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.