Krista Markham

KristaMarkham

Krista Markham

This summer I will be volunteering in Jacksonville, FL and Upington, South Africa. For the first two weeks of my project (May 4-May 15), I will be volunteering at Lutheran Social Services with the AIDS Care and Education Program in Jacksonville. I will be shadowing a mental health counselor/case manager and working closely with HIV/AIDS patients in the local community. I will then be volunteering in South Africa from May 18-July 2. I will be working with Christanna, a home based care organization that provides clients who have HIV/AIDS and their families with support and education. I will also be volunteering for Oasis, an organization that cares for children and adults in the community who have physical, mental, and multiple disabilities. Thanks to the support of the Serviceship scholarship through FSU, my entire trip has been sponsored. However, please keep in mind that this is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed on this site are my own and do not represent the Center for Leadership and Civic Education, Florida State University, Lutheran Social Services, or the Institute for Field Research Expeditions.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” - Mark Twain

Last week in Upington

Africa June 25th 2009

KristaMarkham

Leaving tomorrow for Cape Town so today is my last full day here! I'm excited to explore Cape Town and hopefully see some pretty cool stuff. Tuesday was my last day working at Oasis. The kids made me a necklace, a bag, and a little beaded purse.. it's all so cute. I've worn the necklace out twice already. I went to see couple movies this week with some of my friends that I've met here. I'm going to miss them. I go to this little cafe here in town and have coffee and read occasionally. I'll definitely miss that little cafe! Willem, the dance teacher at Oasis asked me more of his questions Tuesday and I went to say goodbye to his father. It's kind of fun when he asks me questions. He asks me akinda ... read more

Last week in Upington

Africa June 25th 2009

KristaMarkham

I'm leaving tomorrow evening on an overnight bus to Cape Town where i will be staying for 5 days! I'm excited to explore Cape Town and hopefully see some pretty cool stuff. Tuesday was my last day working at Oasis. The kids made me a necklace, a bag, and a little beaded purse.. it's all so cute. I've worn the necklace out twice already. I went to see couple movies this week with some of my friends that I've met here. I'm going to miss them. I go to this little cafe here in town and have coffee and read occasionally. I'll definitely miss that little cafe! Willem, the dance teacher at Oasis asked me more of his questions Tuesday and I went to say goodbye to his father. It's kind of fun when he asks ... read more

Social Work in SA!

Africa June 22nd 2009

KristaMarkham

I interviewed two social workers and thought I'd share what I learned. I first interviewed the social worker at the ART clinic here in Upington. She meets every patient infected with HIV before they start their ARV treatment. She is the only social worker at the clinic. I talked with her at 11am and she had already met with 4 newly infected patients. She said she meets about 10 new patients every single day (that's 50 a week!) She also meets with patients who are referred by nurses at the clinic. She starts with doing an assessment of each individual to find out their financial, food, and housing situations. She helps them apply to the Dept of Social Services for food if they need it (she must write a letter to the dept for each patient ... read more

duck duck.. goose!

Africa June 20th 2009

KristaMarkham

Hey Everyone, Sorry I haven't posted in over a week. Internet issues and getting here have been a problem. But I want you all to know that I have had an awesome past two weeks. I have learned so much. I was able to spend some time with students from DeSales University. They adopted me for a couple days and we did some volunteer work together. I did many many home visits to patients the past week and have learned so much. When I return I will post a detailed blog about everything as well as a reflection entry. The internet is unpredictable so I won't write too much today. I met a woman yesterday that has AIDS. She found out because she had a baby boy and he got sick so they tested him and ... read more

Paballelo Clinic

Africa June 9th 2009

KristaMarkham

Hey Everyone, sorry I haven't posted in a week or so. I went to an event at the school Saturday so I was unable to make it to town. good news though! I now have a hot shower! with steam and everything. I never thought I'd be happy about a shower but it pretty much made my life ;) Last Wednesday I visited a support group. Caregivers and patients from the community were there. Caregivers spoke about the high rates of youth pregnancy, importance of taking HIV meds on time, alocohol abuse and the effects it has on the medications, and information about the TB clinic. It was sort of like an educational group. They also gave a few inspirational speeches. \there was not much, if any, member involvement like I expected though. I also visited ... read more

Department of Health, South Africa

Africa June 3rd 2009

KristaMarkham

I just wanted to inform those reading about a meeting I had with the Department of Health here in Upington. I met with the HIV/AIDS District Coordinator for the Siyanda district (the district I am in). Some background information: There are 9 provinces here in South Africa (I am in the North Cape province). Each province is broken down into districts (for example, the Siyanda district). I spoke to Mr. Tom about HIV/AIDS issues in the area. He said that three of the main issues are 1. the stigma placed on those infected. Many people do not want others to know they are postive because it is linked with a negative stigma. I have seen this occur in the US as well. 2. unemployment. Many women use sex to make money which spreads the virus. 3. ... read more

Week 2

Africa June 2nd 2009

KristaMarkham

Hey hey everyone, Just got off work for the school a little bit ago and came to the computer lab for my usual Tuesday update :) This past saturday the dance instructor at oasis picked me up and took me to meet some friends and family of his. We drank coffee and exchanged cultures. He has a whole list of questions he asks me and it's really cool to hear my opinion and the opinions of tose who live here in south africa. The culture is so different. I have evn noticed differences between the races when it comes to opinions about government and such issues. When I went to breakfast with Aubrey, Tsepo, and Stephen (all black men), Aubrey showed me how the restaurant used to be split up by race. All blacks had to ... read more

"When in Rome.. do as the Romans do"

Africa May 29th 2009

KristaMarkham

Hey Hey Everyone! Good news! My job Wed-Fri has internet in the office so i will hopefulyl be able to use it to update this and email more often! On wednesday I started working at Christanna, a home based care organization for those infected/affected by HIV/AIDS and TB. We spend most of our time driving to various communities and then walking the neighborhoods, making home visits to the patients. Each community has their own caregivers that work for Christanna. These people visit the homes of the patients and administer medicine, help them get to clinics, and offer than support. I will be helping with support groups for those infected and for the caregivers. They also want me to help them implement a new support group while I am here, so we will be working on that. ... read more

Started Work!

Africa May 26th 2009

KristaMarkham

Hey! The internet here is not so good, so if I don't post that's probabaly why! I'm going to come to the internet shop tues and saturdays unless something comes up! This may be random because i have a lot to say! :) Sunday, Pascale (she works for dreamcatcher) took me to Augrabies National Park. They have beautiful waterfalls and a few types of wild animals. We saw baboons, giraffes, dassie (rock rabbits), and klipspringers (antelope type animals). I took a million pictures and I can't wait to show them off! I tried liver. Manini didn't know what animal it came from though haha. It was gross... never again. Monkeys run around here like dogs and cats do back home! haha they run around and it's no big deal to the people here. I think it's ... read more

In Upington!

Africa » South Africa May 23rd 2009

KristaMarkham

Hey Everyone!! I miss you all so much! I want you all to know that I made it safely to Upington after my overnight bus ride. My host mom, Momma Manini, is nice. I'm feeling a little homesick but I'm excited to start work this coming week. i will be working at Oasis, a disabled children's school on Mondays and Tuesdays from 8am-2pm and Christanna from 8am-4pm. While at Christanna I will be working with support groups for people affected by HIV/AIDS. I am looking forward to gaining another perspective on counseling and support groups in another culture. I am very grateful to have spent time working with Heather at the AIDS Care and Education Program in Jacksonville. I learned so much from her! I take the school bus with the kids to Oasis and walk ... read more

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