March has come and gone and I feel like this year is running swiftly
away with me! I have had another month of both inspiring and devastating moments;
times when I have felt on top of the world and others when I have felt it come crashing
down around me. I am learning to rely on God in all these experiences as He is one constant in my life. He is slowly changing my perspective and allowing me to broaden my horizons as opportunities arise.
Enhancing Knowledge
With my mind still focused on developing my understanding of OT, I have found that this month has allowed me to start to deepen my
understanding of many techniques and skills to which I had never been exposed at
varsity. I am beginning to become proficient in assessing newborn babies for
primitive reflexes as we have a growing number of babies entered into our High
Risk Baby Programme (this project was established in an attempt to improve child disability
rates and reduce the numbers of developmental delays in children under 5 years
old in the area). I have broadened my understanding nerve compression injuries and have a
good knowledge of how to assess and treat a variety of painful hand conditions.
I have learnt the importance of ensuring sterile equipment and clean dressings
when treating abscesses and cellulitis and gained priceless knowledge on how to these conditions develop. I often find myself providing advice to mothers with
malnourished children who don’t understand the development process and am encouraged when I observe their change in their interactions with their child in order to promote stimulation and development through play. I also work with children who have severe cerebral palsy on a weekly basis
and am finally getting to grips with this often overwhelming disorder.
Uplifting Encouragement
I have found encouragement this month from the 4 disabled workers we
have in our therapy department. While many people step through our doors each
day seeking an undeserving disability grant, I have found great joy in
observing how they motivate other disabled people to move away from
grant-seeking tendencies and focus on all that they can do rather than needing help to get through every day. These
workers have full-time jobs despite their obvious disabilities – they are true
activists for enabling people with disabilities to move beyond the limitations
within their environment. One of the assistants in particular never ceases to
amaze me as she has gathered more and more support in the case against the
education department (see previous blog). With the help of a local disabled
people’s organisation, Margaret and a local OT, Jabu, managed to gather over
300 parents of disabled children (on an incredibly rainy day!) at Manguzi’s
tribal authority to take statements and assist Section 27 in beginning the
court case against the department of education to make more placements
available for disabled children in the area.
Disheartened Sorrow
As mentioned earlier, March continued to produce the high highs and low
lows that have been so evident in my previous two months here in Manguzi. Hearing
about the loss of a young child is never easy, however when the child belonged
to a small community of which one is apart, it makes it even harder. The
therapy department experienced a very sad and difficult Monday after hearing
about the death of two babies and two therapy patients over the previous
weekend. While
I didn't know any of them personally, I know their relatives and I was crushed
to hear about the deaths. A subdued gloomy atmosphere covered the department,
only intensified by the seemingly mourning sky which continued to pour with
rain the entire day. Many times I had to blink back tears as I thought about the
lives that were lost. That day I started to really understand the power of
community...as the people around me mourned the lives they had lost, I couldn’t
help but mourn with them. Their saddness was my own; their grief felt deep
within me. It is clear that the longer I live here, the more ubuntu is becoming
a part of my life.
That week continued to be difficult as I felt the effects of a developing cold wear me down. I took time to sleep whenever I could and tried to rejuvinate my tired body. However, God's provision never ceased to amaze me during that time. Every morning I would declare his glory over my day and ask that somehow His name would be lifted on high. Every day I was sick I still came home feeling as if I had had at least one break through within my work tasks; be it in terms of patient rehab, writing reports or connecting with external stakeholders. God was completely present within that tiring week and reminded me, once again, that my weakness is made perfect in his power.
Overpowering Beauty
One of the most amazing parts of living out in the bush is that every
weekend is transformed into an exciting holiday destination as I explore the abundance
of breath-taking destinations that surround me. March held particularly amazing
holiday memories as I took a week off work to spend time with my boyfriend and
parents. Please allow me to boast, just a bit...
I ended up travelling between Ponto Malangane (Mozambique), Sodwana
Bay and Mkhuze Game Reserve in the space of 10 days. It was so magical to see
such differences in the types of beauty that these places hold that are
relatively close together. I was in awe of the remote beauty in Ponto Malangane
and experienced a sense of sheer pleasure walking onto a vast deserted beach at
all times of the day. The beach ran for
miles and miles in each direction with little to no evidence of any other human
beings. In Sodwana Bay I spent 4 days with my boyfriend, Iain, learning to dive
and discovered an underwater world I had never known about. I immediately fell
in love with this underwater paradise as God’s handiwork became more obvious
than ever before. I loved the feeling of flying over mountains of brightly
coloured coral teeming with abundant sea life. During our 4 training dives we
had managed to see eels, a ray, a flounder, hundreds of different types of fish
and even a black tip reef shark. I then moved onto Mkhuze Game Reserve which
houses many of Africa’s finest animals. It was lovely to spend time with my
parents and family friends as we searched for game out in the bushy expanse of
the reserve. I marvelled at how our God could create something as bizarre and
oddly cute as a rhino and then go on to create the delicate, yet deadly shape,
of the ? spider. The 10 days out in nature were a great reminder of God’s
power, thoughtfulness and utter ingenuity when He created the earth.
March Highlights:
1. Visiting my first traditional homestead for a
home-based care visit to a gogo and her grandson who has cerebral palsy. What a
truly humbling experience!
2. Getting my divers! As previously mentioned, it
was such a fantastic experience to observe the world from the bottom of the
ocean bed. Life and colours abound and I was reminded of the brilliance of God
in the big and the small creatures.
3. Visiting the owner of an orphanage in the small
village of Ponto Mamoli and learning about how he has become the father to hundreds
of children over the last 20 or so years. It was so uplifting to hear his story
of being called by God into this ministry and I was so humbled to have the opportunity
to pray for him and his ministry.
March Lowlights:
1.
I’m still struggling to find my place within the therapy department. While
I feel like everyone has settled into their respective roles, I am still trying
to find exactly how I fit into the team.
2. I often doubt the course of action I take when
assessing and treating clients and find myself feeling lost and confused on a
regular basis. I am often clueless when dealing with more challenging cases and
feel like I am constantly bugging my superiors to assist me.
3. Feeling rather distressed after having to dress and splint the hand of a child who has had 2 finger amputations and 2 contracture releases as a result of old burns. He screamed and cried in my face for the entire hour and had to be held down by 2 women while I treated his hand. I'm not quite sure whether the child or I was more traumatised!
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| Iain and I gearing up for our first dive at Sodwana |
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| Ready to rock and roll! |
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| Visiting Ntokozo and his Gogo at their homestead about an hours drive from the hospital |
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| Zinhle, my fellow community service OT waiting at the homestead (note the goats in the background!) |
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| On my way to Mkhuze Game Reserve these 3 calves refused to get out of my way and I had to make a detour through large potholes to avoid bumping into them. |
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| I found this little guy as I was making my way through the Mkhuze Game Reserve. He was so small but moved at quite a pace! |
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| Two of our disabled workers at the therapy department. They are our wheelchair repairman...how ironic ;) |
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| Stimulation group transformed into a hair braiding session on a slow Friday afternoon |
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| One of the TB MDR patients craft project - bags to sell at the hospital promoting TB prevention. |
