This past weekend we went on the Garden Route. It was such
an amazing time with lots of beautiful sights to see. We got to spend time with
elephants and feed them and take pictures with them, which was incredibly cool.
I also did the bungee jump which was insane and possibly the scariest moment of
my life, but I’m sure lots of others went into detail about the Garden Route,
so I don’t think I will elaborate too much.
This past week I started my new internship. I was at Sarah
Fox and although it is a great institution and doing so much for the kids,
myself and the two other women just felt like we weren’t being challenged at
all there. We are now at the Melomed Gatesville Private Hospital which is
really amazing. It is a huge hospital with all different wards and the nurses
are going to allow us to switch around the wards each week. This week we were
in the maternity ward, and on the very first day I was allowed to go into the
OR to watch a C-section (cesarean birth). It was quite an experience. There were times when I
felt as though I may pass out, but I held myself together because I knew how
bad it would look if I were to faint on the first day. I was so appreciative
that the doctors and nurses really seemed to care about us and take us under
their wing, wanting to make sure we will get the most out of this experience
and wanting us to learn. The other two days have been quite the same; the
nurses and doctors have challenged us and let us do some of the procedures
ourselves and really incorporated us into the work they are doing. I also was
able to spend a lot of time with one of the patients who was there because she
had gotten a hysterectomy, and it was so great to sit down and speak with her
not only about her procedure, but then just about life in general. What I have noticed
while being here is that people love to have real conversations with you and
are willing to open up to you even if they have only just met you, which is
something that seems to be missing in the American life. I have had some of the
best conversations with some of the people I would never think I would speak
to, and it has surprised me in the best way.
Just yesterday, Friday, I started my activist project with
Charity. It was all her idea, I just asked to tag along, but I couldn’t be
happier that I did. We went into one of the townships, and helped an
organization that is working on building new small homes for families in need.
The organization is called Fuller Center for Housing Western Cape and they are
some amazing people. When we got there we could see that the main structure of
the house has already been built with walls and some of the ceiling done as
well. We got to help them with the walk-in closet they were putting in. Right
away they threw us into the work, showing us how to use power tools and
teaching us the steps they need to take to finish the job. They told me that
everything they learned, everything they had done for that house, they had
learned from watching videos on YouTube. I was astounded. These people are just
amazing. I cannot wait to go back and help out some more.
or click this link to hear: Bishop Louis Green talks about The Fuller Center for Housing of Western Cape South Africa
No comments:
Post a Comment