Greys Hospital

Things have been slowing down quite a bit over the last couple weeks here in Pietermaritzburg. We had our last nursing lecture on Friday, so all we have left is our senior seminar paper (the big paper every senior at APU has to write before graduating), a community nursing final exam (on the Saturday before Easter- how horrible is that?!), and two presentations. I've been working on my senior sem paper all day, so I'm taking a short break from it right now to post this.

The non-nursing students have been going to their service sites for the past 3 weeks. They go out pretty much every day of the week, from 8:30am to 4:00pm. Since we nursing students are done with clinicals, we get to stay here at AE. It's a strange reversal- instead of nursing going out to clinicals while everyone else stays at AE, now nursing are the only ones here. It gets kind of lonely during the day with only 6 people here instead of 53!

This past week has been pretty fun. On Wednesday, our nursing professors took us to the nearest hospital, Greys Hospital.

It's considered a specialty hospital, so you only go there if a doctor has referred you to see a specialist.

It's not much different than the hospitals in the US.

The nurses dress quite differently, though. They don't wear scrubs like we do. Instad, they wear white dresses and white hats, just like nurses used to a long time ago! We definitely stuck out in our blue scrubs, just like we do anywhere we go.

It's a pretty big hospital, but even so, most of the rooms are 6 beds to a room! I couldn't believe it! That was one big difference from the US, where even 3 in a room is very uncommon.

The highlight of the trip was going to the Neonatal ICU. There was a doctor there who was teaching medical students, and he gladly let us join them. They were trying to diagnose a 4-day-old baby who was born at 34 weeks. He has a multitude of problems and deformities, but the biggest issue is that he doesn't have very much brain tissue. Most of his skull is full of fluid instead of brain.

It was sad to see him and know that if he survives, his life will be anything but normal. It made me wonder why God makes some babies like this, and some are born completely normal and healthy. But then he looked up at us with his adorable baby eyes, and I knew that God still has a purpose for his life. He gave me so much joy just from looking into his eyes! We stayed with him as long as we could, and we learned a ton from the doctor in the process. It was a really great moment that I won't forget for a long time.

Now I need to get back to writing my paper, so I'll post some more later on.

Word of the Day: "lalela" (la-lay-la) means "listen"

Thank You!

I got some mail today from the wonderful ladies at Glendora Friends Church! Several of you mentioned that you read my blog, so I just wanted to say THANK YOU!!! It was really fun to get the cards from you, and I felt so encouraged and loved after reading each one.

The envelope full of cards was handed to me whle I was sitting in my nursing class, while we were taking a quick break. I had fun opening the cards in class in between lectures, and then later on during the day. You ladies brough many smiles to my face throughout the day. : )

I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your constant prayers and support. I feel so blessed to be remembered by you while I'm half a world away. You are such incredible women and I hope to be half as great as you one day. I love you all!!!


Word of the Day: "manje" (mon-jay) means "now"

Ethembeni Family Center

Today was our very last day out in the community as nursing students. It was also our very last day at Ethembeni, which is really sad! I've fallen in love with that clinical site, especially with the Family Center, which I'll tell you about now.

The third and final part to a clinical day spent at Ethembeni is my favorite part of the day! After home visits, we get dropped off at the Family Center, which is just a house in the middle of a residential area. It was converted into a daycare center for kids with no parents, or kids whose parents are affected by HIV in some way.

Young kids (about age 1-5) stay there all day and are watched by caregivers. Older kids (about age 5-17) come over after school to do homework and play. All of the kids are fed lunch, and I believe dinner as well.

The center is a great place for these kids because it's safe, they're well taken care of, and they have mentors that help them with homework and life skills. I was told that they have about 70 kids enrolled to come to the center, but I've never seen more than about 30 there at one time.

There's not really anything particular for us nursing students to do when we go there. We just get to play with the kids! The caregivers are happy for the break, and the kids love new faces (as well as all the stuff we carry in our scrubs pockets). We stay for a few hours until someone comes to pick us up around 3:30.

Getting to know these kids has been one of the biggest highlights of my semester! They are incredibly cute and just want to be loved. They never run out of energy to play duck, duck, goose and soccer, be spun around over and over, or climb up the slide again and again. It's definitely been a workout keeping up with them!

I've fallen completely in love with 3 kids in particular at the center. From the very first day, this little boy wouldn't let me put him down.

He is the most adorable boy ever! He's about 2 years old, and he loves to cuddle in your arms when you hold him. He would never answer me when I asked "Ubani igama lahko?" so I just found out his name today. His name is Dinangwe, but they call him Tokelo. I'm going to miss holding him so much!

The next kid that I fell in love with is one of the school-aged kids. Her name is Andiswa and she's 6 years old.

My first day at the center, I was sitting on the ground with wild kids climbing all over me, and Andiswa just quietly curled up in my lap. All she wanted to do was sit there and let me hug her. The next week, as soon as I walked into the yard, she ran over and gave me a huge hug! She had remembered me! She wouldn't leave my side that day. I was surprised that she wanted so badly to stay with me since most of the kids her age just wanted to do their own thing. I played with her the rest of the day, and every other day that I went. I'm going to miss Andiswa the most out of them all. She's such a beautiful, happy girl!

The last kid that I fell in love with is Andiswa's little sister, Akhona.

Akhona is 2 and extremely malnourished. She is super skinny and as light as a feather. She's been improving a lot in the last few months, though. In November, she couldn't even stand, but today she walked all over the house while holding onto my hands! She can even climb up the slide now! Even though she may be smaller than the other kids, she still has quite a personality. She talks up a storm, and she's extremely smart. When we were doing medical assessments on her today, she watched me use an otoscope to look in her ears, then grabbed it from me to play with. To my surprise, she put it right back in her ears herself! I think she's going to be a nurse one day. I'll miss her a ton, and I hope that she's able to continue getting stronger and gaining more weight!

I'm really going to miss all the kids at the Family Center. I'm hoping to hear lots of stories about them from the APU students who come to South Africa in the fall!

Word of the Day: "Woza" (wo-zah) means "come"

Catching Up

Hey everyone! I'm sorry it's been a while since I posted anything. It's been a crazy week! I'll try to just catch you up a little on what's going on in my life right now.

I was supposed to go backpacking in the Drakensberg mountains with the rest of the nursing group last Wednesday and Thursday, but I got sick and had to stay behind at the base camp. I've been recovering since then, and finally today is the first day that I've felt comepletely normal again. : )

This was me trying to decide if I felt good enough to go on the hike. A few minutes later, I was certain that I couldn't do it.

Things are wrapping up here in Pietermaritzburg right now, and it's making me really sad. Where did the time go? I can't believe that we've already been in South Africa for two whole months now! I'm not ready to move on to Cape Town yet. AE feels like home, and I'm not ready to leave it behind. It's going to be really sad to start thinking about moving on. At least we still have 3 weeks left here to enjoy it!

This is the last week of nursing classes, which is exciting. We have a lot of assignments and projects piling up that we'll need to work hard on for the next several days, though. I'm only 4 pages into my 15-page senior sem paper, and it's due in 2 weeks. I'm starting to get nervous about it now. Please pray that we'll stay focused and not feel too overwhelmed!

I've also been kind of homesick lately. I think it's because I was feeling sick, and so all I wanted was to be in my own home. I'm past that now, but I've still been thinking about home a little more than usual the past few days. Looking at pictures makes me feel better though. It's hard to balance thinking about home and at the same time trying to live in the moment and enjoy every second that I have in South Africa.

I am still very glad to be here and I'm having so much fun with the new friends that I've made here. We've become a family of 57, and I'm so thankful for the group that God put together for me to share this experience with!

Word of the Day: "Ngiphuma eMelika" (ghee-poo-ma e-mel-ee-ka) means "I'm from America"

Ethembeni

The second clinical site I visited was Ethembeni (pronounced et-em-benny).

Ethembeni is located in the township of Mpophomeni, an extremely rural area. Many of the homes are simple mud huts, and the people living there walk everywhere they go.

There are tons of chickens and goats wandering around everywhere! Here's Brianna with one of the roosters that hangs out in the yard at Ethembeni.

There are 3 parts to this clinical site. First, the main Ethembeni building is a small hospice that can hold 4 patients. It's not a hospice like in the US, though. The patients are only there temporarily to get better, and they go back home after they've recuperated and gained their strength back.

We didn't spend much time with these patients when we were at the site. However, I was able to talk with one of them each day that I went. Her name is Zodwa. She is really sweet and told me all about her kids. During my most recent visit with her, she said she gets to go home next week! I'm very excited about her improvement. Here's a picture of us together.

The second part to Ethembeni is home visits, which is my favorite part! There are only 2 nurses working at the site, Sister Kathryn and Sister Louise. All the rest of the workers are volunteers. Some are from the church that runs the whole organization, and the others are Zulu women from the community. For the home visits, each Zulu volunteer gets paired up with either Sister Kathryn or one of the church members, and we students join one of the pairs.

We drive out to the patients' homes to visit them. Each Zulu vounteer is assigned to 8 patients. On Tuesdays, we go to all 8 homes and talk with the patients for a long time. On Thursdays, we only go to 4 homes, and we give them food that is donated from the church. We also have a short Bible study and prayer time. We then go to the other 4 houses the next week.

The home visits are really interesting because you never know what to expect! As I mentioned earlier, the area is very rural. The first day I went out on home visits, we went up in the hills where the houses are tiny huts made of mud and sticks. I couldn't believe that people actually live in them!

We had to drive on narrow, bumpy, dirt roads to get to some of the houses.

For one of them, we parked on the street, got all the food out of the truck,

and then hiked about a quarter mile along a narrow pathway through mud and thick bushes just to get to the house. It was quite the adventure!

We also visited a "child-headed household" that day, which means that both parents have died (most likely from HIV) and now the oldest child is left to take care of the younger ones. They were all at school when we visited, though. We found out from one of their neighbors that their house had been broken into early that morning, and most of their possessions had been stolen. I couldn't believe that someone would do that to a bunch of kids!

Another home that shocked me was basically a one-room log cabin. It had an outhouse a few feet away. There was one double bed, a tiny stove, and a small refridgerator in the house, plus a few things stacked up against the walls. That was it!! I couldn't believe that anyone could live with so little.

The adult wasn't home, but there were three young girls sitting on the floor, happily coloring and drawing. I was amazed that they could live in such a tiny, sparse place, yet still be so seemingly content. I will never have a right to complain about anything ever again after seeing how happy those girls were with so little.

Another home that was about the same size of this cabin, but was built by the government and so was much more structurally sound, had 15 kids living in it, all taken care of by one lady! The house had 2 double beds, a bunkbed, a table and chairs, and a small bathroom. The lady said that the kids sleep all over the beds, and on all the floor space as well. Wow.

We get to play with lots of kids during our home visits. At one home, the caregiver was an 80-year-old lady who was taking care of her 45-year-old mentally challenged daughter, her 22-year-old HIV & TB infected granddaughter, and two 5-year-old boys with way too much energy, one of them being her orphaned great-grandson, and the other was an abandoned neighbor. I couldn't believe the stamina of this granny!! I have no idea how she's still standing, let alone taking care of 4 people who are completely dependent on her for everything! The boys were at least able to entertain each other (and Chelsea and me) by playing together outside.

At another home, we met a 2-year-old girl who was so incredibly smart! She chatted nonstop throughout the visit. I found myself wondering what type of future she'll have. If she's able to get an education, then she will definitely do something incredible with her life.

On my most recent day at Ethembeni, one lady we visited served us hot mealies, which is just like corn on the cob. She was so generous in feeding us even though she had very little food to begin with. Another lady had a garden in her yard, and she excitedly picked some ripe peppers and gave them to us. These ladies barely have anything, yet they are still so generous and willing to share whatever they have.

I have learned so much just from visiting these people at their homes. Ethembeni has definitely had the biggest impact on me so far in the trip. I have no right to ever complain again because I have been so incredibly blessed. I just hope that I will always remember these lessons.

This post is getting too long, so I'll talk about the third part of Ethembeni, the family center, in a separate post.

Words of the day: "umama" (oo-mama) means "mom," "ubaba" (oo-bah-bah) means "dad," and "ugogo" (oo-go-go) means "grandma"

More Monkey Madness

I know I just posted about monkeys, but today was an exceptionally crazy monkey day. I just wanted to share a couple more stories about the monkeys with you.

When I woke up this morning and opened my curtain, there was a monkey sitting on my window sill looking inside my room! It was quite the surprise! He watched me for a minute, then jumped down to go play with two other monkeys that were wrestling in the grass.

I kept watching them for several minutes, even though I was supposed to be on my way to class. There was about 5 monkeys total just playing and having fun right outside my window! It was a great thing to wake up to.

A few hours later, we went outside to work in groups for our class. We had to do a drama about our experience in South Africa so far. We decided to do the skit outside because it was such a nice day. Part of the skit was about the monkeys and how they go into our classroom during class. While the skit was still going on, two girls suddenly noticed some monkeys sneaking into our classroom right at that very moment! It was so funny!

Some of the boys chased the monkeys out and we went back to the skit. When it was over and the teacher started talking again, my friend noticed that the door to her chalet was wide open, and there were some monkeys lurking around it. She started walking over there to close the door when we heard glass breaking inside the chalet!

Several people rushed down there to get the monkey out immediately. It took them a few minutes to get him out because he felt trapped and started to panic. After they got him out, they found that he had broken a glass container that had tea bags and sugar in it, but that was all the damage. It definitely made for an interesting class time!

Word of the Day: "inkawu" (een-ga-woo) means "monkey"

Monkeys

Being in South Africa, we've seen a lot of different animals than the ones in the US. The very first animals we noticed were a ton of monkeys!

They live on the AE campus, and they're as pesky, annoying, and dangerous as the bears at Quaker Meadow! Well, maybe not quite as dangerous as a bear, but they are dangerous.

It sounds funny to people in America, but the monkeys really are a big problem here in South Africa. They love to break into our rooms to steal our food, poop on our pillows, and just make a mess.

We have to keep our windows closed any time we're not in the room or else the monkeys WILL come in. One side of my window has a plastic screen over it, so I thought it would be safe to leave that side of the window open. I was wrong.

I was sitting in the hallway outside my room one day painting my toenails with the screen side of the window open, when I suddenly heard a noise inside my room. I quickly peeked my head inside and saw a monkey sitting on the top of our bunkbed, with another monkey climbing in the window. As soon as they saw me, the one inside climbed up to the top of the screen and paused, waiting to see if I was actually going to come inside and chase them off or not. I stood up and walked towards them, so the monkeys quickly squeezed out through the top of the screen and ran away. We've kept our window closed from then on.

Other girls in my chalet haven't been quite as fortunate. Monkeys have come into their room while they were in class, and they stole a lot of food out of one girl's care package! One time they took a bunch of chocolate, popcorn, and energy drinks!! I can't even imagine what a monkey high on an energy drink would be like! Another time they came into that same room and were eating the same girl's chocolate bar as she walked in. They dropped the half-eaten chocolate on the window sill as they made their escape.

The next day they broke into a different room in my chalet. They opened one girl's unopened package of gummy bears and ate all of them. When the girl walked in, she smelled the gummy bears, which made her want to eat some, so she was very upset to find the empty bag on her desk next to her laptop covered in monkey footprints.

Needless to say, the monkeys are menaces around campus. Not only do they steal from our bedrooms, but they also love to walk into the dining hall and steal sugar packets and fruit!

Monkey happily eating a stolen sugar packet

Monkey with a stolen banana

They also love to break into the trash cans outside our chalets and scatter trash EVERYWHERE! This is why they remind me of the bears at QM.

They hope to find food inside, which they are lucky enough to find quite often.

They also like to interrupt our nursing classes by climbing into the classroom through the windows! This has happened twice! It's a fun distraction for a second, but then we start to fear for our safety. We've kept the windows closed more recently.

The reason we're scared when the monkeys suddenly show up is because they often attack people. Most of us have had at least one encounter with the monkeys where we were close to being attacked.

I was almost attacked one morning on my way to breakfast. I was minding my own business about to walk up the stairs to the dining hall, when all of a sudden, a monkey appeared on the landing just inches away from my head! It crouched down and leaned towards me like it was about to jump on me, so I turned around and ran down the hill away from it. A sound from inside the dining hall scared the monkey away, so then I was free to walk inside and eat my breakfast unharmed. I hope to never come that close to a monkey attack again.

We've started keeping mace in our chalets so we can spray the monkeys if they come inside or try to attack someone. The staff of AE also have a paintball gun on campus for the purpose of shooting the monkeys.

In just one day, we went through 500 paintballs! And even after all this, the monkeys still haven't learned their lesson. Any day that the sun is out, we're guaranteed to see dozens of monkeys around campus.

Word of the Day: "qaphela" means "beware" or "danger." Q is the third and final click for you to learn. It's the one you would typically imagine when you think of clicks in a language. You make the sound by suctioning your tongue off the roof of your mouth. Qaphela sounds like "tk-a-pel-ah"