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.