Lily's internship: fascinating, educational, emotionally challenging and so rewarding

Life as an intern is proving to be one of the most fascinating, yet emotionally challenging experiences I've ever had. In the past two weeks, I've met young children in the hospital who are living with HIV, tuberculosis or hepatitis, and living without parents, limbs or the carelessness youths should have. Some have parents who are always visiting and others have parents who dropped them off and haven't returned. Many of them have to stay in bed because of traction devices or stability frames that are helping them heal, but also keeping them immobile. Others have amputations or plaster casts on one or both legs, making it difficult for them to move around and use their energy. It's heartbreaking to see such young children living with hardships that you instinctively want to protect them from.

There are also so many positives that help to balance out the sadness of what we are seeing; when you walk into the ward, some of the children get a huge smile across their face and call us "auntie," which is a term of endearment. It is so bittersweet to see how much a little attention can do for them, but to know that they need so much more than what you can give. It's also a positive thing when I stop to think about the mission of Maitland Cottage because I know they're working to help these children in the long run and correct problems that are keeping them from walking or otherwise harming them.

A different kind of positive is the experience I've been having and the information I've been learning. I've spent the past two weeks interning in the operating room (which they call Theatre...) and will rotate to the ward and physiotherapy. The surgeons have been so good about explaining the illness/disease/injury, how it affects the patients everyday life and how they plan to correct it. I've gotten to go into the operating room and stand next to the surgeon as he explained all of the cuts and corrections he was making. Today I even got to scrub in with them for a correction of leg deformities due to Blount's disease! I am learning so much about the anatomy and physiology of the procedures, as well as getting to experience the daily activities of a pediatric orthopedic surgeon.

The internships are doing so much for us, while also allowing us to do as much as possible for those that the organization is geared towards. Some of us are aiding patients, some are working with wildlife and others are exploring human rights issues.  From conferences to protests to visiting parliament, everyone has been so busy!

Cape Town is proving to be a place with so many learning opportunities and people willing to help with any project you'd like to work on; as we come up with ideas for our activist projects, there are so many contacts that we can connect with and everyone seems to give great feedback about how to adjust the aim of the project. I can't wait to get to work on the activist project!