Mitchell's Plain Clinic

One of the clinical site that the students have been rotating through is a clinic in a largely Muslim populated township. A township is a step up from informal housing. The townships are neighborhoods of tiny houses that are made of cement, have electricity and I presume water because there is no outhouses. Unlike the informal housing which I mentioned earlier are just 4 walls put together with who knows what, no electricity, no water, and no real neighborhood just miles of shacks in open fields.

Anyway, back to the clinic. I usually try to go first thing in the morning because this is when they are the busiest. There is a TB clinic on one side and general medical care on the other side. People will starting lining up by 6am if not earlier to get in to see either a doctor or nurse practitioner. I'm told that sometimes people start lining up as early as 4am.

It is a very overwhelming place to walk into, especially being a white women driving up in a car. I've learned to just smile and say "good morning", the clinic is not very big, maybe the size of a gymnasium with some rooms around the sides and a large waiting area in the middle. There is a gate you need to walk through with a security guard, which is the same man every day. More about him later. As you walk in all you can hear is hundreds of people talking and lots of children running around and babies crying. There are literally at least 100 people in the waiting room every time I come in to check on the students.

I usually find the students either in the immunization/sick room. This is where they triage sick children along with give immunizations, all in the same room, all sharing the same air and probably germs. The equipment they have is so old I'm shocked they still work. The scale alone looks like something my parents had when I was growing up. As a small thank you gift I had the students bring digital thermometers, the nurses (they are called sisters here) were so thrilled and I quickly found out why, all they have is mercury thermometers that take forever. I actually had to teach the students how to read it since they had not been exposed to them before. The other places they work is in the family planning on Tuesdays and on Mondays in the antenatal testing unit. Both of these areas are just basic rooms with one exam table on it that may or may not have the paper sheet replaced before or after your visit.

Teen pregnancy is very high here as well as pregnancy in general. Lots and lots and lots of young children and babies in this township. There is a big push for safe sex and getting tested for HIV, actually there is a campaign going on in all of South Africa to "know your status" with free testing sites all over the place. The students have been getting a lot of practice with family planning and are a little frustrated with the lack of prenatal testing they get, there is no ultrasound machine.

It's hard to explain unless you are here just how poor the people in the townships are and how hard the sisters work each and every day with very little. The clinic will see at least 2-3 hundred people in one day and most of the time they do not have a doctor or a nurse practitioner, they have the sisters who are registered nurses, but have to call for an ambulance if there is anything more urgent than typical childhood diseases, colds, etc.

Back to the guard at the gate. He is an older gentleman, probably in his 60's who wears a knit cap and jacket regardless of the temperature. He is so friendly and we share pleasantries every time I come in, he has gotten to know me and lets me know where the students are. On my way out the other day I asked him how he was, he told me with a smile I'm doing well. I then asked him how his weekend was and he told me "not very good, they shot my son and he died". Like an idiot I had to ask him twice to be sure that I heard him tell me very calmly that his son was shot. He explained that he was robbed, put up a struggle and was then shot and killed. He was 25 years old. All through this I wondered how the heck he was there and still smiling, doing his job and asking me how I was doing. It occurred to me that he couldn't afford to not work regardless of the reason and that is why he was there, guarding the gate. I walked away with a heavy heart and wished there was more I could do.

pictures on the bottom are from the excursion...this is informal housing in Soweto.

Plettenberg bay pictures

these are some of the highlights. Me walking with an elephant, hand and trunk, me riding an elephant, and me smiling with an elephant (trunk up is a big smile, she liked me). One of Plettenberg's Beaches, the view from my hostel bedroom. Some of the animals I got close to while doing a safari on horseback...I was too scared to get a picture of the rhino that was right in front of me, just in case he and his buddy figured out we were there, crazy stuff. Two plus hours on a horse = more bruises!

Plettenburg Bay - Outside my comfort zone in a Hostel

I never thought I would find myself crawling through passages in caves that are barely big enough for me to fit in. With names like the "stove pipe", the coffin, etc you can only imagine what I was up against. But when you are with a bunch of youngsters who are up for anything, who am I to say no?

That was the start of my hostel experience. And what an experience. Anybody who remembers our "road" in Vermont will know what I'm talking about when I describe the way to the hostel, in the middle of the night, with a nervous older gentleman for a driver, as being just a little stressful. Pitch dark, not a light in sight, a veritable path way for a 22 seat bus with a trailer hitched to it for luggage. We finally made it there and our hostel adventure started.

We were met by Vicki and her three dogs, one of which was HUGE, named chug a bunga, then two others Rosie and FiFi. They were all adopted township dogs that were rescued - two of them had coloring just like JT, I was ready to bring them home.

The students had a bunk room with 16 beds and I was living in the lap of luxury in my single with adjoining bathroom what I shared with our 70 year old driver, Lenny. All I wanted to do was go to bed, and that's just what I did not caring that there didn't seem to be the same amenities that I am used to! ha ha. Oh did I mention that my body, especially my knee, grew more bruises from my cave dwelling? I woke up the next morning to see the most incredible view that I have seen in a long time, complete with an Italian mob boss hideout and families of baboons.

The next morning we met Vicki's husband/friend (never got the low down on their relationship) and the two children they had taken in because their mother was a drug addict and had abandoned them for weeks at a time when they were 3 and 5. The little boys name was Gift and the little girls I can spell. They were the most beautiful, happy and fun loving children I have met in a long time. Full of hugs and giggles. The students were in love! Vicki and Matthew own and run an orphanage in their spare time and great cooks. For $150 dollars I got lodging for 3 nights, 3 full meals and breakfasts which were delicious. I think I've found a new way to travel.

more to come.....with pictures

Taking a digger

I finally found my way to the beach area where I wanted to run. Didn't get lost getting there or coming home, I am very impressed with myself. Except....well, here I am having this wonderful run, ocean to my right, the mist in my face from the crashing waves. Lion's Head and Table Mountain to my left in the distance, a rugby team practicing in the field to my left. Couples, families and dogs everywhere, a beautiful Sunday morning and things couldn't be better. And then of course....I trip on a raised cobblestone brick and take a nasty digger!! There I go left knee, right hip and both hands -- what a way to ruin a perfectly beautiful morning/run. My already broken phone went flying, head phones ripped out of my ears and my pride badly bruised! Not to mention the look of terror on the family that approached me to see if I was alright - they didn't speak English so all I could do is smile and keep running. I was so determined for this little "slip" to not ruin my day. I kept running. In case you are wondering, I had a phone and Ben, one of the people that is involved in the program lives just around the corner so if it had been worse I would have had help.

So, now I am limping around, have a lovely sore looking knee and can't wait to see it tomorrow morning. Just when all the other scabs on my legs had cleared up! The good news is I had a wonderful cup of decaf coffee and breakfast with my leg up on a chair reading the Sunday paper in a coffee shop on the beautiful coast of Cape Town. It was worth it.

Running in Rondebosch

I've been trying to take advantage of the really nice weather and run whenever I can. Only problem is I'm finding it really boring and hard to stay motivated. I am running on Rondebosch Common which is right across from my apartment and has a beautiful view of Table Mountain and Lion's head, but it is very flat, one time around is about 1.7 miles so I do it twice. I have added on another street that is adjacent, but again it's flat and boring.

I need to be able to get to and from Camps Bay (the ocean) and run along the promenade, I can get there just fine, but always get lost coming home! My goal for this weekend was to get out there and find a route on the beach that has a little more to offer than flat roads. I guess I miss running in Hebron and on Uconn campus, too bad it will be winter when I get back, dark and cold.

Despite the flat, boring terrain, I find myself amazed that I am running in South Africa, hours away from home listening to the same play list that I listen to when I'm in CT. It always amazes me that we can get on a plane and like magic, 15 hours later, you are essentially a day away from where you just came from. When I am getting up in the morning my kids are still awake, but it's another day from them. I'm starting my day and they haven't gone to bed yet. I can't even keep up with the time change from Arizona, so I haven't been able to connect with Kyle very often.

I don't know why it took me so long to discover Skype. I am finding it's the best way to communicate, if you know me, you know I don't like talking on the phone, but I don't mind using Skype. Seeing the person I'm talking to really helps to stay connected.

It is supposed to rain all weekend, which is fine, I have a ton of work to do to prep for the week coming up. The semester is flying by and a big part of me doesn't want it to end. So I am trying to enjoy the time I have, see everything I can and enjoy this adventure.

I'm attaching two pictures, one of me working with a student teaching newborn assessment and the other from the commons that I run on. My apartment is in the background next to the red roof.

Para Gliding off Signal Hill over looking ocean and Table Mountain

Yes, I para glided for a while until I became nauseous, so that was the end of that. It was so relaxing and beautiful, I am really angry with my inability to withstand motion. I asked the instructor if it would be worse if I parachuted out a plane, and believe it or not he said that wouldn't make me sick! Maybe I will do it this summer. I wasn't able to get many pictures because I was too busy keeping the banana I just ate in my stomach, but I'll share what I have. I wish I could show them all to you, there is a distinct progression in the look on my face, all smiles and then holding it in. Oh well, I tried.

Another week of clinical and teaching under my belt. I am shocked at how much prep time it takes me to prepare for 16 hours of lecturing. I hope my students are studying as much as I am prepping. Judging from the quiz I gave them yesterday they are all studying. I will up my game on the next quiz and make it a little more challenging. I'm sure they would disagree.

My goal for tomorrow is to head back out to Camps Bay and find the running area I have been reading about. I try to go one new place each weekend day because I know I don't have time or energy during the week.

This is flying by really fast. Sorry to brag, but the weather is fantastic. I will be so depressed getting off that plane at JFK. Good thing I will have Christmas and all the kids home to look forward to.

Wind and parking your car in Cape Town

I'm not talking about the fierce wind that makes me feel like I'm moving backward when I run. Although I just got back from a run on the "commons" and the wind was so bad I honestly had trouble going forward. For my friends at HH, it's like the wind tunnel between parking and Children's hospital. For my UConn friends, just about anywhere on campus. I'm happy to have a safe place to run that is right across the street from my flat. Only issue is that it is so flat and incredibly boring. There is common area (really an empty field) that is surrounded by a walking/jogging path, it is about 1.7 miles around. So twice and you get close to a 5K. There are always a lot of people walking and running so it is very safe. I will post a picture of Table Mountain and University of Cape Town in the back drop. I have to admit, it's quite stunning.

So the wind I'm talking about occurred during a teaching encounter with a couple of my students. The patient was a very nervous, self conscious, first time mom with 36 week twins. She was feeling overwhelmed and wanted help breastfeeding. So, I was teaching my students and the mother some techniques to get the baby to latch on. As I was doing that, one of the nursery Sisters (nurse) came in to give both of them injections, ignored us and took the baby from the mom. The mom explained that she needed help breastfeeding and apparently the sister didn't like what we were doing, which is common and absolutely fine. But this is what really made me want to laugh out loud and say "really, you're serious, you think that's going to work?" The sister proceeded to tell the mother that the baby has "wind", I looked at my students and shrugged my shoulders. The sister told the mom that you can tell if the baby has wind by where it's tongue is, if it's up against the roof of the mouth, there is wind, if it isn't there isn't wind. At this point I still had no idea what it meant to have wind. Was that the same as passing gas? Apparently not, having wind means you need to burp, now you are probably way ahead of me here, but it took me a while to get it. The whole tongue issue really confused me, I'd never heard of that, but that's not to say it isn't true. Then the sister goes on to teach the mother how to "break the babies wind", puts the infant up on mom's shoulder and rubbed the back exactly two times and proclaimed, "wind is gone, the baby will eat now". None of us heard anything close to what we call a burp. Mom gave us a confused look, but allows the sister to help the baby onto the breast, and what do you know, the baby latched on, the students looked at me, and I shrugged my shoulders!

Now parking your car here is an adventure, as if driving on the other side of the road isn't fun enough. I have 3 clinical sites that I go to, none of them have adequate parking, but what they do have is people willing to "watch your car". This is a source of income for people, they get your attention as you pull into the parking lot, some how they find you a spot, direct you into that spot and there you go. At first I didn't like it, I felt pressure because there are at least 10 people trying to get your attention. When you come back to get your car you are expected to give a tip for their services. They will find you no matter how much later you come out of the hospital and boy do they remember your face!

This week I had two very nice things happen to me related to parking. At one site the parking person wanted me to parallel park my car. I can't do that back home, never mind on the other side of the car, on the other side of the street. Just too much for me to process. So I took a chance that he spoke English and explained that I didn't know how to park that way, there was clearly no where else to park. This man patiently proceeded to guide me through the whole process without hitting anything. I was so pleased I gave him his tip before I went in just in case he wasn't there when I got back. He looked very happy with what I gave him. When I got back I saw that he had washed my car - windshields, hubcaps, the whole thing and he was smiling profusely, obviously proud of himself. So, your wondering how much did I give him to deserve such royal treatment. I gave him 9 rand, which is equal to a whopping 90 cents. That is just one example of how poor some of the people are.

The other incident wasn't nearly as striking, but it made me realize that these men and women really are providing a service and I am now happy to let them help me find a spot and then park. Today I got into a spot that I never would have guessed I could get into, but with the guidance of my parking man, I got a spot right in front of the hospital. When I got out of the car he told me to have a good day. I gave him 9 rand and wished him a good day as well.

I'm posting a picture of the beach I went to Sunday. I'm not trying to rub it in, but boy was it beautiful.

Life on my own

we got back from Johannesburg last week on Sunday and I gave the students monday off to recover from days of traveling and sightseeing. Joe and I climbed Table Mountain. It was a beautiful day and perfect for hiking, of course Joe was running up the mountain and looked back to make sure I was still alive, which as you can tell, I am. The students were amazed that we did it in 1.25 hours, I was more amazed! Joe spend a couple days sightseeing with the couple that have been with us (the first professor and her husband). He got some great pictures of the coast line.

So I have been driving on my own for the last few days and have only had a few tense moments when I realize I am on the wrong side of the road. Driving on the opposite side definitely takes some getting used to, but I was very proud of getting to all three clinical sites on Wednesday with minor direction issues. The sites are in the poor townships and it's hard to see people living with so little when just miles away there are beautiful shopping malls, upscale stores, lots of restaurants and people with plenty of money. There is always people looking for food, so we have gotten used to keeping our leftovers and giving it to anyone who asks for money or food.

I taught for the first time thursday and friday for 8 hours each day. What a way to get initiated into the world of lecturing! First day was pretty rough, second day was a little easier, I am truly hoping that this week I am better prepared and a little more coherent! Luckily the students have been very patient and kind, they know I am new at this and trying my best. They are also confident that I will be fair, so that helps.

Here are pictures of our hike and Joe's drive on the coast. The first one is a picture from my balcony, the flat part is Table Mountain and that is what we hiked.