This was more of a topsy-turvy week where things were not quite normal.
The week started in the school. On Monday afternoon we visited an organisation called 'Facing Up' in Lavender Hill on the Cape Flats. This area used to be where the coloured people were forced to live during apartheid and as a consequence is till home to a large coloured population; gang and drug crime is rife.
Facing Up works in a number of local schools - looking to address occupational balance and provide interest groups and address social issues with the children. The organisation was set up by a UCT OT lecturer and is run by OT students while they're on placement. This obviously means that there is an issue with continuity - but gives teachers and pupils in the schools opportunity to take responsibility.
There is the possibility of employing a full time OT in the programme but this has not yet been funded and the logistics would be difficult! It was good to chat to the occupational therapy students who were working there and compare our courses and styles of working
Tuesday we did a painting session at the rehab centre - simple and effective. Unfortunately Gail wasn't feeling so great, but we got through it!
Wednesday was a busy busy day! Gail and I went into Langa - did finger painting at the creche with the 5-6 year olds!
We shot ourselves in the foot rather because we chose to do the painting activity outside; meaning we spent most of the time sellotaping paper to tables and weighting down paint containers. But we all had a lot of fun nonetheless.
Things were slightly less chaotic at the disability home. I started collecting information about the clients wheelchairs and other basic information - ready for wheelchair assessments being completed by a charity group I contacted recently. The rest of the time the residents completed puzzles and did sculpting with play dough.
Gail and I went back to the school for the afternoon and facilitated a lesson plan we'd made. Learning about and discussing through issues surrounding TB. The lesson was good; helped us to see the insight that the learners had into TB as a condition...we also played a learning game with them so that was good.
In the evening I went with C and a friend of hers to a monthly pasta night in Bo Kaap...hosted by one of the teachers in the school.
A lot of fun - met a lot of cool people - mostly foreigners; German, Dutch, Scottish, British, American, Zimbabwean. I wasn't sure which accent was which by the end of the night! Some very cheap food and good company - with an amazing view of Table Mt from the house :)
Thursday - more TB lesson plans... going to get the car fixed (again!) instead of going to the rehab centre..
What was the problem now I hear you ask! Well essentially we ran out of oil - despite having put three cans in over the last 2 months of having the car...mechanics looked again, said that there was still a problem with the oil cap and replaced it (again...I think..)
In the evening Gail still wasn't feeling good and I was very tired so we didn't go to our usual church group!
Friday was a normal morning at school and then we headed to the UCT (university of Cape Town) buildings in a local suburb. We met with an OT lecturer there (the one who set up 'Facing Up' that we visited on Monday) and talked to her for a long while about the organisation, OT in Cape Town and occupational therapy in general. It was a highly insightful and friendly conversation which I learnt a lot from.
Somehow by the end of our conversation we were talking about disability in general; the lecturer told us about an art exhibition at a local theatre around sexuality and disability.
So we said our thankyous and goodbyes and went to have a look.
The exhibition wasn't so much an art exhibition as a collection of photos and description. It was very interesting; just less abstract than i had expected it to be! While we were there we also saw a sign for an integrated dance company performance over the following two nights so we got tickets for that :)
Then we went to a local mall and got haircuts and coffee :) for those of you who haven't been on facebook and seen my more recent photos now is my chance to tell you -- I've had a very short haircut!..I've been thinking about it for ages - haven't had my hair shortshort for years so finally got the guts up the change :) I'm liking it, growing to love it and virtually all the feedback I've had has been good so its all cool!
And then it was the weekend - we drove to the Waterfront on Saturday with CDA and CT(!) took a tour of Robben Island ( a former leper colony, prison and WWII defence point) the words WWII defence point are used lightly though because the guns weren't actually completed till 1947....just abit late by most people's watches..but this is Africa (T.I.A..) so its fine - don't worry about it!
I have been to Robben Island before - however this time was alot nicer because it was warm - meaning the ferry ride didn't make me feel violently ill, the view of Table Mt was much nicer and, well, it was just nicer!
After the tour. The entire trip took longer than I remembered so we were hungry for lunch when we got back (cue yummy wraps and frozen yoghurt!)
Saturday evening we went to watch the integrated dance performance that I mentioned we bought tickets for on Friday. It was really good; the piece that they performed had been commissioned for women's day and heritage day. It was different to the work that I've seen by StopGAP in the UK. This had more ballroom involved and sometimes felt less cohesive than I'm used to seeing integrated dance on stage; but it definitely had flair. Lots of humour, thought provoking stuff - one of the pro dancers was deaf which I didn't know til afterward but really does give it an edge when I think back to the performance! Very enjoyable and highly recommended should you ever be in Cape Town!
To find out more about the two dance companies I've mentioned visit www.stopgap.uk.com/ and www.remixdanceproject.co.za/
Sunday we went to Nia in the morning which made a nice change as we normally go during the week.
Gail and I drove along Chapmans Peak. So much fun to drive and some amazing, amazing amazing views!
Went to Nordhoek beach; sat on the sand dunes and ate lunch and chatted about nothing and everything.
Visted a farm shop in Norhoek and bought goodies - stopped and had ice-cream. A really nice Sunday!
Then we went to church and that was the weirdest thing - we had baptisms in a large paddling pool then split male/female. Def not your average Sun night - but fun nonetheless.
Just time to say, I know I'm waay behind on the blog..I'm gonna work on getting back up to date..annnd I love Table Mt!
Peace out x
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Saturday, 16 October 2010
Week 8 - 04/10 - 10/10
Man! I need to stop leaving it so long to blog...
The week after the holiday was a goood one. We were refreshed and felt better equipped to deal with and respond to the changing situations around us. We were well-rested and coming back to placement with new determination despite some anxieties about getting back into routine and how the latter part of our placement would/will play out.
I must say a big thankyou to our friends at church for supporting and encouraging us when we were frustrated and anxious despite not knowing us very well. You okes are legends :D
Had some eye-opening conversations with the learners in life orientation lessons about some of the situations a few of them had been in or heard about during the holidays.
Life in the township is a parallel universe to the sheltered upbringing I was so privileged to know. Crime is high especially involving sexual and gun/knife crime.
It is one thing to know that these things are commonplace and quite another to discuss the crimes as all too often lived experiences of 14-16 year olds.
We do discuss a lot of difficult issues like this all the time; after the break there were simply more discussions to be had.
Tuesday we did a mixture of life orientation and arts and crafts with the residents of the rehab centre; we asked them to design a poster to promote HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. It was very difficult to get most of the boys engaged with the drawing. And although the conversation we then attempted to facilitate relating to HIV and AIDS had some good moments they weren't focused and therefore it was difficult to break through mindsets like 'if I have HIV I want to infect others so that I won't die alone'
The girls unfortunately never came to the group because there were ongoing issues that other staff members were working hard to resolve but which took most of the afternoon.
Wednesday I visited the creche that Gail has been working in; met some of the staff and saw the resources available. Gail then joined me visiting the disability home where we were fortunate to arrive at the home at the same time at some physio students from a local university who are doing weekly placement hours there at the moment. They ran their exercise group with the residents while we set up the painting activity.
We all then pitched in with assisting the residents painting which then freed me up for conversations with the manager and her son about some exciting plans I have up my sleeve (more on that later).
It was also really good to talk to the physios about what their plans were, inform them about my current objectives - they also helped me out with understanding the manual handling techniques that are used in the home.
We left the home tired and my hands resembled a smurfs/Avatars (delete according to your personal knowledge base..) but I enjoyed my morning there as usual :)
Thursday afternoon we were at the rehab centre in the afternoon and watched some roleplays which the residents had put together themselves. They did a very good job and I volunteered the use of my video camera to record the roleplays the following week :)
Friday was just a day at the school...I must explain that although I don't mention what we do in the school very often its because the specifics are often either not particularly interesting or would involve too much typing to explain; I'm thinking of explaining the structure of the two types of lessons we will often have. But I think that might come further towards the end when we're reflecting on the placement as a whole.
And then it was the weeekend!!
I love the weekends :) as always when you're working hard in placement...I can feel the nods coming from my fellow healthcare students right now :P
Friday night C and I went to Observatory - a local suburb which is described as 'hip and vibrant' in the tour guides and 'be careful' by some local South Africans.
We went to get late night coffee and (a rather mahoosive slice of) cake - I'm not sure that that was our initial intention but that's what happened :)
Coffee and cake led to a few hours of deep discussion; the best type of discussion there is...
We then wondered around a bit (don't worry we stayed on the well-lit streets..) and looked into a few bars but nothing appealed to us. We spoke to some random strangers for awhile - that sounds ridiculously dodgy I know - but it really wasn't!
We then drove back towards home with the aim of going to a bar along the way - but then the tiredness hit so we went home, talked some more and finally hit the pillow at 2am.
Not very hardcore of us I know - but thats just placement/working hours for you!
Saturday Gail, C and I went to Kirstenbosch Gardens (which Gail and I had visited with my family a few weeks ago) this time was more chilled; more time to wander aimlessly, look at the 'useful plants' section which was very interesting, eat picnics, soak up the glorious sunshine, take endless photos etc.
C headed home, Gail and I picked up some friends from UCT who then came and prepared some lovely food for all of us; then we headed to a joint birthday party for a couple from church...much fun - a shedload of crazy dancing - lots of sweets - plenty of good company and a generally great night.
However Gail and I were rather bored of introducing ourselves and explaining what we're doing in Cape Town by the end of the night!!
Sunday was actually a horrible day - wet and very windy which led to much sleeping/watching of movies/not doing very much. I actually really enjoy a day like that every once in a while so I mustn't complain!
S ran a 10km run (props - she's a great runner!) and we had a good Sunday eve - ready for the inevitable Monday morning!
The week after the holiday was a goood one. We were refreshed and felt better equipped to deal with and respond to the changing situations around us. We were well-rested and coming back to placement with new determination despite some anxieties about getting back into routine and how the latter part of our placement would/will play out.
I must say a big thankyou to our friends at church for supporting and encouraging us when we were frustrated and anxious despite not knowing us very well. You okes are legends :D
Had some eye-opening conversations with the learners in life orientation lessons about some of the situations a few of them had been in or heard about during the holidays.
Life in the township is a parallel universe to the sheltered upbringing I was so privileged to know. Crime is high especially involving sexual and gun/knife crime.
It is one thing to know that these things are commonplace and quite another to discuss the crimes as all too often lived experiences of 14-16 year olds.
We do discuss a lot of difficult issues like this all the time; after the break there were simply more discussions to be had.
Tuesday we did a mixture of life orientation and arts and crafts with the residents of the rehab centre; we asked them to design a poster to promote HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. It was very difficult to get most of the boys engaged with the drawing. And although the conversation we then attempted to facilitate relating to HIV and AIDS had some good moments they weren't focused and therefore it was difficult to break through mindsets like 'if I have HIV I want to infect others so that I won't die alone'
The girls unfortunately never came to the group because there were ongoing issues that other staff members were working hard to resolve but which took most of the afternoon.
Wednesday I visited the creche that Gail has been working in; met some of the staff and saw the resources available. Gail then joined me visiting the disability home where we were fortunate to arrive at the home at the same time at some physio students from a local university who are doing weekly placement hours there at the moment. They ran their exercise group with the residents while we set up the painting activity.
We all then pitched in with assisting the residents painting which then freed me up for conversations with the manager and her son about some exciting plans I have up my sleeve (more on that later).
It was also really good to talk to the physios about what their plans were, inform them about my current objectives - they also helped me out with understanding the manual handling techniques that are used in the home.
We left the home tired and my hands resembled a smurfs/Avatars (delete according to your personal knowledge base..) but I enjoyed my morning there as usual :)
Thursday afternoon we were at the rehab centre in the afternoon and watched some roleplays which the residents had put together themselves. They did a very good job and I volunteered the use of my video camera to record the roleplays the following week :)
Friday was just a day at the school...I must explain that although I don't mention what we do in the school very often its because the specifics are often either not particularly interesting or would involve too much typing to explain; I'm thinking of explaining the structure of the two types of lessons we will often have. But I think that might come further towards the end when we're reflecting on the placement as a whole.
And then it was the weeekend!!
I love the weekends :) as always when you're working hard in placement...I can feel the nods coming from my fellow healthcare students right now :P
Friday night C and I went to Observatory - a local suburb which is described as 'hip and vibrant' in the tour guides and 'be careful' by some local South Africans.
We went to get late night coffee and (a rather mahoosive slice of) cake - I'm not sure that that was our initial intention but that's what happened :)
Coffee and cake led to a few hours of deep discussion; the best type of discussion there is...
We then wondered around a bit (don't worry we stayed on the well-lit streets..) and looked into a few bars but nothing appealed to us. We spoke to some random strangers for awhile - that sounds ridiculously dodgy I know - but it really wasn't!
We then drove back towards home with the aim of going to a bar along the way - but then the tiredness hit so we went home, talked some more and finally hit the pillow at 2am.
Not very hardcore of us I know - but thats just placement/working hours for you!
Saturday Gail, C and I went to Kirstenbosch Gardens (which Gail and I had visited with my family a few weeks ago) this time was more chilled; more time to wander aimlessly, look at the 'useful plants' section which was very interesting, eat picnics, soak up the glorious sunshine, take endless photos etc.
C headed home, Gail and I picked up some friends from UCT who then came and prepared some lovely food for all of us; then we headed to a joint birthday party for a couple from church...much fun - a shedload of crazy dancing - lots of sweets - plenty of good company and a generally great night.
However Gail and I were rather bored of introducing ourselves and explaining what we're doing in Cape Town by the end of the night!!
Sunday was actually a horrible day - wet and very windy which led to much sleeping/watching of movies/not doing very much. I actually really enjoy a day like that every once in a while so I mustn't complain!
S ran a 10km run (props - she's a great runner!) and we had a good Sunday eve - ready for the inevitable Monday morning!
Thursday, 7 October 2010
Mostly just holiday time. Week 6 & 7 - 20/09 - 03/10
Week 6 - 20/09 - 26/06
A bit of a patchy overview of this week....too much has happened since the beginning of that week!
Tuesday we did an arts and crafts session at the drug rehabilitation centre - the only session in the rehab centre that is a certainty on our schedule. We had some clay so got the residents sculpting their names/something to do with what they want to do when they're older/miscellaneous other..). A lot fun with the boys and the girls (they are separate for almost all activities because chaos reigns otherwise!)
The only downside was that the boys had a longer session than we planned so clay was used as ammunition and ceiling decoration(!) rather than for sculpting purposes...there were also a handful of fist fights and a incident with a chair being used as a weapon.
Tensions ran high and so the afternoon ended on a rather stressful note - but you definitely live and learn!
I went into the disability home on Wednesday with the learners (pupils) from the school.
It was nice for the learners to be there because I could run an activity without having to be everywhere all at once; which happens very easily when there are 10-15 residents all doing one task and only me (and sometimes Gail) available to help out.
So the residents made collages with the learners and I floated around a little bit. Taking to the manager and her son about possible future activity ideas in the home, chatting to a new resident about his interest in playing darts and generally helping out with the activity.
It was really good to see the learners engaging with the residents rather than just standing around or helping with the garden and the cleaning; obviously those things are important but opportunities to interact and boost the spirits of the residents shouldn't be missed.
Thursday we had a very interesting morning in the drug rehab centre.
A long, intense meeting (that really wasn't planned!) lots of talking, more emotion than you can shake a stick at and generally a very tiring day. I'm really not sure how to even begin to describe or explain what happened, my brain is still working on processing everything!
All throughout the week my family were staying in a guesthouse close to where we live so they spent the days gallivanting around and seeing the sights of Cape Town in pretty much record time! We saw them most evenings - either with them coming over to eat, us going out to eat or at least just hanging out together for a few hours, so great to have them around - even if it threw our routine around a bit!
On Friday it was Heritage Day or National Braai Day or both! A public holiday :)
Gail and I were up early and packing everything into the boot of the parents hire car :)
We (i.e. my dad :P) drove the 5-6hrs (which actually turned out to be 7-8hrs because of roadworks and holiday traffic!) down to Knysna, a town on the coast; along the Garden Route; very beautiful scenery while driving.
We spent the weekend chilling out, watching films, bike rides and canoeing on the lagoon near our house.
I say 'our house' it was actually a friends of ours in the UK - who said that we could stay there for a few days. The house was on a small, exclusive island just past Knysna - so lovely of them! Leisure Island is an amazing holiday destination!
Week 7 - 27/09 - 03/10
We were in Knysna till Wednesday as it was a week of school holiday - sleeping, shopping, eating good food and drinking good wines, going on hikes, canoeing every day, reading books, going to markets - generally just relaxing and enjoying ourselves.
Stopped by at Gordons Bay on our drive home. Ironically the day we drove home was the most consistent day in terms of hot, sunny weather - other days had a tendency to be cloudy and overcast, specially for the visiting Brits!
My family left shortly after we got back from Knysna - which made me feel rubbish for the rest of the evening :s
Luckily Thurs morning was bright and sunny - I got a text saying the fam were home safely (its soo weird to fly to the other side of the world in 12hrs!)
We went food shopping, chilled out at Mugg&Bean with S and used their internet as our home connection was temporarily indisposed.
If you don't know what Mugg&Bean is you obviously haven't been reading my blog so far (shame on you :P) ..just go and read some previous posts...
Friday was work day, that became otherwise known as laaazzeee day. oops. nevermind though it was very nice.
Saturday was the Old Biscuit Mill (marketplace). So. much. fun. Lots of cool shops and stalls; plenty and plenty of amazing, cheap(ish) food and drink (beer for 90p..yes please!), sunshine, good company, great atmosphere. Love that place!
Late afternoon was chill time and I cooked my mums mushroom lentil bake in the evening which went well and initiated many conversations on how the recipe could be played with to suit different people's taste.
Good times!
Sunday we went to Hout Bay Market again with S, C and many new friends. We love that market! Onto Hout Bay - ate the largest fish portion I've ever been served and then went home to work and attempt to prepare ourselves for Monday morning!
A great week this one :)
I love my family, I love all our friends in Cape Town, I love Table Mt!
Peace out x
A bit of a patchy overview of this week....too much has happened since the beginning of that week!
Tuesday we did an arts and crafts session at the drug rehabilitation centre - the only session in the rehab centre that is a certainty on our schedule. We had some clay so got the residents sculpting their names/something to do with what they want to do when they're older/miscellaneous other..). A lot fun with the boys and the girls (they are separate for almost all activities because chaos reigns otherwise!)
The only downside was that the boys had a longer session than we planned so clay was used as ammunition and ceiling decoration(!) rather than for sculpting purposes...there were also a handful of fist fights and a incident with a chair being used as a weapon.
Tensions ran high and so the afternoon ended on a rather stressful note - but you definitely live and learn!
I went into the disability home on Wednesday with the learners (pupils) from the school.
It was nice for the learners to be there because I could run an activity without having to be everywhere all at once; which happens very easily when there are 10-15 residents all doing one task and only me (and sometimes Gail) available to help out.
So the residents made collages with the learners and I floated around a little bit. Taking to the manager and her son about possible future activity ideas in the home, chatting to a new resident about his interest in playing darts and generally helping out with the activity.
It was really good to see the learners engaging with the residents rather than just standing around or helping with the garden and the cleaning; obviously those things are important but opportunities to interact and boost the spirits of the residents shouldn't be missed.
Thursday we had a very interesting morning in the drug rehab centre.
A long, intense meeting (that really wasn't planned!) lots of talking, more emotion than you can shake a stick at and generally a very tiring day. I'm really not sure how to even begin to describe or explain what happened, my brain is still working on processing everything!
All throughout the week my family were staying in a guesthouse close to where we live so they spent the days gallivanting around and seeing the sights of Cape Town in pretty much record time! We saw them most evenings - either with them coming over to eat, us going out to eat or at least just hanging out together for a few hours, so great to have them around - even if it threw our routine around a bit!
On Friday it was Heritage Day or National Braai Day or both! A public holiday :)
Gail and I were up early and packing everything into the boot of the parents hire car :)
We (i.e. my dad :P) drove the 5-6hrs (which actually turned out to be 7-8hrs because of roadworks and holiday traffic!) down to Knysna, a town on the coast; along the Garden Route; very beautiful scenery while driving.
We spent the weekend chilling out, watching films, bike rides and canoeing on the lagoon near our house.
I say 'our house' it was actually a friends of ours in the UK - who said that we could stay there for a few days. The house was on a small, exclusive island just past Knysna - so lovely of them! Leisure Island is an amazing holiday destination!
Week 7 - 27/09 - 03/10
We were in Knysna till Wednesday as it was a week of school holiday - sleeping, shopping, eating good food and drinking good wines, going on hikes, canoeing every day, reading books, going to markets - generally just relaxing and enjoying ourselves.
Stopped by at Gordons Bay on our drive home. Ironically the day we drove home was the most consistent day in terms of hot, sunny weather - other days had a tendency to be cloudy and overcast, specially for the visiting Brits!
My family left shortly after we got back from Knysna - which made me feel rubbish for the rest of the evening :s
Luckily Thurs morning was bright and sunny - I got a text saying the fam were home safely (its soo weird to fly to the other side of the world in 12hrs!)
We went food shopping, chilled out at Mugg&Bean with S and used their internet as our home connection was temporarily indisposed.
If you don't know what Mugg&Bean is you obviously haven't been reading my blog so far (shame on you :P) ..just go and read some previous posts...
Friday was work day, that became otherwise known as laaazzeee day. oops. nevermind though it was very nice.
Saturday was the Old Biscuit Mill (marketplace). So. much. fun. Lots of cool shops and stalls; plenty and plenty of amazing, cheap(ish) food and drink (beer for 90p..yes please!), sunshine, good company, great atmosphere. Love that place!
Late afternoon was chill time and I cooked my mums mushroom lentil bake in the evening which went well and initiated many conversations on how the recipe could be played with to suit different people's taste.
Good times!
Sunday we went to Hout Bay Market again with S, C and many new friends. We love that market! Onto Hout Bay - ate the largest fish portion I've ever been served and then went home to work and attempt to prepare ourselves for Monday morning!
A great week this one :)
I love my family, I love all our friends in Cape Town, I love Table Mt!
Peace out x
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