctors treat patients, dehumanizing them or only doing it for the money. Sister Castle is not only these people’s health care providers, but she acts as a guardian to them getting them through their hardest times. I’ve especially seen her do this for young women, many lacking parents or guardians to support them and many pregnant with children from their early teen years. These girls have no one, and feel so lost and alone, and she provides comfort but is also very honest with them in the advice she gives. Even when the clinic is jam packed and she has 50 folders waiting, she realizes how important that moment is and will take the time to make sure they are ok before they go. People truly come before herself, and that seems such a rare quality in our individualistic society driven by success and productivity. When I work in health care, I want to be the best medical professional I can be, by investing and making relationships with my patients. I want to hear their stories, their struggles their pain and make them feel taken care of the way Sister Castle does for all her patients. I know that you can’t get too emotional or attached to patients in the sense that it may cloud your medical judgment, but I’ve learned through working at the clinic that being in some sort of medical emergency can be one of the scariest and most vulnerable times in a persons life, and taking the time to help ease their fears can make all the difference in the world. 

http://katrinahodgkins.wordpress.com

Melanie on her excursion and returning home

Getting to travel to other areas of South Africa for excursion was really great. The sites we visited in Johannesburg really brought together a lot of what we’ve been learning here.

The first Museum was the Hector Pieterson Museum, dedicated to Hector Pieterson, who was a student killed during the Soweto uprisings. The museum made me realize how really young the students of the Soweto uprising were… I knew they were students but I hadn’t pictured them so small and young (as young as 11 and 12).

The Mandela Family Home was really cool to go to and get to walk through where Nelson Mandela lived. I realized a couple things that I hadn’t known. First of all I never knew the US was involved in the capturing of Mandela to send him to prison. I also saw two juxtaposed pictures of right before he went and right after he was released from prison and it was profound seeing how much he really aged. Overall it left me wanting to learn even more about Mandela’s life because I continuously am hearing more and more amazing stories about his character and the imprint he left in South Africa and the world.

The apartheid museum was a really eye-opening experience. There was so much information and so many personal stories captured and it felt really surreal to imagine all those things had happened here recently. I’m more used to museums being much deeper into history.

Constitution Court

Going to Constitution Hill was cool. Their courtroom was designed very symbolically to be inclusive of all the different cultures in South Africa.

Melanie at the Pimville Boys & Girls Club in Soweto

Going to the Boys and Girls Club of South Africa was by far my favorite day. Marita and I sorted through and alphabetized SO many files and it felt accomplishing to finish. Then we played with the kids all afternoon and they were so energetic and fun.

Lastly, Sharpeville was also a really profound area to visit. Meeting a man who had been shot and survived the massacre where 69 people were killed at a march also felt surreal. It made me realize how much living history there still is in South Africa. Going to the cemetery where all the victims were buried was really emotional. I learned that they had a mass funeral for all the victims and I kept imagining each victim’s families and friends surrounding the massive line of graves. I can’t even imagine the amount of grief and shock all gathered together on that day. It also made me sad to learn that Sharpeville does not receive many visitors, especially for being such an important part of history.

We returned to internship at Klipfontein Primary School to some bad news. One of the first clients we met had passed away while we were away. We knew she had cancer but it still never really hit me that she would pass away so soon. The husband and another elder man from the family came and were discussing where to go from there, specifically in regards to getting financial support from the government for caring for the two young children. It seemed like there wasn’t much time for grieving, right away they needed to take steps to figure out how they were going to take care of the kids. Next there was more sad news. The crèche teacher’s daughter’s father was stabbed by his girlfriend and died last Tuesday. It was terrible to hear about and I realized how death is a much more common part of life in the poorer communities here. When the teacher left to take the day off I ended up holding her daughter, Cailin, for a long time while she cried that she missed her parents. I felt sorry knowing that this child would grow up now without a father.

Melanie at Maitland Cottage

 On a brighter note, our activist project has been going really well. We are very thankful to everyone who donated to our project and we were really surprised by the amount of people who supported us that we far surpassed our goal! We are now looking forward to shopping for supplies and toys. Today we went and one girl who we’ve particularly bonded with had good news that she is going home for seven weeks. It’s sad that we won’t see her again but we are so excited for her to return home. She told us a bit of her story and it left Lauren and I so inspired by her strength and positivity, but also sorry that so many young children have to face such serious challenges such as worrying about if they will ever walk again. Overall, it reminded us why we decided to start this project and now we are excited to complete it!

Also, was so sad to miss the championship basketball games but GO HUSKIES!! We enjoyed waking up at 3am for Emily’s parents to live-stream us the game anyway!