If I started an anti-mosquito club would anyone join me? I am so thankful that I do not have to worry about malaria or take the malaria tablets and that there are not swarms of mosquitoes...but I am beginning to think that sleeping under a mosquito net would not be such a bad idea. I generally wake up with four or five new bites (this week they all seemed to be on my left side...odd), not to metion the other bugs and insects that are flying and creeping around my room during the night. I can only wonder the things I have swallowed while sleeping. Ugh! It is the year of the mosquito as I will get to enjoy their company when I return home and am at camp for the summer. Anyway...they are not the biggest challenge that I am facing just a bothersome annoyance. Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoy your week!
Much love,
Lisa :o)
Sunday, February 15th
The weather report predicted morning and afternoon sun with evening showers…weather people are wrong here too. It has been a cold, windy, and now rainy day (I am wearing pants, a hooded sweatshirt, and slippers). But I love this kind of weather when I have a day off, as it is perfect for reading books, taking naps, listening to music, and drinking lots of coffee. :o)
I had a difficult time sleeping past 6am this morning so I read one of my books (The Cave by Jose Saramago) until breakfast. For breakfast we had toast, topped with eggs, fried onions, peppers, and mushrooms. I was almost finished with my book before breakfast, so after breakfast I went back to my room and finished reading it (I am going to have to find a way to get more books soon). It was a wonderful book/story, as I loved the author’s way of describing things and the thought processes in the character’s minds. The book was inspired by Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. During the morning Ashika was busy doing work in her office and Arvishka was busy playing outside with her dad and Ahdah (Arvishka’s grandpa). I had my quiet time and started working on some things for school.
For lunch we had rice with vegetable curry and lamb curry. I will be and honest say that I passed on the lamb (though I ate the potatoes that were in it). Lamb is just one meat that I cannot bring myself to eat…yes there is a childhood story involved but I will spare the details.
After lunch I did some more work and took a little nap. On Sunday afternoons Ashika and I have started watching Australia’s Biggest Loser, as it started the weekend that I moved to her home. I never watched the American version, so it is a new experience for me. I am not sure if I would be happy or not to have those trainers pushing me so hard at the fitness center. But like all international shows that are on South African television, it is about three-four years behind the actual airing date of the program. The Biggest Loser is from 2005 and most of the American soapies are running the shows from 2006.
More coffee and biscuits (cookies). The wind is blowing rather strong and there is a steady falling (or probably more blowing) of rain. As I look out my bedroom window I can barely see the houses on the hills across the way as fog is rolling off the river and meeting the clouds hanging low from the sky. I think it is time for the Chronicles of Narnia.
Since I have been drinking so much coffee today, I thought it would be appropriate to share with you the multi-cultural diversity of the coffee tin:
Even more South African English:
band-aide = plaster
doctor or dentist’s office = surgery
My toe hurts. = My toe is paining.
You do not want to fall down, right? = You do not want to fall down, isn’t it?
z = “zed”
044 = zero double four
2333 = two triple three
More observational and conversational knowledge (from working at the clinic): Bread topped with chips (French fries) is a popular lunch item (as it is inexpensive and can easily feed several people)…It is possibly rude not to share the lunch you bring with others, especially if you are eating among or with them…Dry bread is not popular, it needs to at least be buttered and then also topped with other things, like ketchup…Mixing sweet and salty is not popular: butter and honey, or pancakes and syrup, for example.
Monday, February 16th
A cool and cloudy morning that turned into a sunny and warm day. It almost reminded me of an autumn day (as that is the season that Durban is slowly transitioning into), as the humidity was down and the sun was not baking hot. It was pleasant to be outside. But I checked the weather forecast and it is suppose to get toasty in the middle of the week.
I went to University today and spent most of the morning waiting in lines: either to use the toilet or the very long one to “fix” my student ID/access card. When I went to use my card to gain access into the LAN (computer lab) the electronic card reader told me that my card was invalid and expired. So I had to wait for over an hour for someone to take two seconds to swipe and validate my card. Students are still in the process of registering and sorting out the details of a new school year, hence the long wait.
During the lunch break I attended a committee meeting of student social workers and faculty members from the University who are hoping to plan campus activities for Global Social Work Day on the 17th March (not to be mistaken for St. Patrick’s Day). Individuals had a lot of great ideas but we are facing two major barriers: shortage of time and shortage of money. I also quickly learned through observation that the person who makes an agreeable suggestion is then assigned the role of making that suggestion happen.
Some buildings at the University:
Dinner: rice covered in a random assortment of vegetables, most notably cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and beans. My South African family is abstaining from all meat until Sunday, in which there will be prayers and a large meal, in honor of a Hindu deity. Bring on the veggies…
Tuesday, February 17th
Mostly cloudy…warmer than yesterday…getting more humid…but no rain.
I met with two patients today: one for a counseling session and one for a psycho-social assessment. One of my favorite things to do when getting to know children is to ask them to draw and color pictures…one of whatever they want to draw and one of their family or their favorite place or both…in hopes of learning more about them and gaining insight into their lives. I encourage them to be creative but remind them that I will be asking questions about their pictures when they are finished.
When I asked the counseling patient to draw a picture of whatever she wanted, she chose to draw a picture of me dancing. If you have not forgotten what I look like you might find the picture just as interesting as I did (notably the colors of my skin):
But here is a picture of myself (taken this week) for reference in case you have forgotten my appearance:
The psycho-social assessment I completed was with a family who is not native to South Africa but immigrated from the French speaking part of Africa several years ago…so their primary language is French. Even though I took four years of French is high school (and mind you that was awhile ago) my brain drew a complete blank for words and their accents made it challenging for me to even recognize words. Thankfully they also knew English…but my French teacher would not be proud (desole Madame Brooks). The family is facing the same challenges that I am becoming all too familiar with hearing: not wanting to disclose to family members, complete lack of financial resources, sickness of an income provider which is preventing him to work, “We are fine, there is nothing you can do about these things” (in reference to being HIV+). My favorite moment was when the little girl (22 months old) started clapping, dancing, and singing a song with her mom in French…so very precious.
I still have not improved much in my ability to read and pronounce South African names (especially Zulu ones) or in my ability to properly distinguish a given name from a surname. Babies and small children are a delicate situation because if I do not have their medical file or identification stickers as a reference, it can be difficult for me to know if the child is a boy or a girl. But when I do have the medical files or identification stickers, I like reading and learning names. I like the given names for girls such as: Pretty, Beautiful, Destiny, Innocence, Blessing, and Confidence. Maybe it is because I can actually pronounce the names or maybe because they seem to add such distinction and character to their barer. Confidence is my favorite, I think it demands respect, boldness, and charm.
Part of this whole experience in South Africa is the opportunity to learn new things about myself. Most of these things I probably will not “discover” until I return home and people point them out to me or I recognize them in a different setting. Even though I already knew that I value building relationships with others, I did not realize (until the past couple weeks) how much I valued it. I have concluded that that for me to be “successful” and effective in working with children (or people in general) I need to be in a setting where I have the opportunity of frequent contact that allows me to build quality relationships (such as camp, a classroom, or residential care center). Being blunt and confrontational is extremely difficult for me and I do not believe that I have the right to ask really tough questions and dig deep into peoples’ lives unless I have gained their trust through building a relationship. This has been a great challenge in my internship, especially in reference to the few children that have been referred to me for grief and bereavement. The children are incredibly vulnerable and dealing with a myriad of circumstances, and have no reason to trust me or want to share things with me. I refuse to push boundaries with them and make them talk about things they are unwilling or unready to discuss, as often what we see as their problems are really not what they see as their problems, at least for now. So often we never come close to the topic of grief…but I am okay with that.
Other challenges: 1) The pediatric department of the clinic has only one computer and one telephone, which live in the social worker’s office. So I often have to wait to use the computer to either get information that I need or to print out a form. It is also a challenge if you are having a conversation in this office as there is a consistent flow of people and the phone frequently rings (which must be answered because there is no answering machine). 2) We often meet with caregivers of young children and the children want to do anything but sit quietly and have a conversation. Conversations are stopped to fetch the child who has run out of the room or to feed the baby who is crying or to take the potty training toddler to the toilet or to listen to them sing or ramble in their own child language. It often makes it difficult for both myself and the caregiver to focus on a conversation and sharing information as we are attending to the wee ones.
I can officially declare that I have two main “comfort foods” that I enjoy eating and “need” at least a couple of times a week. The first is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Maybe it is their simplicity or I am getting myself ready for camp but I find them so delicious and have one for lunch almost every day. The other is chocolate. I do not eat a lot of chocolate when I am in America but I generally go through one-two chocolate bars a week. Interestingly enough, last time I was in South Africa I also consumed more chocolate than usual. Maybe because I am a girl?
Dinner: potatoes, cooked cabbage, carrots, and bread.
Wednesday, February 18th
You know that you are living with a pre-schooler when you wake up singing nursery rhymes (such as Baa Baa Black Sheep or Humpty Dumpty) because you hear them several times throughout the day and before going to bed at night.
The heat, humidity, and sun have returned. I am sure that those of you in the cold do not feel the least bit sorry for me…but the sun has gone down and simply the act of sitting and typing is causing me to sweat.
Today was one of those days that felt incredibly long and never-ending…the kind when you look at the time and cannot believe that it is possible to still be so early in the day and you are not quite sure how you are going to manage the remaining hours.
My morning began by attending the monthly pediatric multi-disciplinary team meeting to discuss if patients are both medically and psycho-socially ready to begin ARV treatment the following week, when they come for their final training. I spent the rest of my morning supervising and interacting with the children in the clinic play room. At one point I was playing catch with a very clever little girl (less than two), who quickly figured out that I could not speak Zulu and adapted to the situation with very directive pointing (where I must throw the ball or where I must stand) and leading me places that she wanted to go. I was impressed and again reminded that play and friendship have no such barriers as language.
I visited the pediatric ward in the afternoon and there were only three children: a two year old girl who was in the process of being discharged, a six year old girl, and a newborn baby who was born prematurely…she was so very teeny tiny! I spent time with the six year old girl coloring, playing with the stuffed animals, and asking “getting to know you” type questions, such as school, family, and favorites. She was very pleasant when coloring with me but I then observed a completely different side, as she is very angry about being in the hospital…she was yelling at the nurses and trying to hit them, and refused to take her medicine and to eat or drink anything. She threw several fits while I was there. I feel that she is just acting out from all the stress and worry about being in the hospital and not fully understanding what is happening to her. She has had to spend the last several nights alone and had to spend time in the hospital last month…which is a lot for a six year old to deal with. Unfortunately her story is one of many who live in a cycle of being in and out of the hospital.
Dinner: rice, vegetable stir fry (peppers, onions, peas, beans), and sweet/spicy curry
Thursday, February 19th
The heat and the humidity is getting hotter and higher each day.
This morning I attended a weekly medical training (primarily for doctor’s and nurses) at the clinic. This week the training was explaining the pathology of a heart condition that is unfortunately very fatal and how the greatest need is to provide these patients with extensive palliative care. I have always been interested in medical things, so the nerd in me was very excited to listen to the lecture…even though my brain had to work around and try to decipher all of the medical terminology.
I returned to the pediatric ward this morning to visit the six year old patient that I had met yesterday, because she was suppose to be discharged in the afternoon. Unfortunately when I arrived she had just undergone a lumbar puncture (to test her spinal fluid for meningitis) and was sedated. Due to the sedation she was hooked up to a heart monitor and breathing through an oxygen mask. I must admit it was surprising to see her like this, since she was so active yesterday. I am clearly still a “newbie” in the medical world as I seem to expect things to be as I have left them the day before. But there seems to be a cycle…an ebb and flow…of promising to painful, normal to clearly something is wrong, up to down, down to up. There is a lot of uncertainty...anxious worry…questions unanswered…waiting for something. Parents often look hopeless and helpless, and I am usually at a loss of what to say to them. But thankfully the girl’s spinal fluid was clear and she was discharged in the early afternoon.
I spent most of the day in the pediatric ward playing “mom” to a two year old patient who was alone because both of his parents were at work. The morning was rough as he was fighting a high fever and needed blood drawn and a line put into his arm. I came and assisted the doctor and nurse by holding him while they tried to put in the line. It was challenge for them to find a vain and they had to poke around him several times, plus his fever, the stress of the needle pokes, and the heat of the day, made him extremely, extremely sweaty…so once the line was in, it fell out within a few minutes. Thankfully the doctor decided not to put another one in and try giving him oral antibiotics. He was such a brave little boy though…I probably would have thrown a greater fit if the doctor poked and dug in my arm that many times! After the trauma of the needle pokes I was able to lull him off to sleep until lunch. And after lunch he was like a whole different child…as he seemed to have gained some energy and strength. So we played catch with the stuffed elephant, scribbled with crayons, and danced around the room. He even counted for us in English from zero to ten, which we all found quiet impressive. Hospital social work is not for the faint of heart: blood, needles, sweat, various other bodily fluids, and interesting smells.
Appreciate electricity. On the drive home there was a news headline on the radio about how the electricity company wants to increase prices because they are losing money due to a decrease in the use of electricity. Irony, yes. I learned that over the past two years the electric company has been encouraging people to use less electricity because the power plants could not manage the demand. This resulted in random blackouts and then planned weekly blackouts throughout Durban. There was also an increase in price to discourage individuals from using so much electricity and to help put extra money into building more power plants. Even now there is an electricity monitor that appears on TV each night to remind everyone to use electricity wisely and what actions to take (such as unplugging specific items) when the power-grid is reaching too high a demand. So people have heeded the requests to start using less electricity…and now that they are, the electric company is losing money and wants to penalize them. Needles to say, people are rather frustrated and confused.
I had a mini internal meltdown between leaving the hospital and eating diner. Some days I just feel overwhelmed by tiredness and frustration and wondering if I will make it until the end of April and processing too much and missing home, etc. I am human… I coped by drinking a cup of coffee and eating strawberry biscuits (cookies).
Dinner: salad along with bean curry
When I came up to my room tonight I found the cherry Fizzy Pop that I forget I put there earlier. I was so excited…I just love lollypops. It made my evening. Fizzy Pops have an inner core of fizz powder that starts to fizz out of the lolly the closer you lick to the center.
Friday, February 20th
Sun and heat.
This morning my clinic supervisor wanted me to meet with the pediatric counselors about making some type of daily schedule for the clinic playgroup. The counselors struggled with this idea as they had tried following a schedule before and said that it did not work due to the random assortment of children that come on any given day, weather, and lack of space. I understood their struggles as it is a challenge to plan anything when you do not know numbers or age groups, and are lacking space, resources, and materials. We did decide that a set of expectations and consequences needed to be created and posted so the children would have some guidelines and boundaries while at the playgroup.
I again spent most of my day on the pediatric ward. There were five children on the ward: the two year old boy from yesterday was being discharged, two babies that had been there since Wednesday afternoon, and two new girls: one four years old and one seven years old. I have only been regularly coming to the peds ward for about two weeks but have observed that most of the children are admitted for either pneumonia, meningitis, TB, or some other respiratory issue, and most stay between three and five days. The girls and I colored, read stories, built with blocks, and both spoke English, so we were able to talk about a random assortment of things. I have learned to be quick and observant in the ward, as I managed to barely move out of the way of being covered in throw up at one point. I will again remind you that working in a hospital is not for the faint of heart. This week is apparently my introduction to bodily fluids…more complications for dressing professionally. I am beginning to think it might be a good idea to keep a spare set of clothes in my bag…just in case.
Rooney (the student intern from the University of Texas) found and bought a packet of Uno cards the previous day so we played a few rounds during our lunch break. He kept beating me with the wild-draw four card…I think he was hiding them in his pocket or something as I never once ended up with one in the deal or draw.
Dinner: fried potato and corn samoosas (not to be confused with the mamoosas)
Arvishka: (pointing to a number) What number is this?
Lisa: three
Arvishka: (pointing to another number) What number is this?
Lisa: You tell me what number it is. I went to school and learned my numbers and keep them all stored here (points to head)
Arvishka: No numbers are not kept here (points to head) they are kept here (points to ears).
Lisa: You mean I keep numbers in my ears?
Arvishka: Yes.
(just in case you thought numbers were stored in your head, we stand corrected)
Saturday, February 21st
My plan for the day: if I am able to sleep I will stay home and enjoy time alone in the house. If I am not able to sleep I will go with my South African family to the fitness center and then to do the weekly grocery shopping.
I was awake by 6am and unable to find any more minutes of rest…started my work out at 7:30am. A very productive morning. I just love the fitness center, as I feel the stress melting away when I am there and my brain actually stopped processing the world for awhile. My new favorite fitness equipment is the rowing machine…it is amazing! Hopefully my arms will be able to move tomorrow. Definitely need to join a fitness center after the summer.
Grocery shopping required going to three different stores and a roadside vegetable stand. One of the stores was big and modern and had an overwhelming variety of things (reminded me of Krogers) but oddly enough it was on the second floor of a shopping complex. So if you had a cart full of groceries you had to wait in line for the only elevator to take you down to the parking level. When we were going in the elevator it was crammed full with three shopping carts and seven standing people…so thankful that we did not get stuck and that it was not a long ride…as I was sandwiched between the back wall of the elevator and two shopping carts.
By the time we got back to the house, it was only 1pm but we were all exhausted and grumpy because it was so hot and humid outside. I know I keep writing that it is hot but this was so very unpleasant. I was so sweaty and everything was sticking to me and even a shower did not do much to help (as I started sweating again when it was over). I just wanted to sit in a bucket of ice. I drank glasses and glasses of water and therefore had to run to the toilet every thirty minutes. Despite the heat Ashiska was hard at work in the kitchen and had several pots on the stove that were cooking the various components of dinner.
We all managed to eventually find some level of comfort in the TV longue, as it is an inner room and does not have the sun beating on any walls. It also has a fan that nicely circulates the air. So we spent most of the afternoon and evening sitting in that room (in our heat induced comas) watching movies, eating ice cream, and drinking cold water and juice. We also had a snack of boiled corn on the cob :o)…it made me miss Ohio and summer cookouts. We first watched several cartoons of Indian and Hindi children’s stories…all but one was in English. One was about the creation of a goddess that had the ability to defeat the demons that were ruling heaven because she was created using the power of all the other gods, one was a fairytale of a fair maiden who became queen, and one was about a man and his animal friends in the forest. I enjoyed watching and learning from them…maybe I’ll have to try to bring a DVD home (if they play on American DVD players). Arvishka fell asleep during these movies (which is a miracle in itself since she is the three year old equivalent of the energizer bunny) so Ashika and I watched an Indian film called Black. I encourage you to go and rent it, as it is a beautiful and amazing story about a deaf and blind girl and her teacher. Make sure you have some tissues!
Dinner: brianni…a mixture of rice, potatoes, carrots, beans, peas, and other random spices and things
There will be no prayers tomorrow as someone in my South African family’s extended family has caught the measles and there is a set of religious rituals that must be observed until the doctor declares that the person no longer has the measles. These include: not going to other peoples’ homes, not accepting visitors into your home (do not worry I am safe), abstaining from all meat, and not frying foods, among several others. When the person no longer has the measles there will be prayers to thank the gods for the healing and then the prayers that were suppose to happen tomorrow will happen a few days later. I asked if individuals got the measles vaccination here and Ashika said that it was a required vaccination but that some adults still get them.
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