All coming together

Cannot believe we are almost done with community. This whole experience has been something else, something I have never experienced before. It has taught me about what we as OT’s can do, how we are advocates for our clients, how we are advocates for the disabled. How we can be the voice to those who do not have a voice, or who think they do not have a voice. It has been an experience of learning to work with so many different people, my patience being tested to the absolute limit. I feel that having a one week break from community to go to Zim, was the best thing that could have happened to me. In the first two weeks of community, I felt so overwhelmed in being 4 students in this magnitude of community, filling the shoes of three blocks before us. It is something that I have learnt about myself this year, I always compare myself and freak myself out at the impending doom of the end result. Like how am I going to get ther? How am I going to be able to do what other people have achieved already. I need to learn that my experience is not going to be the same as someone else’s. It has happened to me in every single block except paeds, because that was my first block. I had no-one to compare myself to. And I achieved in that block. I loved every minute of it. Shows me something doesn’t it? I think I needed to learn these lessons for my years to come as an OT. That I need to invent myself, and not try and be someone else or try fill the shoes of other people but rather create my own path. I know that I have the passion and ability to do well. I just need that faith in myself. And again, another lesson hard learnt- I cannot do anything in my own strength. Praying for strength and peace that surpasses all understanding allowed for the ever resounding message that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. How do we do anything without Him? So it’s been a 6 week learning period. It has been tough and challenging, but so exciting at the same time. I mentioned in one of my first blogs that I am so scared of not doing a lot in the community, or feeling like we are getting nowhere and I also said I know that in 6 weeks time we will look back and be like, wow- we really did do a lot. And today was one of those days. And even though we got verbal recognition for the amount we have achieved from various sources, we didn’t even need the verbal recognition from others to know that we have done well and that we have done a lot. And even small things that will go unnoticed means a lot to us, and its not only about the marks at this point, it’s a feeling of satisfaction knowing the things we have achieved. Today the OT’s from a special school came to see the crèche we had been working at, and like I said their praise was well received by our group, and it felt like all the tears and frustration of this block was worth it. Today I felt like an OT. Which is a great feeling! Today was also a day of mixed emotions... a young student at the day care passed away. The teachers heard today, and the tears and heartbreak was awful. A young life taken too soon. You could feel the change in the atmosphere at the day care almost immediately. I don’t think I’ll ever understand why these things happen; I had a good friend pass away 2 years ago at the young age of just 20. It still hurts today. And I will never understand. Today I was taken back to that hurt that I felt two years ago. I prayed a prayer once, and it changed my life forever. I prayed, break my heart for what breaks yours. It is in a worship song and I made it my own. It was a hard prayer to pray, as my heart hurts so easily for others as I feel the Father’s love for others. And I know it is a pin prick of the feeling He has compared to what I am feeling, for nothing can compare to His love. This news wasn’t easy for those in the day care. It was a hard day. And the day didn’t get any better after that when one of the other girls in the day care fell off her chair off the stage hitting her head against the cot. She didn’t hit it hard but she definitely had a huge fright. I saw it happen. I was so proud of my community group, The Awesome Foursome as we were calm and collected. It was sad when none of the teachers responded to the situation as we would have expected. But my group was amazing, two consoled her, as one checked that she wasn’t injured as one went to get sugar water to relieve the shock that she had experienced. We knew exactly what to do and we worked like a well oiled machine. Testament to how far we have come as a group. You truly do become like family when you spend so much time together. We drive each other crazy but I love this group. So today was a day of mixed emotions, followed by some deep thinking and reflections.

CDC Casual day

What a brilliant day! What we thought would be a chilled day at the crèche for casual day turned out to be so much more than that. We decided that we would do something at the crèche for Casual Day. Casual day holds a very special place in my heart as last year for Casual Day we were at a drug rehab centre and we had such a great day dressing up and enjoying the day singing dancing and showing off everyone’s talents in our talent show. This year, I just knew we had to do something! We decided on a photobooth where the children could dress up, have their photos taken and the principal offered to bring snacks and juice. Not knowing what to expect on this day, everyone just “came to the party” and we had such a great day! The principal is one of the most amazing people I have ever met, the love and care that she has for those children and her gratitude towards us is so great. This Casual Day thing is basically an awareness day and day of support for those with disabilities. And how on earth were we to explain this to these children, who they themselves have disabilities? How were we to explain that today was a day for them where people are celebrating those with disabilities and that even though they may be disabled, that they need to know that they are just “differently abled’, and not “disabled”. Chanelle came up with a beautiful idea of reading a story about a duck who was different to the rest, he could not walk, eat by himself or fly. And this story spoke of how his friends and family did everything they could to help him, by making assistive devices for this little duck so that he could learn to do some things by himself. It was such a beautiful story and I think it was perfect for this day as we explained how special this duck was even though he was not like the rest. I feel it was well received by some of the children, those who could concentrate for the duration of the story, they even answered questions afterwards. It was a beautiful site to see, these children sitting together listening to this story. Thereafter, we did the photobooth. And what fun it was! The principal was incredible and dressed up soem of the children with funky clothes and make up and we had tons of props and colours and fun items to wear. The children loved it as they all posed for their photos and came running to see what the photo looked like. Everyone was involved, the teachers, the differently abled children, the principal, the students and the students’ supervisor. We then played a game of bean bag races and settled down to the a meal. This meal came as a surprise to the students as Nthombi had offered to get snacks and juice but she went all out. She got hot dogs, nik naks and juice for all the children and a beautifully prepared meal of Shisanyama (braaied meat), rolls and a tomato and onion mix as well as coke and fanta. It was so unexpected, which made it so special. I love that in our profession, we get to come across people that will surprise us. Whether it be in good ways or bad ways, but bottom line is, we will never just be those ordinary professionsals, we are exposed to so much and today we were surprised by the generosity of this crèche, and at the same time, for the absolute gratitude and appreciation of us. It worked both ways, and in my eyes, that is what community is. working together with the community, for the community. Coming together as outsiders, invited into this circle of trust that is community, and working together for the greater good of the people that are inside that community. Today was one of my favourite days, sharing in laughter happiness and a beautiful meal. Today felt like community. In church, they always speak of community,a nd how we should all be a community of Christians inviting those who don’t believe inside this community, and even though today was not about church/Christianity, I have never felt community like I did today. A community of peace, love and acceptance between students, the differently abled and a passionate principal and our supervisor.

Reflections

I read a powerpoint on blogging and I have been challenged ever since. I always thought I had this blogging thing down, and is there really a way to tell someone how to reflect on what has happened. But it is true, reflecting is a process. Thinking of an event and reflecting how you felt and why you felt that way. Looking at blogging or reflection in a systematic way. This being: 1. Experience. Focus on a critical incident that took place. Describe the event as objectively as possible, how would your community members explain this event? And how do these two explanations compare. 2. Reflection. What are my assumptions and how can I tets them. What were the assumptions, and is there another way to see this event? (this is interesting for me because I have always explained an event, how I felt but not how I could see it in another way. That perhaps there is always another way to look at things. 3. Analysis. How is it related to other issues. Who or what could help in this situation. What action will I take? And then what are the outcomes you hope to achieve. And then reflection on the actual outcome, what worked well? REFLECTION IS A USEFUL LEEARNING EXERCISE BUT IT OUGHT TO LEAD TO ACTION. I have never really thought about this. Its odd, because now I am reflecting on reflecting. It’s never ending. Hahaha. But I will try this from now onwards for any exciting events that happen or if an incident occurs. So this week has been a lot better than last week, last week was just a ard week coming back from Zim and having to go straight back into reality. I think I felt that way because we were on such an emotional high in Zim, we were so fired up with passion and energy and so moved by what was done at Zim, that returning to SA and the reality of marks, and group work, and having to still get through the next 3 months of this degree was a difficult thing to think about when all I wanted to do was be in a lecture at Zim, or in a local taxi going to a game reserve, or walking through the local markets bargaining with the locals. My heart was in Zim and my mind in SA. It was hard. Looking back and reflecting on this, I think that I could have prevented some stress and some bad days and moments if I had reflected on what was going on. I was so wrapped up in the drama and the fighting and the stress of marks, that my eyes were taken completely off the picture. And that is the community. I need to remember that always. And it then keeps me sane. It then makes me realise why I am here. Looking at how to reflect etc, I think this situation I found myself in could definitely have another way of looking at this event. Like looking from other’s points of view. Maybe the group had other things happening in their lives or in their degree, and maybe I needed to keep in mind that I have been taught differently. I don’t know. I feel a lot calmer and more tolerating this week. I am trying to take everything in my stride and remember that I need to be patient in everything that I do. Patience, a huge lesson learnt for me this block. I need to practice patience. The community is not as fast and structured like the other placements I have been to. Patience came in here where I had to learn that the community cannot work on my time, I need to work on the community time, or else one will end up getting frustrated and irritated. Things will happen eventually. Today was a perfect example of community time and just the community in general. We needed to go on a home visit for a follow up client from the previous block. We contacted one of the ward councillors, and she came from Pinetown to assist us in finding this home. After driving around and numerous phonecalls to one of our lecturers, and going to the wrong house (which was really interesting because it happened to be the house of one of the famous soccer player’s granny, and this house had just been redone because cars kept rolling down the hill and knocking the house due to the poor infrastructure of the road. The house had been hit 3 times due to cars having accidents on the narrow road. This is so interesting because this is where the government needs to step in, or the ward councillors and development organisations etc, something is being done about this), anyway we had to access the home visit handover file to find the correct address or contact numbers, and the use of the handover file was proven to us- how very important it is to have updated information and how important it is for the handover file to be easily accessible AND easy to follow! We had some trouble finding this, and the urgency of this case was not specified which we think it should have been because after reading thr handover, we were under the impression that the ramp was being built for this client, where in fact it had not been started, the ward councillor we were with was not allocated to the ward the client was in therefore we need to contact the proper ward councillor. It is so easy for things to go wrong when there are so many people to contact and only some who are motivated to do their jobs. The ward councillor with us today was expressing concern over the politics of the wards etc. It was so interesting because for the first time I felt like we were really exposed to how CBR works, with all the different levels of communication etc. I know I have gone completely off the point now. Oh yes community time. So we had to be patient today when trying to find this client’s house because we cannot operate on our time, but on the community’s. Very interesting experience. Today was a better day. We had some good laughs with the speeches and we found a new restaurant that we fell in love with. It is all about morale building in an MDT, so people become more tolerating of one another.

What a week!

Well what a week it has been and I cannot believe we are 4 weeks in with only 2 more weeks left in the community. This week was horrible to say the least, with MDT drama, with a presentation that I know had so much more potential had we worked well as a team, lots of tears and fighting amongst all of us, but we came out of it stronger and all the better for it. Friday, us 4 OT’s spent a lot of time in CDC painting and decorating, and putting up posters and sorting out the classroom as all the children went on an outing. We were smiling again as we reflected on the week we had just had. It was a good end to the week, we laughed and shared had amagwinya (no idea how to spell) and to end off the week, my little client’s mom messaged us saying thank you for everything we have done for her and sent a photo of my little client in the CP chair that I fabricated for her. They loved and were so grateful that we would take time out of our week to come to their home and help their little child. It definitely made all the tears worth it when we knew that we were making a difference in this little girl’s life. It kind of brought me back to reality, to the very reason why we do this. It is not for the marks or how many hours we clock in, it is about our clients, and it truly was a beautiful reminder. And something that I needed. Thursday afternoon we had a tutorial with just the OT’s and one of the speeches. One of our class members spoke about an organisation called GAPA. I battled to sleep that night thinking about all that she had to say as I reflected on how what I learnt in Zim related to wonderfully to what the grannies of this community are doing. GAPA, are a community of grannies that are supporting one another and are a part of various income generating projects in their fight against poverty and AIDS. As I reflected that night, I remembered in Zim how we spoke about occupational consciousness, and how through collective occupation, there is a connectedness. And in my eyes, this connectedness can move mountains. That there is empowerment through collective occupation. These grannies all coming together as part of a collective for a cause close to their hearts, and through being a collective, through BEING a part of something and DOING, and LOVING this occupational collectiveness, their consciousness is awakened, and they are empowered despite the generalisation that grannies cook, they knit, they loo after children, they are old and frail. NO! Through collective occupation, it has brought meaning to their lives, it has brought purpose. I love that so much. And Mariam also spoke about a group of grannies in their community where they were working at, and how through identification with one another, they are empowered. And these grannies are coming together to support one another as they all are taking care of a child with a disability, and what I found so beautiful and so inspiring is how they did not want this support group for their support, they wanted to form this support group so that they can help other grannies/mom’s/caregivers in their situation. That other people never have to go through what they are going through, alone. That other caregivers will have the support that they never had. It was so touching. I am so proud of the other community group for running with this. It is inspiring, and the way they talk about it is also inspiring. A fire in their eyes as they reflect on the first support group meeting. This is what makes this degree all worth it.

A tough day in community

Today was a very frustrating day. Today is the first day that I have shed a few tears over community, just over frustration. I am so frustrated by how many projects there are, or not even just projects, just SO much to be thinking about all at the same time. I was also frustrated with my MDT team. I was so hoping it would not get to this, and I have tried so hard to be patient, to be easy going, to be mindful of how MDT can go wrong, and how to be civil and mature in some situations. I really have tried hard, but I feel let down. The lack of initiative really frustrates me, and that is often the reality of groupwork, where the work is left to one person or one person has to be the policeman to make sure something happens. We need to work in collaboration with one another. I think today was just a frustrating day and I feel like such a moaner. But on top of the case presentation, Thobi and I realised the downfalls of the activity box, and again I was so frustrated. In recommendations, I feel that sometimes they really are not thought through properly. it really gets me because we are so intimidated by this list of recommendations often unrealistic. We were recommended to implement the activity box at the creches so that more of these activity boxes could be made for surrounding crèches, but this activity box is not workable yet. Yet our recommendation was to already implement. I am moaning now, even with a voice in my head saying, I too could be guilty of such recommendations. The activity box is such a great idea, don’t get me wrong and the first initial activities that were done worked well at Lethu, but as time goes on we have realised that the example box is not even near completion, the activity file has about 6 Zulu translations missing, it is so difficult for us to follow due to the numbering and order of the activities placed in the file, and some of the activities are too difficult for the age group of Lethu. And also, the obstacle course activity is not economically feasible for us to buy the equipment because all sponsorship letters sent out were unsuccessful. So now I feel like we are starting this all over again where this project of the activity box could have been closed off so nicely at Lethu. In retrospect, I know I will look back at this one day as a learning curve, and it would have taught me a lot but I just feel that people need to be very careful with recommendations and make sure that projects are ready to be implemented before recommending that it be implemented. Group 3 did so well with this idea, and I feel because there is SO many other things going on in the community, so much to think about, that not enough attention is being paid to some of the great ideas. I think if there was enough time, and fewer things to think about then the result of some of these brilliant ideas could be feasible and the progress will be seen and implementation and intervention will be successful. We will work through it, and we have a plan going forward, I just had a frustrating day. But it ended off with me feeling a little guilty about thinking I had a frustrating day, as we entered the home of one of the community members homes during our home visits. This gogo told us the story of the two children she was taking care of. Both had been abandoned by their mother, one left in the house alone at one month old for two days, and the other left on the street at just three months old. Heartbreaking. Makes you really think about the petty things we worry about, like working in groups, and unrealistic recommendations. It’s a hard pill to swallow when you realise your own silliness.

Annnnnd its back into the community, full speed ahead

Today felt like a productive day yet it still had its ups and downs. It was very difficult for me going from Zim to the community after being on such a high for a week in Zim, back into the realities of community, marks and presentations. But I feel that I am blessed and fortunate to have had a week of rejuvenation and passion building for this beautiful profession that we get to do every day. I am hoping that I can carry forth this passion into every aspect of the community because community is slowly creeping its way into my heart, I feel like it is something that I could do forever. It’s exciting. Today a group member confided in me about some group dynamic problems, but I think this is inevitable when you are working so closely with a group of people for so long. It gets difficult when 3 or 4 different people have opinions or the level of eagerness, passion and enthusiasm differs within a group. It can be difficult for everyone to come to an agreement, this is what I find so frustrating with groupwork but we are going to have to deal with group work for the rest of our lives working in MDT’s, working in places where we will be with the same people for years and years. I feel like this community block is teaching us so many skills not only as therapists for clients but to be almost “business” people dealing with emails, phonecalls, meetings and admin. It is difficult when all of this new world of OT is thrown at us in just a short space of 6 weeks but I truly believe being thrown in the deep end is sometimes the best way to learn. Today Thobi and and I were in the clinic with Meghan while Thandi and Chanelle completed the shopping for CDC. I am SO proud of my group because the way that the CDC project has been tackled is in a manner of empowering Nthombi and the teachers to do things for themselves, accessing the budget, going shopping with the students and every single step of the way in CDC has been in collaboration with Nthombi and the CDC’s. It is so great to see, and it was so special today as we started putting the stimulation corner together for the CP children, the excitement of Nthombi and the teachers as we all worked together to make it happen. It is amazing to see how just one corner of the crèche done up is already making it feel more like home. I cannot cannot wait to see the end result before we leave. After we leave, there will be more that needs to be done but because of the way Nthombi and the teachers have been a part of every transformational step, they will have the skills to do it for themselves. to have the courage and ability to access the budget, brainstorm ideas and implement them. And to me, that is what sustainability is all about! I love it, it excites me.

THE CONGRESS

I was so excited to begin the congress not knowing what to expect or how it would all work. The congress was held at a beautiful hotel in Harare, Monomotapa Crowne Plaza Hotel. It was beautiful and we as the congress guests were treated like royalty as new water bottles were given every few hours to every seat in the house, we had endless supply of every tea imaginable as well as pastry treats and toasted sandwiches every tea time, and an indulgent buffet every lunch time. I couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt as we sat inside the walls of this hotel indulging happily as there was such poverty and strife surrounding Harare. It’s a difficult feeling to deal with, as what can you do?? The congress began with the keynote speech from an incredible woman. What struck a chord with me was when she said: “where is the dance in OT?” we are occupational beings and we as humans embody occupation. A running theme throughout the congress was this aspect of singing and dancing- as an occupational collective, that there was connectedness in collectiveness. CONNECTEDNESS IN COLLECTIVENESS. I could argue that no research needs to be put into this saying, for if you were a part of this congress in the beautiful country of Zimbabwe, no thesis or write up could explain the feeling of connectedness in collectiveness. As OT’s and OT students from all over the world came together in Zim, through laughing, engaging, learning, singing and dancing- we were connected through this collectiveness. It was beautiful. The keynote speech set up the rest of the congress, and to our absolute delight UKZN was already put into people’s minds as Elelwani shared in her keynote speech, an epitome of a collective through dance by speaking of and showing part of our UKZN Flashmob. Who would have thought that a day of fun and excitement in my incredible class would resound so much with what I thought was the theme of this congress- dance and connectedness through collectiveness. So blessed to have been a part of this congress. Throughout the week, we were privileged to be a part of many lectures and workshops that challenged everything that I have ever learnt, as well as enhanced all my learning that I have learnt over the past four years. I think a big realisation for me was how narrow-minded my thinking was. Yes our client is the most important part of treatment, but what about treatment that extends far beyond just our client. What about their family, their dependents, their community’s awareness, the community barriers, the community positives that may assist in optimal living for your specific client. My eyes were opened to the endless possibilities of what can be achieved in treating your client. It’s more than just an individualistic approach, if we extend our intervention further than that of the individual and their problems, and rather focussing on the much bigger picture and the ABILITIES of the individuals, we would make a much larger impact. I wish with all my heart that my whole class could have experienced what we experienced, but after this week, I will encourage my class with all that I am t attend Uganda OTARG in 2015. That will be our year where we all come together again after a year and a half of working and experience in the real world, and we come together to experience OTARG together as a collective. Imagine the endless possibilities of MY class after attending something like OTARG. It excites me as I know that the passion will be even more ignited after attending a congress like OTARG.

ZIM, YOU WILL ALWAYS HOLD A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART

My family and friends were worried about us going to Zim having heard all the horrible stories and it just have been the elections and the presidential inauguration was happening while we were in Zim. I guess their concerns were justified if one had to Google the hardships of this country or pick up a newspaper and see the headlines involving Zim. However, strangely enough I find myself wanting to defend this country as I feel it has become a part of me. The people of this country outshine all the negative in my eyes. When I think Zimbabwe, I think beauty that was manifested through its people. The way the people would go out of their way to make sure you were happy the genuine smiles and humbled hearts and natures of the Zimbabwean population is beautiful. Our first day in Zim started with a huge fright, and not the one you would expect from Zim! Megz and I entered our hotel innocently walking through the lift onto the 3rd floor as our lecturer hid behind the corner and gave us the fright of our lives. It was hilarious as we all broke down into a fit of giggles and smiles on our faces as we realised WE MADE IT TO ZIMBABWE! This was definitely a prelude to the rest of our trip- giggles and smiles on our faces. The night before we left for Zimbabwe, I found myself all of a sudden nervous for the prospect of Zim. How silly it seems now as I cried with my mom and sister expressing my concerns for this trip. Catching a taxi on our own from the airport to the hotel, why was I so scared? The taxi trip was wonderful. Our taxi driver spoke of every town we passed by on the way to the hotel, this taxi driver had a love for his country and he was proud to share some of its heritage to two South Africans. On our first day we met yet another local who was sitting in our hotel room with two of our lecturers with his music that he composed playing in the background. It had been an hour in the country and we were already surrounded by the beauty that is the Zim people. We then decided to go to a local market called Avondale. I was so excited to already indulge ourselves into the culture of Zimbabwe. At this market, we spoke to the market sellers about the beauty of the rocks they used to make their beautiful ornaments, and how the dark rock came from another African country and the locals spoke of the US dollar and how expensive it was to live in Zimbabwe, and the hardships of being a market stall holder in these difficult expensive times. Yet they still had a smile on their face and a spring in their step as they bargained the best deal they could for us South Africans. I love markets in general, and this was a special one. Megz and I returned to the market on our last day to buy some presents for our families. Every stall owner remembered us and chatted with us as if we had been going to the market for years. I loved that. And I love Zimbabwe.

THE JOURNEY LEADING UP TO OTARG 2013

It was towards the end of the year last year that we were approached by our lecturer to think about submitting an abstract to OTARG. OTARG was explained to us and we were already excited at the prospect of going. Looking back now, almost a year later I cannot believe that I sit at my laptop now and it is all over. Where almost a year ago, we had no idea of the growth and experience Zim would actually hold for us. I love thinking like this, because looking back, we had no idea what was in store for us then. NO idea. Every little thing that has happened between then and now has happened, and life is good. Between then and now, life has actually been tough. I went through a lot in my family, and I never thought I could get through one of the hardest times of my life, but I did. And here I am. It gives me hope and it gives me hope for the saying of hope that I live by... We have this hope as an anchor for our souls. I will hold onto Hope. It has got me here. And I will hold onto perseverance. Perseverance has got us here today. I say “we” because if it wasn’t for my partner in crime, Megan, I might have given up in coming to OTARG. She kept me grounded when I just didn’t want to bother with all the admin and politics anymore, where I was giving up in our dream to go to Zim, but Megz wouldn’t let us give up. Our abstract was accepted and we were over the moon. We were being given the chance to share our blogging journey with people we actually had no idea we were going to meet and inspire. I LOVE that I can blog and reflect back to that stage where our abstract was accepted, because flip we have come a long way! So we faced barrier after barrier in coming to Zim, I won’t go into too much detail but basically not receiving funds because we had only accessed one source for funding and I completely understand that at an undergrad level, there are other people who would be priority. So first barrier, and this was averted by deciding to fundraise. My mom is the most incredible woman and pulled out all the stops to make sure my dream came true of going to Zim. She did not have to do that, but she did. And the fundraising response was unbelievable. Anonymous payments were made to the account, people from overseas such as Australia sent through money. I was completely and utterly humbled and heart warmed by the generosity of people. They were allowing me to make the Zim dream come true. I know not everyone will read this, but I just wish everyone could know how incredibly grateful I am. You have no idea the opportunity that you gave me. I didn’t even know then how expansive and special this opportunity and experience would be, but my goodness, you all allowed me to grow in ways I never thought possible. Who thought my OT passion could get even bigger, my heart humbled so incredibly and my heart touched by the generosity of people who helped me and the amazing people I met in Zim. So grateful. So thank you!! Our next barrier faced was missing prac and just general politics. I won’t go into this, but I am just grateful that we stood our ground, and against all odds, we decided that we would go. We had worked too hard for this to let this go. We decided that we knew what we were doing, and we had faith that the Zim experience would far outweigh the cons of going. We did not know for sure that this would be the case; yes we took a huge chance in deciding to go not knowing if the experience was really worth the cons, but that faith paid off. It was worth every single sleepless night of worry and every tear shed! So Megz and I worked hard at our presentation, spending hours deliberating over blog posts and putting our experience into the best way that we possibly could. We did it. And now it’s all over, and I sit here with passion in my heart as I reflect on our Zim journey.

Nduip. The Zimbabwean dream that became reality

Nduip. Hello in Shona. I was most privileged to attend OTARG 2013 hosted in Zimbabwe. OTARG is a congress for OT’s, promoting Occupational Therapy is Africa. OT’s from around the world come to this conference such as the president of WFOT (World Federation of Occupational Therapy), and I was blessed to meet the likes of Jennifer Creek, Rosemary Crouch, Vivian Alers- we read their textbooks! We learn from their work. There are no words to describe this conference and the feeling that it has left me with. I have decided tom blog as much as I can when I can to get all my feelings out, and also for this incredible time to not just become a memory, but for it to be recorder so I can look back on this time and reflect on what it taught me, how it made me feel and the lessons I learnt from this experience. I deliberated on how I should go about blogging Zimbabwe, and I have decided to take a look at my experiences through activities that took place in Zimbabwe. And my feelings surrounding every event. I think this is the best way to collect and order my thoughts, because right now, my thoughts and feelings are all over the place!

“My neighbours told me what you do here, it is so good”

An incredible morning in the heart of Kwadabeka as the community gogo’s joined Meghan and Jani in an exercise programme. The MDT did not know what to expect at all. We were told that we could join and we put on our takkies and exercise pants and joined this great group. It was so much fun and so uplifting to see a group of community members coming together to improve their health thanks to the guidance of the rehab team. Making such a difference to the lives of these people. It was a beautiful sight to see, everyone in unison-just as a community should be. Shouts of motivation coming from one another to spur each other on, laughing and giggling as people became tired and they all felt each other’s pain yet joy at the same time. I looked around at this sight, and felt joy in my heart. I also had the privilegeof speaking to one of the local gogo’s as we walked together with her walking stick. She said “My neighbours told me what you do here, it is so good”. It was just so great to hear that her neighbours were talking about it, that the rehab team were becoming known in the community. Having word of mouth recognition of people that are on their doorstep to help them is so uplifting. I think that’s a huge part of community, gaining the trust of the community and making yourself known in a positive light in the community. I cannot wait for the next exercise group! Not only was this a great day for the OT students but again, allowed an opportunity for team building for the MDT. We started having some issues with regards to transport, and OT’s always being on time but waiting for up to 30 minutes for the speeches, this was becoming frustrating but we handled it well and asked if we could come to an agreed time that would suit everyone. This allowed for our frustrations to be alleviated, for peace to be kept and for compromise to take place.

Monday blues

Today was one of those difficult days. Sunday I spent a lot of time going over the handover and looking at what needs to be done, organising everything into a file so that I am organised and ready to tackle the week. But as community goes, nothing really goes to plan. But that’s ok, I am learning this and I think because I am so used to structure from being on three blocks already, to have minimal structure is quite difficult to adjust to. But today was a good day at the clinic, we facilitated the Down’s Syndrome group which was great. I love down’s syndrome, these special angels are the whole reason I started OT. We had one little girl in a standing frame and we played with playdough allowing for sensory stimulation, weighbearing on the table, bilateral coordination using both hands with the rolling pin and fine motor coordination. What I love about community clinic is how unpredictable it is. You never know what is going to happen and I LOVE working alongside the physio, helping where I can and seeing how they treat. Today we had to leave the room while Meghan and Jani gave advice on sex for someone who had a loss of sensation- they were not expecting it and in that moment, you need to provide that client with the information that he needs. Meghan and Jani also came into contact with a disorder they had never heard of, and google was out in a matter of minutes as they searched for what this condition is and how they can treat in that moment. I love that. It is exciting and the information that the rehab team relays to the clients is so valuable and meaningful. We learn in OT about fancy programmes and intervention where in a place like Kwadabeka, information that may seem small and silly to us is so important to someone. Today in the clinic also showed me how much we do actually know. Sometimes we tend to forget that we actually do know a lot and we CAN treat, and that we are, “experts” in some fields. Such as a wheelchair a lady with TB spine was using, the transfers into this wheelchair were horrific because the wheelchair was so old school that the sides did not come off. Now, with one look at the wheelchair we could decipher all the barriers to independence, all the hardships that the caregiver must be experiencing having to transfer the client into that wheelchair. And we took a look, and could clinically reason as to why this client needed a new wheelchair that would allow for more independence. This client’s life and that of her caregiver’s will be made easier and happier because we know how to change their situation. Its motivating to know that we can help in this manner. I named this post Monday Blues, and as I am reflecting on this day, my mood is being uplifted as I come to these realisations. Today we also went on our very first home visit to the most wonderful lady. She is bed bound due to a nerve injury and elepahantitis. Our job is to make her life easier before she goes for her operation in September. In this case, we really get to challenge our OT abilities in making adaptations to her home environment and creating assistive devices so that this client can keep some of her independence in cooking, cleaning and personal management, I am so excited to help this lady and I look forward to seeing the outcome of our home adaptations and assisting this client in gaining some independence.

Monday blues

Today was one of those difficult days. Sunday I spent a lot of time going over the handover and looking at what needs to be done, organising everything into a file so that I am organised and ready to tackle the week. But as community goes, nothing really goes to plan. But that’s ok, I am learning this and I think because I am so used to structure from being on three blocks already, to have minimal structure is quite difficult to adjust to. But today was a good day at the clinic, we facilitated the Down’s Syndrome group which was great. I love down’s syndrome, these special angels are the whole reason I started OT. We had one little girl in a standing frame and we played with playdough allowing for sensory stimulation, weighbearing on the table, bilateral coordination using both hands with the rolling pin and fine motor coordination. What I love about community clinic is how unpredictable it is. You never know what is going to happen and I LOVE working alongside the physio, helping where I can and seeing how they treat. Today we had to leave the room while Meghan and Jani gave advice on sex for someone who had a loss of sensation- they were not expecting it and in that moment, you need to provide that client with the information that he needs. Meghan and Jani also came into contact with a disorder they had never heard of, and google was out in a matter of minutes as they searched for what this condition is and how they can treat in that moment. I love that. It is exciting and the information that the rehab team relays to the clients is so valuable and meaningful. We learn in OT about fancy programmes and intervention where in a place like Kwadabeka, information that may seem small and silly to us is so important to someone. Today in the clinic also showed me how much we do actually know. Sometimes we tend to forget that we actually do know a lot and we CAN treat, and that we are, “experts” in some fields. Such as a wheelchair a lady with TB spine was using, the transfers into this wheelchair were horrific because the wheelchair was so old school that the sides did not come off. Now, with one look at the wheelchair we could decipher all the barriers to independence, all the hardships that the caregiver must be experiencing having to transfer the client into that wheelchair. And we took a look, and could clinically reason as to why this client needed a new wheelchair that would allow for more independence. This client’s life and that of her caregiver’s will be made easier and happier because we know how to change their situation. Its motivating to know that we can help in this manner. I named this post Monday Blues, and as I am reflecting on this day, my mood is being uplifted as I come to these realisations. Today we also went on our very first home visit to the most wonderful lady. She is bed bound due to a nerve injury and elepahantitis. Our job is to make her life easier before she goes for her operation in September. In this case, we really get to challenge our OT abilities in making adaptations to her home environment and creating assistive devices so that this client can keep some of her independence in cooking, cleaning and personal management, I am so excited to help this lady and I look forward to seeing the outcome of our home adaptations and assisting this client in gaining some independence.

Kwadabzz

This post will be more of a reflection on how this first week was. Coming into the community, I was excited at the prospect of working in a place where the rest of my class have loved. And I vaguely remember them saying how it was difficult to begin with because you are trying to find your place, and find out what to do and the amount of projects that needed to be done. I am feeling the exact same way. Community block is not structured, thing happen slowly, and trying to wrap my head around the handover and what needs to be done seems daunting and the pressure to get them all done is seeming to feel unrealistic. I was reading in handovers that we need to remember that we can’t do everything. I realise this but I don’t like it, I don’t feel comfortable knowing that we will have difficulty making something sustainable- this word, sustainability is so important in the community. There is no point in us coming into a place, doing things and then it doesn’t get carried over, and this carry over not happening is due to a number of factors- the fact that the place you go to has so many other responsibilities or they do not understand the importance of the carry over or the learned helplessness becomes a problem and this was evident at Zakhe, where the caregivers rely on the students to make things happen and they sit back. I have spoken o the other groups from block 1, 2 and 3 hoping that they would shed some light on how to get started, how to manage everything and how to fit into the culture of the community. And the answer every time was: Niks, we felt the exact same way, hang in there; it will get easier once you get your head around everything. Some groups admitted to work only starting to manifest in week 3. I know I should not compare myself to other groups but it was comforting to know that we are not the only ones feeling this way. I think the way forward would be to have regular meetings, split the projects so that there is someone responsible to make sure that those recommendations that need to get done are done and to keep in mind that we need to be realistic and help the community wherever we can as well as that famous word: SUSTAINABILITY. I loved going to Zakhe. My heart breaks for those little ones that are facing the hardships and cruelties of life at such a young age. Having just learnt about developmental delays it was interesting to enter the baby room and meet a little 17 month old boy who is not crawling yet and can hardly sit unassisted. It’s sad and I wish there was more that we could do. I know I will fall in love with community; it’s where my heart is. Once we start making things happen and get the ball rolling, exciting things will happen in the lives of those we come into contact with. I just know it.

MDT Shisanyama

MDT drama or no drama We were warned from three groups previously about MDT drama. I never quite understood it because surely, we all have the same goal, and ultimately that it to help this community, and working together would only benefit them as well as teach us about other professions? But that hasn’t been the case with the previous groups; they dubbed it “MDT drama”. As the Awesome Foursome group, we decided that we would keep an open mind in meeting the speeches and audio’s. We did, and so far working as an MDT has been fun and exciting. On Wednesday, we were at Clermont clinic and the clinic became busy within a matter of minutes. 4 children arriving at the same time as well as another two adult clients. This gave us a little taste of the unpredictability of community- Meghan and Jani only had 2 clients booked, yet the rest were walk ins. What an incredible afternoon it was, we were faced with conditions that we didn’t know because the children had not been diagnosed, and I sat with Jani, the physio, Ntobeko, and Wrenna, the speeches and myself and we all did therapy with this child. We all brainstormed together showing which aspects we knew the best about and even Jani said it was so valuable to have the input from two other professions which created optimal holistic treatment. This was great and I love how we all came together for the benefit of a client. Of course there is always going to be miscommunication or personality clashes, but this does not only happy inter disciplinary but within disciplines too, we as professionals in the making need to learn how to handle or sorts of people and personalities and learn to work together for the benefit of the community. So far (even though it has only been a week), we have managed to work well together. It has been fun and interesting learning about different professions, seeing some of the treatment interventions that they do and incorporating all holistic treatment into our plans. This week we also got to experience the real community with the MDT. The speeches have been there before so they decided to introduce us to Shisanyama- best ever! They took us to a dodgy little spot in Clermont hidden amongst the run down shops surrounding it. We entered and each contributed R20, we picked a huge steak and boerewors which they spiced and placed on the braai for us. We cut up the meat and placed it into separate packets and bought fresh fresh white bread and ate our shisanyama and white bread. It was absolutely delicious and a morale building activity for the MDT. I really enjoy the speeches and they seem to be as motivated as we are which is so helpful!

"We are the world, we are the children"

“We are the world, we are the children”. Today we were given the opportunity to go to RP Moodley School to have training by the OT’s at the school in order to inform our project at Kwadabeka, Clermont day centre. I did not know what to expect in this training but I was excited to be given this opportunity to learn. And today we had our first taste of what meetings are all about with community. Community really does involve a lot of planning, deliberation and meetings! We spent some time in the junior primary classrooms and were introduced to their routine which we hope to implement some aspects into Clermont. I had 6 pieces of exam pad covered in ideas and discussion that we had with the OT’s. It was so great to see and compare how structure at RP Moodley is so beneficial, in comparison to the lack of structure and amost chaos at Clermont day centre. The children at Clermont could benefit so much from the structure that was displayed by RP Moodley and the functional activity ideas could also be so beneficial to the learners. It is difficult because I have now seen how lack of resources in a community can be of detriment to the learners as at Clermont, there is limited space and there is a variety of levels of functioning in the school which makes it difficult to separate the classes according to function/age etc. AT RP Moodley, I was heartwarmed by the children singing “we are the world, we are the children” as part of their morning exercise regime (which would also be great to become a part of the structure, even though it is in the timetable at Clermont, I would be interested to see if it is being implemented and the structure of the exercises), the children all singing in unison was a beautiful site to see. Makes all the planning and hard work worth being part of this degree. Although we are only two days in, I think today we saw how we can slowly implement some changes into Clermont day centre that will be of great benefit for the children and the teachers. I get frustrated that things can’t happen immediately as you want them to happen due to lines of communication, financial strains and the amount of time we have in the community. I have to remember that we need to hold onto the small steps, and I think for short term aims that we have come up with as a group, they are realistic and achievable. We are at a great advantage that that Meghan has developed a good relationship with the RP Moodley OT’s as this allows for sustainability of the project in terms of training up the teachers, which will form part of medium term. The OT’s said that we are here to assist Meghan in the foundation of providing a structured programme for the school, and we will try our best to do so. This is an exciting project! We are excited by it. Still nervous about all the other things we need to focus on, I am hoping it will all come together in my mind soon as to how to handle the unpredictability and “unstructuredness” of community./ For months now, I have been working according to structure, and now not knowing what is happening day to day is quite overwhelming.

Kwadabzz, Awesome foursome day ONE

Day 1 community Wow. Our supervisor said we would hit the ground running and although our first day was fairly relaxed, I think she was so right, after reading all the handovers and going through what is expected of us this block, I am feeling a little overwhelmed. I guess I feel like this every first day of every block thus far. Today was a little easier than the last three but the nerves and butterflies were still there. Its like starting a brand new job every 6 weeks! Having attended all three previous groups handover presentations, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what to expect but when you are in the situation, it feels like I know nothing. But I know we will get there. I am very lucky to have an awesome group, we all get along really well and I have one of my closest friends with me. Fourth year does that to you- you create unbreakable friendships as you become reliant on each other’s laughs and company to get you through this year. I am excited for this block. I absolutely love the idea of working in a community, and I cannot wait to be immersed in the community and not only help the community, but allow for the community to teach me. I have a feeling this community has a lot to teach me. Day 1 of block 4 done, so grateful to be ending off our blocks with community. Need to learn to de-stress a little and for my abilities to not be clouded by the seemingly overwhelming feeling of community work, its day 1 and I already have had a realisation. Let’s see what’s in store for the next 6 weeks. HEAD UP, HEART STRONG.

OccuPASSIONal Therapy

Monday, the 27th of May marked a very special day in the lives of my epic OT 4th year class. We were all in the midst’s of Midterms at our various practical venues. I am currently in my physical block, one that I struggle with every year to try and wrap my head around. Our block was wonderfully interrupted by a day of catchphrases, macklemore, flasmobbing and Frank Kronenberg. You might not know this gentleman, not being part of the OT craze, But this gentleman is an incredible OT having written books that we as OT’s refer to. “Occupational Therapy without borders”. You know he’s really cool when you google his name and goggle casually says... Results: about 540000. I mean WOW! So this was a really great day. Beyond great. We were all pulled out of prac to join Frank Kronenberg and our two incredible lecturers, Chantal and Helga. We were finally together as a class again after so many months of being apart. And if you know my class, this time period is depressing. I love my class, so much. What an incredible bunch of fighters and big big hearts. I am going to be jumping around in this blog, which is quite well linked to this day we had- my head was everywhere, my emotions everywhere and my heart in the exact right place. We were so fortunate to share a day with Frank Kronenberg, pick at his brain a bit and listen to the incredible journey of OT that this man has been on. It was the exact motivation and “pick me up” that we needed. I wish I could go into everything that was learnt this day. There is just too much. I am a very “sayings” kind of person. I loooove sayings and I find they often keep me going through some of the more difficult times. Some of the sayings I picked up from frank’s talk that just seem to resonate with me(OT related): 1. Dance like a butterfly, sting like a bee. 2. Jack of all trades, master of one (ultimately what OT’s have been pegged as. I like to think that we will master some). 3. Poverty is not only the lack of money and resources, it is capability deprivation as well. 4. Occupation= occuPASSION=passion put into practise. 5. OT’s are artists and scientists. 6. A follower makes a lone nut, a leader. 7. HAPPINESS. In a story told to us, a woman cried uncontrollable crying when she experienced being hapy for the first time, because she had no experiential frame of reference of what happiness felt like. This statement shook every core of my being. We are so blessed. So those are some of the sayings that resonated with me. These sayings, along with the event of this great day, will resonate in my heart for a very long time. this event being: THE OT 4 FLASHMOB: ARE YOU WHAT YOU WEAR?! OT is all about starting movements, and this is what I love about OT. It speaks so well to me because I love the idea of movements, of a small group of people making something happen. With the leadership of our very, Chantal Christopher, we were inspired by the macklemore’s THRIFTSHOP song. A song that illuminates how we should be ok with being different. I mean, wearing your grandpa’s clothes? And yet, it started a revolution. And we strived to do the same. As only my crazy class can. We decided on a flashmob. And what a success it was. Day 1 of being on Youtube and almost 400 hits. I’m pretty sure its gonna go viral. It has to! What inspired me about this flashmob was something that Frank touched on. In SA, with apartheid and then the democratic movement, a group of the struggle survivors said that “We’re not singing and dancing anymore”. Meaning there is still this separation so evident in our beautiful country. And on this historic day of OT 4’s 2013, we showed them that we are dancing and singing again. In our class photo, I couldn’t help but notice that not one “group” or “clique” in our class were standing together in the photo. We were integrated after a beautiful afternoon of dancing as a group to Thriftshop in front of our entire university in the middle of the UKZN Westville quad. The singing, dancing movement and having a purpose united our class even MORE than usual. You know when you know that it is going to be a great day when you walk into class at 8.30 in the morning and the energy levels are already soaring. It was simply a wonderful most beautiful day of tears, laughter and a MOVEMENT. I think we all went home that night and pondered on the simple question: are you what you wear? And we hope that our flashmob video movement will express the movements that OT creates as well as challenge people into becoming who they really are. Thank you Chantal, Helga and Frank for this day. It was lifechanging. check out our youtube video. Its great. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cKa08R_Jr4

I used to be an avid blogger

So I am back. Finally have a little breathing space amongst the craziness of 4th year. Still a bit resentful, NO-OONE WARNED US! But that’s beside the point. I am usually one to try be positive, but fail miserably most of the time. Especially in my head. But I can truly say with all my heart that this year has been such a learning experience. I have grown up in the short space of 5 months. Been tested to my absolute limits. Cried so many tears (I didn’t know one human could have so many). It seems a bit selfish to say, while studying a degree meant to enrich the lives of others, and instead I am focussing on my growth. But I think that is what it is with life. The biggest moments and times in our lives while influencing others are the ones that shape us the most. Make us who we are. I have learnt that clichés are sometimes the ONLY way to describe something. I hate clichés, up until now that is. Because I am a walking cliché. For example: 1. There is light at the end of the tunnel. (THERE REALLY IS!) 2. There is always a silver lining. (annnd... there is!!) 3. What doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger. (I’m not dead am I?) 4. Fake it til you make it. (confidence really is key) So that is the last five months in a nutshell. Two blocks down, half way through the third. Never did I ever think that times could go soooooooo FAST but so sloooooooooowly at the same time! I hate wishing my life away, but really, this year needs to end now. It has been a tough road, and I feel like there’s only more challenges ahead. I never thought I would come to the point where accepting failure would be ok for me. But I pushed through that, and its no longer an option. Negativity aside, and the dread that is OT, this has been one of the most incredible years of my life. I have seen how friends can come together and support each other in the most simple yet most beautiful ways (Stine, my special friend driving all the way to Umdloti just to give me a hug when I was having a bad day). Its because we GET it. No-one else gets it. That sometimes you just need someone to sit with you, and say I KNOW-it sucks. This year has taught me to shed the negative “vibes” in your life. It is JUST not worth it. This year has taught me that family is flipping ridiculous. Mine especially, they have lifted me up when I thought all I could do was fall. I have learnt to not be so serious all the time. Why stress over the things that you really have no control over? I realise reading back that I have made this degree sound like the devil’s occupation with all the tears, and no strength, and failing. But it is the complete opposite of that. What we do is amazing. It is a beautiful degree, yet such a strong degree at the same time. Beautifully strong. And it has made me, and my incredible class, beautifully strong. I’ll brag about my degree another time. But for now, know that it is NOT just a degree. It is my life. (Might as well be seeing as it has consumed my life for the past 3 and a half years!)

Life’s unpredictability

Haven’t blogged for a while... I feel like this week has been one of those weeks where my head is swimming with all these thoughts, ideas, anger, and confusion. I needed to get it down on paper. Ever felt like that? Where your thoughts are too much to keep inside, you feel like if you don’t let it all out somehow, your thoughts become those tears that are welling up in your eyes and just need to be spilled out. My blog, my escape from my own thoughts. I get so frustrated when I can’t put my thoughts to paper. But here I go. This week has once again, been a perspective shift. Life can be so unpredictable! And so full of “life lessons.” A friend of mine put it so well... “I get that life teaches us lessons and all that, but I’m sick of learning lessons. What if I just don’t want to learn lessons anymore??” Many times in my life I have felt like that. Like life is out there to challenge me, and I became so tired of being challenged. So exhausted. But then I look at this week and I appreciate the challenges, because I can empathise with those that are going through challenges. One of the hardest prayers I have ever prayed, that has changed my life forever, is “Break my heart for what breaks yours, Father.” He answered my prayer. And now my heart bleeds with even the tiniest percentage of what hurts Him. This week wasn’t a challenge that I went through. It was those around me. It’s not often that I look at someone else’s life and I am able to forget how menial my problems are. I wish I could reach out to those that I have seen hurting this week  I want to hug them, tell them that it does get easier; I can say this from everything that I have been through in my life. I feel like I have the right to say this. Lately, I have had anxious thoughts of how delicate life is. That one minute you are planning your life with the one you love and the next your life is completely altered. Nothing seems like it will ever be ok again. That’s when I am grateful that our time on Earth is a pin prick compared to the eternity that lies ahead. Away from the hurt and the pain of this Earth. But how do we deal with it now? How do we carry on when all we have is now. Yes the prospect of going to Heaven one day is beautiful and reassuring. But what about now?? It hurts too much to think of anytime other than now. I don’t know how to answer this, and I wish I did know how. It’s all too big a question to answer now in the tiny 22 years of my living. But all I do know is that there is a Hope. Hope. My theme for the year. “We have a Hope that is an anchor for our souls.” Can’t remember where that is from in the Bible, but it’s so true. Our souls have an anchor that will keep us grounded and just... OK for now! I WISH I COULD PUT MY THOUGHTS DOWN PROPERLY. There’s so much to say, so few ways to say it. In my journey of OT, I have been allowed to meet some of the strongest most beautiful souls with the hardest stories, and some only experiencing the bulk of their story now. Going through the hardest times NOW! How is that in the midst of our 4th year, someone I truly admire and love being around is going through one of the hardest times of her life. Heartbreak does not even begin to describe it. This week her story shook every fibre of my being. HER story is pure example of how life can go from big dreams to broken dreams. And yet she is one of the strongest souls in the hardest time. Two years ago the community of Durban North was shook by the death of my very good friend, Mike. One moment he is skating on his board, and the next, he is knocked down and killed by a speeding car. The lives of his friends and family altered forever in a few seconds. And I battled to come to terms with why something like this would happen. But I know deep down in my heart, that ONE DAY we will understand. One day we’ll be like... okaaaaay THAT’S why! And that is all I have to go on. That hope that one day I will understand. And maybe even not understand, maybe even better than that... That we will no longer feel the need to understand. That peace will overtake our souls and we will be content with not knowing. Nothing I have said makes any sense to the people that are hurting now. I get that. And I never will be able to have the answer, all I know is, is that I have seen and been through way more than any 22 year old should. And it is still not enough to be able to feel what those around me are going through. But I know that feeling of despair. I wish I knew what to say  but I know that I can feel a lot more than others can because of what I have been through, and I am grateful for that.

COMMUNITY ORIENTATION PROGRAMME

Last week, 30 January 2013-1 February 2013, the OT’s, Speechies and audio’s had a community orientation programme. None of us really knew what to expect, we all thought it was just the normal day to day lectures. However, they turned out to be SO much more than that. This 3 day programme was not only introducing us to our community block, but it changed our perspectives on the world in general. And I believe we learnt all these things just to open our eyes to what is going on this world. Take the focus off our tiny little lives and shift our perspectives to something so much bigger than ourselves. I think that this perspective shift allowed us to open our eyes, minds and hearts to the communities that we were going to be reaching and hopefully, impacting. There were so many aspects of this orientation that I really enjoyed. I will speak of 2 that really touched my heart. 1. Daniel and his mom. Daniel is a severe athetoid CP 29 year old man living in the community. He had great difficulty with communication and it took a lot of concentration to hear what he had to say. But as he carried on talking, the more mesmerised you became and the more your heart started swelling with awe for this man. This man was born this way, he has absolutely no control over his muscles so he presents as displaying heavily jerky movements. He is wheelchair bound, and as I said, he has great difficulty speaking. YET he has the most incredible mind! I am ashamed to say it, as I think anyone would be as my first thought when seeing Daniel, was that because he shows signs of severe disability, that he must be intellectually challenged. It’s scary to think how many people would have this reaction, even OT students. It was an eye opener to say the least and a lesson hard learned that you cannot judge a patient before you actually get to know them, and not only patients but people in general. He has a PERFECT mind. He said something so very true... “Let’s be honest here. People don’t judge someone on the way they think, they judge them on the way they look.” And through really poor decisions made for Daniel during his schooling career, he was greatly disadvantaged. Daniel made a very scary but such a true comment for all health professionals, that the decisions we make can make or break a life. Had teachers at his school taken the time to evaluate Daniel’s situation, he may have got the adequate education that he was very capable of doing. We are all so quick to focus on DISABILITY, when in fact; we should be focussing on ABILITY. Daniel’s humour, personality and his story in general just brought tears to so many during the orientation programme. Prof Joubert has been speaking of Daniel since we started in 4th year, and we finally got to meet him, and I think we met him at the perfect time in our OT student careers because it inspired us just that little bit more to make a difference this year and in the future and also to motivate us for our community module. 2. Helga’s lecture on the world. This was an INCREDIBLE lecture. It felt like we were at one of those world seminars where presidents and important people of the world would attend. I have never been one to be interested in world statistics and money etc but after this lecture I have been on the worldmeters site often just to see what’s going on in the world. It is incredible how ridiculously sheltered we are as a youth. We do not hear of the statistics and this lecture made me appreciate life so much more when I was faced with the reality that we are so small compared to this world. There is SO much going on that we can’t even comprehend. It just opens your eyes and once again, changes your perspective of your place in the world. And even though we may seem insignificant when we see those numbers climbing on the worldmeters site, it does not make me feel insignificant. It makes me feel that if we can do just a tiny part of making this world a better place, then that’s great. I would like to be part of those people that strive to make a small difference in the life of others, that we are not insignificant. After this lecture, I could not stop talking about it and how I wish that some of my friends could hear what Helga had to say. T made me very appreciative and grateful for the career choice that I made, because not everyone has the chance to take a really good look at their lives and want to make a change. It was an awe inspiring lecture. Our orientation exceeded all expectations, it was thought out so well and the time we had was utilised to its utmost benefit for all of us. We have never been fully orientated to a block before and I think a recommendation would be that all blocks do something like this to get us excited and give us an idea of what we are in for. It was also a great learning experience working with other disciplines namely speech and audio’s. I think that our community block is going t be very interesting and dynamic for our learning especially as part of learning to work with a multi disciplinary team. I always thought that my heart was in community, and after this orientation I KNOW that my heart is in community, and I’m almost sure that after my community block this year; my heart will be set on it.