This week at Tafelsig I spent my
time in family planning, an appointment based station that provides specified
healthcare to the women of Mitchells Plain. The nurse that I worked under,
Sister Perin, discussed and administered multiple methods of birth control,
performed pap smears and breast exams, and tested her patients for HIV. I loved
watching Sister Perin consult her patients, she spoke to each woman with great
compassion and never failed to make them laugh – an important concept for a checkup
that can be seen as intimidating or uncomfortable. She quickly set them all at
ease and she provided the perfect model for how a healthcare professional
should conduct themselves.
In result of our American values
of success, independence, education, and career advancement; girls are shamed
if they fall prey to teenage pregnancy. Thus, I was easily astounded by the
youth of the women that were frequenting family planning. A myriad of girls my age came in with
pregnancy scares or already had multiple children of their own. A girl as young
as thirteen visited the clinic, she was so obviously stressed and nervous about
the visit. In our talk with her she admitted that her mother had forced her to
make an appointment for birth control as she had recently acquired a boyfriend.
Although I could understand that the mother cared for her daughter and wanted
to see her continue her education and career without the interruption of a teen
pregnancy, Sister Perin and I both expressed feelings of disappointment that the
mother did not trust her daughter enough to make the proper decision and
stigmatized relationships. However, Sister Perin did not fail to work her magic
and she had the young girl laughing in no time. By the end of the visit the
girl was comfortable in discussing with a medical professional and she was
provided the medical attention that her mother wanted; however, it was
emphasized why this was also a decision that the young girl was a part of and
consented to.
Throughout our time here, I have
discussed the prevalence of young mothers in South Africa with many of my
coworkers, activist mentors, and co-educators. I have acknowledged the fact
that such a phenomena is not exclusive to Africa, it exists in the States just as
much. However, there have been many discussions with locals that attribute such
motherhood to young girls lack of proper role models, both male and female; in
result, there is no one to teach them principles of self-confidence,
self-respect, the significance of furthering education, and more.
I have loved
working with the Khayelitsha Fighterfighters FC as the program focuses on
transformational coaching to teach the boys the listed principles; however,
with my opportunities here I am quite disappointed that I haven’t been able to
work with or establish a program that does the same for young girls. In my time
here I have seen a great gender divide amongst sports; everyone I’ve talked to
are astounded to hear that I play soccer and rugby, the two male-dominated
sports here. These two passions of mine have built my character and have taught
me more than most classes on the value of respect, teamwork, ambition, and
perseverance. If there is one thing I regret about my experience here is that I
was unable to offer any help to the development of the young women in South
Africa. As I move forward in my activist career I would like to focus my
attention on such, and possibly work with a similar idea in the States.
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