Reflections

Here are some photos from Table Mountain two weekends ago. One shows how steep the trail was; I was imagining more of a meandering dirt pathway, not so much a vertical climb composed only of large, rugged (but stable) rocks. It was extremely hard, but the views and company and sense of accomplishment upon reaching the top definitely made the difficulty worthwhile.









































A few things to note:
- it took us an hour and a half from the base to the summit, proving our professor wrong
- the cable car ride down was completely necessary
- I should probably do an advertisement for Merrill now


I would like to write about my recent experiences at my internship. This first week – Monday through Thursday – those of us who had the furthest commutes for our internships were driven to and from work by Parks, who we have all come to love. I was often last to be dropped and first to be picked up as Tafelsig is so far outside of the city. I spent most of my time in Child Health and Family Planning, watching and observing. I did like helping the sisters in Child Health who initially saw the children; I took weights and temperatures, asked about the child’s symptoms, and wrote notes in their files for the benefit of the sisters who would next see them and treat them. I gave vitamin A drops and got Hb values using, as one sister described it, an ancient Hemoglobin Reader. Mostly, though, I’ve been standing around and listening to Afrikaans, not understanding what’s being said.

It is amazing how long people who come to the clinic must wait to be seen; some are there all day long. Because it is a primary health care facility, referrals to other hospitals are granted in more severe cases. Those patients in need of transport wait on an ambulance for sometimes hours at a time. Tafelsig Clinic provides healthcare services to the people of Tafelsig with the resources it has, however meager they are, especially as compared to the extremely high standards of American healthcare. Privacy is very limited, for one thing. Plastic spoons are simply rinsed and reused for children receiving a basic fever-reducing medicine. Urine samples for pregnancy tests are collected in plastic cups that are also rinsed and reused. Nurses don’t seem to wear gloves; how water is rarely available and soap isn’t always around. While watching the children receiving immunizations, I couldn’t help but think about my own experiences at the doctor’s office, in particular how I always received a sticker after getting a shot. And maybe a colorful Band-aid. These children, you can imagine, were given neither of those things.

The language barrier is really proving to be a bigger challenge than I anticipated, because the staff only speaks to the patients in Afrikaans and they don’t have time to translate and keep me informed. I ask questions after patients leave, but again there really isn’t time for much explanation. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to learn as much working at Tafelsig because of this, and am still concerned about my role there. I honestly don’t think my supervisor, Sister Damons, knows what to do with me. I do recognize that to some degree, I must take an imitative and make things happen if I want to be helpful. However, I am overwhelmed by the robustness of the clinic, and can’t seem to see how I’ll be able to change things or make a difference there. Instead, I feel like I’m being more of a hindrance right now. For these reasons, I’m thinking about trying to switch over to the Red Cross Children’s Hospital. I’m struggling because I don’t want to give up so easily, and I’ve emphasized to Vernon, our program coordinator, since day one that I would prefer to be placed the townships, in the midst of poverty. I’ll keep you posted as to where I’ll really be for the next two and a half months when I figure it all out.

In South Africa...

In South Africa, it is COLD! There is no central heating and I'm so ready for springtime. Traffic is on the other side of the road, and I'm still getting used to that especially when it comes to crossing the street. Along with the rest of the world, South Africa uses the metric system - so temperatures, lengths, measurements, and food packaging labels are all pretty meaningless. There are drinks called tizers, which are sparkling grape and apple juices. They are delicious.

Cape Town is really unique I think because it is both a coastal and mountainous city; it is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and encompasses Table Mountain as part of the Table Mountain Range. Last weekend I climbed Table Mountain with 5 other students and it was incredibly challenging but also a lot of fun. Today I climbed Lion's Head, which is a smaller mountain next to Table Mountain. Both provided incredibly beautiful views of the city and ocean; I'll put up some pictures later.

I've begun my internship at Tafelsig Clinic in Mitchell's Plain. Tafelsig is a city clinic providing all kinds of free services to the people of Tafelsig, a section of the larger township of Mitchell's Plain. Because the people in the area are living in poverty, much of the health problems are results of very poor conditions. Mitchell's Plain is the largest Coloured township in Cape Town, home to about 900,000 people. The clinic sees over 500 people a day, and only 1 doctor works there. It is chaotic and crowded and unlike any health care facility I've ever seen in the States. The people speak Afrikaans mostly (or at least that's their language of choice) which definitely makes it hard for me to know what's going on. I think I'll just be watching nurses, or "sisters" as they are referred to, and getting a feel for how Tafelsig works for the first part of my internship. I hate to feel useless though, and hope that soon I'll actually be able to help.

End of Week One

I’ve decided to only upload selected photos from my trip so as not overwhelm everybody with hundreds of them. I will put up at least one album on facebook eventually, but when I get home I’d love to show all of my pictures to whoever's interested!

This is the Hillcrest Manor Guesthouse where I am living, along with the 14 other students and our TA. I share a room separated from the house in the back, the "annex," with two other girls. The view is of Table Mountain, Cape Town's distinguished landmark.

These pictures are taken at Altyd Gedacht Wine Estate. We were taken on a tour of the wine estate on an old tractor and it was a lot of fun.

This is Cape Point, the tip of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa where it juts into the sea. The views of both the Atlantic Ocean on one side and False Bay on the other side are absolutely beautiful. Luckily the weather cleared by the time we got there, and the sun was shining – it was really windy though! I would love to go back someday.

To Kesley and Erin: here’s proof that there really are penguins in South Africa! Believe me now? We saw the colony on Boulder’s Beach outside of Simon’s Town, which is located on the coast of False Bay. My favorite is the picture of the lone penguin for some reason. It just speaks to me. And the sign is just sad; obviously running over penguins occurs frequently enough that a sign is needed to address the tragedy.