Sunday, February 28, 2010

Karkloof Canopy Tours


This past Saturday, I went ziplining for my very first time EVER..in South Africa! It was so much fun! We went to Karkloof Canopy Tours. We had to divide in 3 groups of 10 when we got there, so of course with my enthusiasm, I went in the first group. The canopy tour involves traversing :) from one platform to another along a steel cable suspended up to 30m aboe the forset floor. There were seven platforms and eight slides that zig-zagged down the forest valley. One of cables I went down was 170m long! Getting suited up in the gear was so much fun. I felt so legit! I even had these leather gloves!

When we got there, we had to drive up in the forest in the back of the truck. It was so bumpy, but it definitely was an adventure driving up there. When we got pretty high up, we hiked a little bit more and before we knew it, we were at our first platform. At first, I was a little nervous, because I had never ziplined before, but once I did the first cable, I could not get enough! They taught us how to break by pushing down on the cable, but I loved going fast that I never did it. :) And the view was so amazing!

There was one part of the tour where we had to be dropped down to another platform. We had to sit on the edge of this platform, and then jump out. When it was my turn to do it, I sat down, took a deep breath, and jumped out! I screamed so long and I thought I was falling, becuase my eyes were shut, but I wasn't! The guy kind of hung me there for a little bit, so then I called him a butthead, and then he dropped me! :) It was so much fun!

After the tour, we got to eat a really good lunch. They made panini ham, tomato, and cheese sandwhiches, with potato salad. It was yummy! :) Another great weekend. Until next time...

Monday, February 22, 2010

Drakensberg mountains and San Bushman cave paintings



This past weekend I got the opportunity to visit the Drakensberg mountains, specifically Giant's Castle, and see the San Bushman cave paintings. The Bushmen were unique people. Not standing very tall in stature, their legacy still remains today. From the moment I saw the mountains, I was mesmerized. The Drakensberg mountains are truly God's creation. Seeing the moutains was just another reminder of how vast God is. The sky was extremely blue and the fields were extremely green.
We got to hike to the caves, and the path was gorgeous. We were always surrounded by mountains and openness, and the river was right next to us. Like I said, the hike up to the San Bushman caves was amazing. Everywhere I looked I was in awe. It was such a beautiful place. We we got to the cave area, we were greeted by the tour guide who explained many of the paintings to us. Also it was really cool to see the figures of the San Bushman, even though they were only reprentations. I learned that the San Bushman were hunter-gatherers, and that they lived in the cave areas at least 5,000 years ago until about the nineteenth century. One of my favorite things was to see how the paintings changed over time becuase thier interaction with other Black farmers and European colonists.

One thing that stuck out to me on the two and a half hour drive out was the people that we were driving by on our way out to the mountains, which was so far from civilization. What I have been feeling God placing on my heart was that there are so many people that still need to learn about Him and His love. Overall, I really enjoyed the trip and the hike. And plus I saw my first baboon today!! Until next time....

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Another awesome day of clinical

Today was different than our other clinical days. We got the chance to teach 8th graders (14-15 year olds) at Mpophomeni High School about nutrition and oral hygiene and menstruation (for the girls). Bethany and I taught about oral hygiene. Our teaching project was about the importance of oral hygiene, causes of poor dental health/foods to avoid, the proper way to brush and floss your teeth, and when to see the dentist. All these topics seem to be pretty straightforward, but there were many of the students we talked to today that had never even seen floss or knew how to properly use it. But there were also those who knew much about oral hygiene, so the students had a mixed variety of knowledge.

Bethany and I also had a poster of a tooth we had drawn to illustrate the different parts of the tooth: the crown and the root. Also we labeled the three components of a tooth: enamel, dentine, and pulp. You could tell that the students were really interested in our drawing. :) Overall, it was really fun to teach the students. They were really excited that we were there, and they participated in the quizzes we had. :) We even were able to get toothbrushes and toothpaste to hand out as prizes as well. Until next time...

Weekend of fun: Durban/Beach Day & Valentine's Day in South Africa


This past weekend we went to Durban for a beach day. :) But first, we stopped at this outdoor market. They had so many cool things that you could buy to remember your time in South Africa. Touristy stuff ya know.. Tony, Brianna, and I were determined to find an official South African jersey..and we did! Such a great purchase.

After, we went to the beach. It was such a nice day and there were not too many people there. I loved it! The water was much colder than when we went to the beach near Pennington. My friend Brianna rented a surfboard and surfed for the first time in South Africa. Later on in the trip, she's gonna teach me, and I can't wait! The beach day was great, but right before we were about to leave this huge wave came and washed over alot of our towels, clothes, and stuff! That was no fun at first, but later we looked back and laughed.

On our drive back it started to rain...then hail! It was crazy, but we got home safe. We were all so wiped out when we got back. I just fell asleep watching a movie.

The next day was Valentine's Day, and at first I thought it was not going to be too much fun because Paul and I were not going to be together, but it ended up being fun cuz the entire group spent it together. I still really missed Paul though. :) The activities committee, which I am a part of, set up a nice dinner in the outdoor tent we have on campus, Jabulani. We were able to give the staff an American recipe, and they cooked for us chicken fettucine alfredo and garlic bread with salad. They did such a great job! It was yummy!

After dinner, we exchanged gifts. The activities committee did what is similar to a secret santa, just rather we had secret valentine's. The idea was that you would make your secret valentine a card (we bought construction paper and glitter, it was real cute) and then only spent $35 rand (which is almost $5 US) on their gift. Most everyone bought each other's gifts at the market in Durban the day before. Jake, whom I just met on this trip, picked me, and he wrote me this really nice card and got me a pretty black and white scarf. I loved it. I picked Logan and got him a South African bandana/flag and a South African bracelet. It was really fun exchanging gifts. After dinner, there was a mini dance party and movie. The whole night was alot of fun and it was definitely what I needed, especially since I was bummed that I was not with Paul. I'm strating to make some really fun friendships with alot of people within the group. :) Until next time...

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Ethembeni Place of Hope

Today was my first day at Ethembeni Place of Hope. I had an idea of what I was going to be doing, since a couple of my other classmates have already done some clinical days there before me, but I was still really excited to experience a new place. Today was really hot from the start, so I already knew it was going to be somewhat of a long day. When we were dropped off in Mpophomeni at Ethembeni, Sister Kathryn and a couple of the other health care workers were there already. We kind of just sat around for a little bit, because Sister Kathryn was trying to finish some paperwork. So while we were waiting, one of the health care workers showed us around the place. They have four beds at Ethembeni for a temporary place for patients (inpatients). We briefly met two of the patients. They looked pretty sick, and they had just woken up so I didn’t get to ask them much. Hopefully next Thursday when I’m there I will have the opportunity to interact a bit more with them. They were really happy to see us though.

Ethembeni Place of Hope is an non-governmental organization (NGO) and is funded by the Howick Community Church and private donations. They have two nurses, Sister Kathryn and Sister Louise, as well as health care workers, volunteers, and church members that are on the team. Just to begin with though, my Ethembeni experience is very much different from that of the others at the clinics. It is more laid back, slower in pace, and just all around different. I felt that the other places understood a little better what it meant to have a student there. For example, they were more inclusive in translating any Zulu into English. But the experience was still very welcoming for me as a student.

Today, Bethany and I went out with Sister Kathryn, a health care worker, and volunteer to do home visits. We would all pile in the buckey and journey along; it was quite the experience. I will highlight two of the visits throughout the day that impacted me the most.

The patient, who stuck out to me the most out of all the visits, was the second home we visited. The home consisted of a 24-year-old lady with TB and HIV, which was the patient we were seeing, a 43-year- old lady, which I will detail about later on, an 18-year-old boy, who was away at the time for high school, and two 5-year-old children. All of these individuals were being watched over by an 80-year-old grandmother! She was the primary caregiver and provider for all. The 43-year-old was the daughter of the lady, the 24-year-old was the grandchild of the lady, and one of the 5-year-old children was a great-grand child of the lady. The sad thing also was that the 43-year-old, in addition to not being able to find her medical card, was HIV positive and mentally challenged. Also, the parents of one of the 5-year-old children had died from HIV and was abandoned until the grandmother had picked him up. I could not even fathom the situation at first. Her daily life just seemed like a constant struggle. Their home had very little ventilation, no fridge, and not much room. My heart broke for her. I looked around the home and at her, and I felt so bad, probably one of the worst feelings I have had thus far. So all I knew what I could do was pray for her, so I did. I prayed for each family member and a special prayer for the grandmother. I will continue to dedicate her and her family in my prayers.


The second visit I will talk about is the last visit we did for the day. We visited this family that lived in this building built by hand where we met a middle-aged man who was on the waiting list for Ethembeni services. He was different from many of the other patients we visited, because he had literally given up on life. He had abused marijuana, was mentally confused, and showed many signs of failure to thrive. His caregiver had told us that all he did was sit in the back of the house with the chickens and stare off into space, which was totally true upon my own observation. It was very sad. The visit ended with us praying for him. Ethembeni mostly provides spiritual care and referrals, so its a different kind of nursing that I am exposed to, but I like it. The spiritual health of a person is so important when considering holistic care. This picture is of one of the other houses we visited. A mother and three children live in this shack.


In my next visits, I plan to ask and follow-up about the last patient we visited as well as the family with the 80-year-old caregiver. When I think of both of them, the idea of desperation and poverty come to my mind, and my heart becomes heavy. So I will continue to pray to God about their situations, because I feel that is all that I can do now.
Overall though, what delighted me today were the last fifteen minutes we spent with the kids at the family center. They just want to be loved and held. Most all of the children there are orphans or their parents have died of AIDS. They are such a joy to be around, and I hope that on my next visit I will be able to spend more time with them.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Weekend away...

This past weekend we went to Durban to experience being with members of the Indian community. Outside of India, the Kwazulu-Natal area has the highest population of Indians in the world. So it is important for us to learn who our neighbors are. J We stayed at this place in Pennington, right outside of Durban, near Umzinto. Our group was divided amongst chalets and cabins. My chalet had seven girls in it.

This weekend was extremely hot...and humid! So it was kind of tough to have a good attitude about everything when you are in a new place, traveling with a group of 53 people, and in the hot, humid weather, but in the end I did learn some new things. J

Let me first start off with how we got there. What was supposed to be a drive of no more than 2 hours, ending up turning into a journey of 5 and a half hours! Along the way we had many stops for some reason, and the major one was when the professor’s car broke down pretty much. It was kind of ironic, because it was the newest car amongst the entire CARAVAN! I am still adjusting to traveling with such a large group of people, because everywhere we go we get out and it looks like we are literally a traveling circus! J But through it all so far, I have developed some pretty amazing relationships. There are a few girls where we have gotten close through looking at the funny side of this whole journey, especially this past weekend! J

When we finally got to our accommodations, it was really humid (mind you its night time already) and still the temperature of the day! In my head, I was thinking….this is gonna be an interesting weekend. J But the funny thing is that night ended up being one of the best nights ever, because a group of us ended up talking until the early night about all the funny things and moments we have had in South Africa since we got here! J It was the first time that I did not feel homesick, and this whole memory was with people that I was not close with before coming out here. I think God is trying to teach me that there are people around me that He has placed in my life to be an encouragement and for me not to feel homesick. He truly is watching out for me. J

On Saturday, we ended up missing breakfast because our chalet was way out in the boondocks and I guess no one really told us, but it was all good cuz we still got to eat. J One unique thing about this trip was that much of it was not really “plan planned” like most all of our trips are, so it was very interesting from the start. I think that was another thing that God was trying to teach me this weekend, that sometimes we don’t need to know everything and all the plans of things, but believe that he will always keep us safe and watch over us. J

Later in the morning we went to the downtown area of the Indian community, where much of the locals shop and do their groceries. It was intense, because there were so many people there, and it was like almost 100 degrees! One thing that stood out to me was that many of the shopowners were Indian and the shoppers were black. But they had like a meat market, what it similar to a CVS, and a pharmacy, some clothes stores, and very mini little markets on the streets. Later on in the day, we went back to Pennington, had lunch, swam in the pool, and then went to the beach! Yes…I got the chance to swim in the Indian Ocean! The water is so different compared to the water in the States. It’s a lot warmer, and we could walk out pretty far before it got deep. It was a little too warm for me, but that may be because I’m used to cold beaches! J It was still fun though. Later that night, Clive, the Intercultural Communication professor, had invited some church members from the local Indian community to come and bbq and eat dinner with us. So they came and we all hung out and just enjoyed each other’s company.
On Sunday, the group split up and we all went to different churches. I went to the Practical Christians Church. It was not affiliated with any church denomination, but based on their style of worship and later talking to the pastor he said they were the closest to the Pentecostal denomination. Eight of us, out of the group of 53, went to this church, and they ended up dedicating the entire service to us! Yes, so each of us spoke of our thoughts of South Africa, why we came here, our testimony, or a message from the Word. I chose to talk about God’s love and ours and read the passage from I John 4:7-21. That passage has something in it for believers and non-believers and it talks about true love….God’s love. The service ended up being really great and one of our coordinators, Leslie, had a really good message as well. She spoke on how God wants to use us wherever we are at in our lives, and that we just have to say yes. Whether we are strong in faith or weak and lost, He can use us and teach us if we open the door of our hearts to Him.

After church, we were invited to have an authentic Indian lunch at the pastor’s house. The food was good. J We had what was similar to a paella Spanish rice dish (but Indian style), a meat pasta, and salad (without spicy dressing, supposedly J). Desert was fruit and ice cream, which was nice and refreshing on a hot day! One thing that I noticed interesting about the whole experience was that the wife, and the other lady who helped prepare the food, did not eat with us. But rather they ate after us, when we were all done and in the living room talking and having desert. So yeah, the ironic thing to me was that they had prepared all the food for us! I thought how different that was for me to experience and what I was used to back in the States.

In the end, the trip was a long one, but it was a good one. It was nice to get off the campus, because we sort of are in our own little area in the mountains. Its pretty, but it can be secluded. One the way there and back, I rode in the truck( or what they call a buckey) with Leslie and three other girls. So it was a little cooler than the big van/what I call a party bus, that fits 20 people! J haha The girls and I sang songs to some old school classic songs from back in the day. J I’m excited to keep learning about new things and different cultures and bonding with the rest of the group. Until next time….

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Last day at Caprisa...on to other exciting clinical sites...

Today was my last day at Caprisa, the HIV clinic I talked about in my earlier post. I felt even more excited to go to clinical, because I had already met many fo the staff and got the opportunity to assess and attend to patients last week when I was there. I worked again with Sister PK, and I can't say enough how amazing she is! Together today, we saw 12 patients. Since I had already learning last how to chart, I charted on the first patient of the day! :) She told me she really enjoyed my enthusiasm to do things, which was a real encouragement. Throughtout the day, I gave many DMPA (Depo) injections, just like last time. Because I was also writing treatment plans, I got the opportunity to ask alot of questions about all the different kinds of medications, which are really different from those in the States. Sister PK was telling me that much of our medications in the States, for example pain medications such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen, are much stronger and are not used that often out here. Also, they are more expensive. We treated a couple STI's today, which was different from last time. I really feel like I am aplpying all the things I learned in my OB semester. :)


Later on in the day, I asked if I could help the nurse that draws the "bloods", CD4 count, viral load, chem panel, etc., for all the patients. Of course, Sister PK happily agreed and introduced me to Sister Nondumiso. She was just as nice as Sister PK , and before I knew it, I was drawing blood on a patient. This was one of the skills that I wanted to get more practice on, and I sure did. I drew about bloods on about 4 or so patients. And what was really cool was that I wasn't really nervouse at all! :) I felt pretty confident. Sister Nondumiso was also a really good teacher.


Before leaving that day, I was invited to sit in on what is similar to a post-conference meeting, Including myslef, there was 8 of us in the meeting, one being a doctor, two neing nurses, two being counselors, and a couple other positions I am unsure of. I felt really privileged and honored that Dr. Paul invited me to sit in on this meeting. The three topics discussed were the age and manner at which disclosure of HIV should be for children (which I think I might write my ethics paper, the development of TB after beginning ARV treatment, and the development of lactic acidosis due to a specific ARV reimn. It was really enlightening to listen and learn about different cases going on Caprisa. The more that I continue to learn about HIV, the more interested and passionate I get! Last time I left Caprisa, I had learned so much, an this time after leaing, I felt that I had learned even more! I don't know how to expain it, but inside of me, I am fired up to learn about this rampant disease that is affecting so many people of this country. Until next time...