The weekend and MUCPP Day 1

Hello Everyone!


I know that it's been forever since I last posted--but let me tell you, I've been super busy! 


On Friday, Brittany and I gave our presentations to the Nutrition Department...and it went very well! We each gave a 15 minute presentation (mine on diseases of the liver and Brittany's on leadership, human rights, and ethics in dietetics) and then fielded a couple of questions that the department had. Overall, this was definitely not the most stimulating part of our weekend. 

Brittany and I with the fourth year dietetics students. 

After our presentation, we went to a palliative care center for children that have either been orphaned or are terminally ill. The children were so incredibly sweet and it was clearly evident to us that they did not receive much attention when we weren't around. As soon as we sat down, we were immediately jumped on top of and claimed by the children (they were quite possessive and didn't feel like sharing their respective American). All of us had a lot of fun playing with the children...well most of us anyway. Most of you know that I absolutely love small children...except when they pee on you...five time. Yes, you read correctly, the SAME child peed on me at least 5 times! The only thing I could do about it was laugh...because what else was there to do?! I really do think that it clearly showed just how sick these children were because there is no way that that small of a child could have produced as much urine as she did in the small amount of time in which she did it.  

     

 


Some of you may be wondering why I didn't just get up and walk to a different child. Well...remember how I mentioned that these children are possessive? As soon as I picked my peeing child up and placed her on the ground next to me, three more were on my lap and my little urinary wonder quickly crawled back on to my lap. Needless to say, after our trip to the cresh, we returned to the hostile so that I could start a load of laundry before our dinner plans on Friday night. 


We then went to lunch with one of the students that had visited us at Appalachian before returning back to the hostile to prepare for a braii (South African BBQ) with one of the dietetics students and her friends. We had a lot of fun on Friday night and even tried to perfect our sokkie skills! Sokkie is a traditional South African dance in which you kind of combine shagging and waltzing. Anyway, it's very difficult and moves very fast so it's very hard to do when you've never done anything like it before. Luckily, we've had some pretty good teachers and we're actually not that bad! I've been looking for youtube videos to post, but none of them do the dance any justice, so perhaps we will just have to have our friends take a video for us the next time they go. 


We woke up very early on Saturday morning to travel to Calrins and the Golden Gate National Park in the Eastern Free State. Our first stop included a tour of African rock art and a quick history lesson on African history. Once we reached Clarins (roughly a 4 hour drive), we shopped around and got to watch the South African rugby team (the Springboks) play the English team at the local brewery. After South Africa won (yay!), we walked down the square to eat dinner at a restaurant that featured some local musicians (that were actually pretty good!). The only downfall to our dinner was the South African food service (which sucks)...I think we're all just ready to return to American food service (which isn't that fantastic...but believe me...it far surpasses that of South Africa). 


However, the best part of this trip was our accommodation on Saturday night. We slept in ox-wagons. That's right...remember American pioneers and their covered wagons? Well I've slept in one! And it was awesome! I honestly probably slept the best I have since arriving in Africa in that little wagon. Even though it was cold outside, my 3 fleece blankets, comforter, fleece hat, and multiple layers kept me plenty warm. All in all, it was a great experience! 

Me and the ox-wagon! 

On Sunday, we did the real touristy things and explored Golden Gate National Park and the Besotho Cultural village. Here, we learned about the cultural of the Besotho people and how their lives changed as the  European influence became more prevalent. It was quite interesting and we certainly learned a lot. We finished the tour with a mini game drive through the national park (which was absolutely gorgeous!) and then had a little bit of time to shop in the city of Clarens before taking our 4 hour drive back to Bleom.

All in all I'd say that it was a great last weekend in the Free State. 

Today, I started my last week of the internship and it was definitely a culture shock. We spent the morning in the townships around Bloemfontein going from door to door doing malnutrition and diet history screenings. It is absolutely breath taking and eye opening to see how these people live. It definitely made me appreciate the life that I live and the country that I come from that much more. Tomorrow I'm learning a little more about what exactly they do while there in the townships, but unfortunately, I won't have the same experiences as the other girls during their time at the MUCCP. This Wednesday we are attending a special lecture and so I will not be given the opportunity to actually work in the clinic and on Thursday, the woman in charge is retiring so there was talk today about going to get a celebratory coffee and cake instead of going through the townships. 

Unfortunately, it was raining outside, so I couldn't get a very good picture of the township. But here's a general idea. 

Townships begin as part of the government's RDP (relief and development program...I think). What happens is once a squatters camp (hundreds on "houses" made from scrap metal) becomes large enough, then the government will start to build RDP houses like the ones pictured above. Each plot has its own electricity and water supply. Ideally, the plot owners are supposed to tear down their makookoos (the scrap metal homes) once the RDP home is built, but most of them will leave the standing on their plot and use it as a source of extra income from renting it out). The makookoos do not have water or electricity and are not nearly as well insulated as a RDP house (which is not well insulated either). 


RDP houses are designed with a kitchen/living area and two bedrooms for the entire household to share. So, as you can imagine, they are often times quite crowded and overpopulated. 


In addition to learning about the different types of houses, I learned that the family unit is often difficult to understand because you have grandmothers/aunts/great aunts/cousins etc. caring for children who's parents didn't want them or who have passed away. 

Families are often subsidized with a government grant for each child under the age of 14 (only 250 Rand/month, which is about the equivalent of $35), for adults and children with disabilities, or from a pension given to adults over the age of 60. Needless to say, there is not much money flowing through these townships and even though the government has amazing relief programs in place, there is not always enough tax payers' money to fund them.  


I'm hoping to learn a lot more about the townships tomorrow and hopefully I'll get the opportunity to do some of the work that the other girls got to do!