Brooklyn Chest TB Hospital

I have decided to do my service for the remainder of the semester at the Brooklyn Chest TB hospital. We went today to have a meeting with our mentor, Yolanda, who is an Occupational Therapist at the hospital. The hospital is set up almost like a little neighborhood. There are different buildings including the wards where the patients stay, schools for the patients, and office buildings for the staff. There are OTs, PTs, Speech Therapists, social workers, nurses, and doctors who work in the hospital. Our meeting went very well and we quickly learned that there are endless things to do to keep us busy. She expressed needs with caring for and stimulating the babies, creating a curriculum for the preschool,and tutoring the older kids in math and reading. The hospital also runs life skills courses so that when adults get out of the hospital they are able to start their own businesses. She suggested we sit in on those courses as well as her OT sessions. She is going to teach us some of the exercises we can do with the children when we are with them. Lastly, she emphasized the importance of just holding the kids especially the babies and talking to them even though they cannot talk back. Many families do not have a relationship with their child in the hospital and rarely visit so the human touch is extremely important in their development. We do have to take precautions especially with the older kids and adults because they are more contagious so we will have to wear masks and gloves. Most of the babies have TB Meningitis, which affects their brain. The babies are not yet coughing as a symptom and that is mostly how it is spread. Hopefully we will have our first official day tomorrow!

Masigcine Children's Home

Yesterday we went to see another potential service site. It is basically an orphanage but they don't call them that anymore. Instead it is called a "children's home". The kids were so excited when we got there and immediately started climbing all over us. There are 28 in the home and their ages range from 0-6. If they cannot find a home for them at age 6, they are still able to stay until they do find a home. The children are brought to this home because of court order usually and removed from the home for different reasons such as abuse and neglect. The home was very well run but it was still sad to know these children don't have a permanent living situation and a stable family. It was especially hard for me to see the children with special needs and the director said they are harder to find homes for because it entails a lot more support. I don't think I will work there for my primary service project but I could definitely see myself going back to visit the kids.

Bo Kaap

A Muslim community in Cape Town

TB Hospital

Today a few of us went to visit the TB hospital. This is different from the TB clinic we went to before because it is all inpatient. When we first walked in we came to the infant ward. Some of the babies are not able to stand or even sit up because of their TB. Many of them are covered with bandages and oxygen tubes. This was pretty heart wrenching. We got a tour of the hospital by the Occupational Therapist. Patients range from a few months to 18 years old. There are about 60 patients. The hospital has a school for the older kids and a preschool for the younger ones. We will be working with the infants and young children because they are less contagious so it will be safer. The hospital has an OT, as well as PTs, and Speech therapists because TB affects EVERYTHING. The kids constantly need to be stimulated. Most of the patients are also infected with HIV/AIDS. The OT we spoke with was amazing and was open to hear our ideas about programs we could implement after hearing more about the needs of the hospital. I was really impressed about how efficiently the hospital was run and the programs for these kids. As of now, this is defintely where I would like to do my service.

Devil's Peak

Yesterday Claire, David, Noah and I went on an amazing hike/climb on Devil's peak. Devil's peak is to the side of Table Mountain and pretty much right in our backyard. It was perfect weather for a hike, sunny but cool. We soon lost the path and just started climbing up the rocks. We discovered a waterfall at one point and the scenery overlooking the city when we got up higher on the mountain was absolutely amazing. We did not quite get to the top because we had to get home for class but I definitely want to go up there again!

South African Hospital

I had my first and hopefully last experience in a South African hospital last night. I suddenly got really sick around dinner time and continually was getting sick until about 11:30 when they decided I should go to the hospital. I was accompanied in the waiting room by a very drunk guy around my age who had cut his head open after jumping out of a taxi (or his friends pushed him?), we couldn't really get a straight story. On the other side of me was a man who had cut his hand by accident with a knife at work, and there I was throwing up every ten minutes. The doctor examined me for a bit and decided he would give me "the injection". Ordinarily I would have asked what it was but all I knew was a boy in our group got "the injection" a couple days ago and he felt completely healed afterwards. Sure enough, after I got that shot in my butt, I began to feel better immediately. WAY TO GO AFRICAN HEALTH CARE!It was supposed to cost me 400 Rand (about $54 US Dollars) but the credit card machine was not working so I just gave her 100 Rand which was what was in my wallet and she was fine with that amount. Needless to say I am better now. Classes started today. I had Poverty and Development this morning, which I think will be a very interesting class, and I have my first Afrikaans Language class tonight. We are revisiting service sites this week and I will choose one by the end of this week!

Desmond Tutu

Today eight of us woke up early to go to St. George's Cathedral to see Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak. Tutu was the first black South African Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town. He also campaigns to fight against AIDS, TB, homophobia, poverty, and racism. Tutu announced his retirement just yesterday. We did not know what to expect and if he was even going to be there. We got to the church a little bit late and filed in just as Tutu was about to start, making our usual foreigner scene. He asked us to introduce ourselves and proceeded to have everyone introduce themselves as well. The crowd was under 50 people, making this even more personable. He was so much more interested in hearing about the people in the crowd than talking about himself, a truly admirable man. It was a shortened service but we all did get communion from Tutu, which was exciting! After the service, he asked if we wanted a picture with him, clearly noticing our hesitance to ask for one. We also met a man who ran a HIV/AIDS clinic in one of the townships. He came over from the US 25 years ago with his wife and six kids to run this clinic. He recently lost his leg and must go to the US for treatments but he wants us to come by his clinic before he leaves to talk with him. Despite the fact I am on three hours of sleep, this has been an amazing morning! When Tutu turns 79 years old in October, he is no longer going to appear for public speeches, so we saw one of his last!