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Published: October 29th 2009
Shock shock horror horror, another blog entry!
So it’s been a few days since my last post & I figured I ought to try to stay on top of it! It’s been an odd kind of week so far. Monday was a fantastic day with the ECD, particularly now we have the Play Therapy room as a valid space for taking smaller groups. So I spent much of the morning taking the pressure off the other child care workers by relieving them of a few kids at a time and taking them off to do jigsaws and other small group work. It’s brilliant to see the progress they’re making, even in simple things like the jigsaws, they no longer fight over the pieces & they’re starting to work out they’re trying to make a picture! So they look at it more logically, matching colours etc. They’re such incredible kids, sometimes if they work out where a piece goes, they get so excited, they yell “Auntie Claire, Auntie Claire, buka, buka!!!”. Buka is pronounced booga (heehee) and means “look” so I’ll have a peek & praise them for it. I think this is so vital, bearing in mind the families they come from, and the culture difference i.e. the kids are just left to their own devices or to run errands, I really think it means a lot to them to be individually praised and appreciated. I make a point in the mornings to say “sanibonani” which means “hello to everybody”, and “ninjani” which means “how are you all?”, but then I’ll go round to each child to say hello, give them a hug and ask how they are, so none of them go for a day without a hug! I think often the good, quiet children get overlooked, whilst the noisy, naughty, boisterous, cheeky kids get all the attention and I don’t want any of them to feel left out. The Family Centre is a place of love, hope and acceptance to everyone, not just the ones that are in your face! Perhaps my calling really is in bear hugs!
Zwe is still sick, actually I can’t remember whether I said he was sick to begin with! He’s just had a chest infection for the last few weeks, so I keep taking him to the doctors in Howick. It amazed me when I was chatting with him about it. He told me he didn’t want to go to the doctor’s as they’re all crazy, but his mum told me I must take him, so I did. Last week he came out with a look of extreme horror on his face and when I asked him what was wrong, he told me the doctor took this metal thing and put it “here and here” pointing to his chest and his back. I asked him if it was really cold and if the doctor put it in his ears and he said “yes!” as if amazed that I knew this! I explained it was a stethoscope & that the doctor used it to listen to his heart and his breathing. Then he said the doctor told him he had a chest infection and asked me how he knew this. I’m no doctor, but I explained as much as I knew, amazed that a 24 year old had no clue about any of this! When he asked how he got it, I thought he was having a laugh - he works at the Family Centre with kids who’d been coughing and sneezing all over him! Anyway, that was, for me, a humorous end to the day! The doctors over here are fab, Zwe was complaining about the wait, but it really was only about 15 minutes and he didn’t even have an appointment, just rocked up at the surgery! However, I think I’d rather stick to the NHS and wait a bit longer but not pay! I was asking about the people who can’t afford to pay and he said they go the nurses at the clinic in Mpophomeni (the same one I visited on my first Wednesday). I asked why he didn’t go there and he said he doubted they’d be able to do anything, he’d have to wait for the doctor who can only visit once in a blue moon, and then you have to have an appointment and he gets booked up really quickly. It saddens me to hear this, knowing there are so many really sick people out here who don’t have adequate access to the healthcare they require - that’s why places like Ethembeni are so important! As we were waiting, I was feeling sicker and sicker myself, but thought it was just psychological, so I left Zwe to get the bus back to UmPop and went home for a kip. I thought I really needed some sort of medication, so I went next door to nurse Shelly who sent me off to the chemist. Unfortunately, it was raining, so Patsy wouldn’t start. I ended up taking Shelly’s car, which was a bit of an adventure - it had power steering!!! I’ll look like He-man when I get home - I’ll have huge muscles from driving Patsy - and beautiful golden locks too :s I should have remembered from before that the “robots” aka traffic lights weren’t working in Howick, so I had a bit of fun in an unfamiliar car there! Anyway, the chemists were very helpful and I left armed with a bag of tablets and an empty purse!
Well I woke up on Tuesday as sick as a dog, just to fit a bit of Aussie slang in too - multilingual I am! I decided I’d better not share my germs further, so I chilled out, intending to spend the day doing my TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) online exam, but I just couldn’t concentrate, so I resigned myself to watching movies in bed, thank goodness I have my laptop and a few DVDs from home. Admittedly, it wouldn’t be at the top of everyone’s list of things to bring on a mission trip, but I really do enjoy unwinding whilst watching a movie, I think it’s because I’ve taken my favourites all over the world, so they’re very familiar and comforting. I perked up a bit in the afternoon, so decided to do another of my fav things & baked some cupcakes. I remember the days when I could bake 2 dozen cupcakes and they’d last for a week, now I struggle to make them last a few days, and not just because of my own greed! By the time I’ve bobbed a few next door (apparently my cupcakes are at the top of their breakfast menu, particularly with Angus, their 22-month old son) and taken enough to the Family Centre so all the staff can have 1, there’s only a couple left! Still, it’s good to share, and means I can bake, which I love, without turning into an elephant!
Wednesday was another odd day, I spent the morning at home, I should have been in ECD from 8, but I thought the early morning might kill me, so instead I went in at 1, which is when the care workers changeover is. I was very proud of myself when I saw that the road was blocked off, actually it’s funny as over here, they don’t have as many roadwork signs, instead, it is a persons job to stand a few hundred yards away waving a flag to inform you of that fact. Well I assume that’s what they’re doing because it’s quite a few miles to the nearest airport! Anyway, I was proud of myself because there were no diversion signs, but I worked out exactly where I needed to go to get to the Family Centre, even though I was in a part of the township I’d never been before. It’s a brilliant feeling, similar to being able to point out there is a goat in the yard, to be familiar enough with a place that isn’t your home to find your way about without getting lost! I arrived at work a few short minutes later & shared the cupcakes & was therefore loved by all members of staff! It was cool to see Bongani there too, back home again from Bible college, in a meeting with Grant. He greeted me by saying that when a Pastor sees cake, he forgets to pray - not sure that’s entirely true as he followed it up by telling me to go away (politely) as they were about to pray and could they have a cake after? I spent a few hours with the kids, it was nice to see the older ones who I’d not seen since last week, but after a couple of hours with them, I was shattered and ended up fast asleep on the old sofa in Linda’s office! I awoke to a loud bang, which was caused by Gugu & Thembakile, at around 4:30 - lucky, or I could have been stuck there all night! On the way home, I dropped Zwe off & began the drive back home during that strange time where I’m never sure whether to turn my lights on or not. The pro’s obviously being that you are more visible & can see more, the con being that there is nothing to remind you to turn Patsy’s lights off when you reach your destination & I really don’t want a fully flat battery! I decided to turn them on, going round a bend on the main road to Howick, at 100kmph. Just on the other side of the bend, was a herd of cows, which evidently decided they were going to cross the road. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah. I wasn’t sure what to do, I mean, did they know not to cross when there was traffic? In any case, were Patsy’d brakes good enough to stop me ploughing in to the side of the front one? I thought fast and decided that no, they weren’t. Unfortunately, there was a car coming in the opposite direction. I put my foot down and pulled into the middle of the road - luckily most of the main roads have hard shoulder type things for slow cars to move into when being overtaken. So the car pulled over, and I missed the beasts by millimetres - scary! Lesson - animals always have right of way, especially when they’re bigger than you. I arrived home in as many pieces as I had left & made cheesey beans on toast, wishing Chocky was here to cook for me.
Today, Thursday, has been hectic! Again, I didn’t arrive until 1pm, just in time to see Linda in her bakkie leaving for a meeting. She told me there was a planning meeting for the December Holiday Club at 3:30pm and could we meet before it? I tell you, her life is one meeting after another! I spent some time in ECD with the little kids, there’s a new one that’s been coming for a few weeks. She 2 years old but she’s tiny & can’t walk yet. She’s HIV+ and I think has also had TB and meningitis. She loves to be held, but doesn’t laugh or smile much yet. The past couple of days, she has been crying every time I put her down. This isn’t normal behaviour for her, but she doesn’t really talk, not even in Zulu, so it’s hard to find out what’s wrong with her. I’m not sure whether it’s because she’d sick, or whether she’s just not used to the attention and likes to have affection. I guess that’s just another little challenge I have to work out. None of the other care workers show much affection towards the children, they just let them get on with what they’re doing. To me, this is more like a child minding service, and one of my key roles is to show them how to be more interactive with the children. However, I think I have to find a balance so that children are not screaming when you put them down! In reality, these kids don’t have a great home-life, for many of them, there are no adults at home, and for most, there parents either don’t have time or are too sick to spend lots of time with them, like I see parents doing back home. It breaks my heart to think some of these children go through a day without much interaction with someone who loves them. This morning, I read Matthew 19:14, which says “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children”. I think that’s such an awesome verse, and I try to follow Jesus’ example, to be a constant source of love for all the children, no matter how smelly or dirty they are! There’s a lot to be learnt from them & I am grateful that I have this opportunity to spend so much time with them & I hope I never take it for granted. Every Thursday, we are visited by some trainee nurses from America who are currently studying nearby. I enjoy chatting with them learning about their interpretations of life out here. It’s great to see people my own age who are also “foreigners”! It’s also nice to have a fresh burst of energy & enthusiasm!
Whilst learning Zulu, I am also learning other phrases from white South Africans, such as “just now”. In England, just now usually refers to an incident that has just happened (I think!) whereas here, if someone says “I’ll meet you just now”, well to be honest it doesn’t mean much! I’ve often been left waiting for hours for “just now” to come around. Well, I have brought this up with Linda, a repeat offender of this tragic misuse, so today, she called me into her office, saying she’d meet me “now, now”. The confusion hurt my head. I assumed then, she meant, well, now! However, she was still part way through a meeting with Grant, then had to meet with Zwe, then some nurses came in, so an hour later, I was still sat on her sofa, having gate-crashed 3 meetings! Nonetheless, we had a great catch up about the holiday club. It’s quite hard for the 2 of us as we both like things to be super-planned and organised - Ste & Nate can testify to that! However, the Zulu care-workers I’m sure would be quite happy to leave it all unplanned and make it up on the day! Seriously, T-Dog, don’t ever come to work out here! We then had the real meeting, which is like pulling teeth trying to get the others to put their ideas forward, it’s mostly a dialogue between Linda & myself, which is highly frustrating as we know they have fab ideas, they just don’t share them! Another difference in culture I suppose. Well it’s ended up I now have Holiday Club meetings with different people every day next week, so expect to be hearing more about that! The weather’s miserable again, so Patsy’s not very happy. I dropped Auntie Ellen off at home & popped in to visit Zwe who both live at the top of the hill of Mpophomeni. By the time I left, the mud track had almost turned into a stream and so Patsy, bless her, had a bit of trouble sticking to the road, which rather reminded me of the ice back home. I’m quite glad I don’t live up at the top of the hill, mostly because on my way down, I saw 3 old Gogo’s walking down the hill too. Unfortunately at this point, good old Patsy really was finding it difficult to stick to the road and was picking up speed rather rapidly. I was wondering whether I ought to break, afraid she would skid completely and plough straight into someone, which wouldn’t be good, or just to keep going and hope the Gogo’s would move in time - luckily they did & no-one was hurt. It just really made me think again how hard even the simplest things can be out here. I would never have thought about the roads turning to mud rivers and therefore hard to drive on, but out here, it’s just reality. This evening I hung out for a bit with a mate of Grant & Shelly, who is staying here for a few days, but was home alone as Grant & Shelly had both gone out. He seemed really cool, easy going and super friendly, so it was nice to hear about the stuff he’s doing - if you want to find out for yourself, check out igiveada.mn
Well, it’s getting late and I still don’t feel 100%, so I’m gonna go get some beauty sleep, but rest assured I’ll be back soon!
Over n out
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