Week 12 - 01/11 - 07/11

This was a short week because it was Gail's 21st Birthday, very cool :)
Had some interesting classes in Life Orientation; discussing some very deep topics and doing a lesson plan to challenge perceptions of people with disabilities. It was quite difficult to hear some of the learners perceptions of people with disabilities; both as an occupational therapist (to be) and personally. Alot of the learners felt that disabled people couldn't be independent - but we did some work to open their eyes to some of the realities of being disabled (ironically by blindfolding half the class and getting them to lead each other around the school!)

We visited another big mall nearby (ish) which was much bigger than any other mall in the vicinity - and was like its own empire - South Africans do love their malls!

At the drug rehabilitation centre we made friendship bracelets with the residents - which took me back to primary school and was alot of fun - esp when the residents started teaching me different ways to make them which I'd never seen before!
We also played a simple game in a life orientation session with the girls to do with recognising the side-effects of drugs. Unfortunately not all the clients were engaged with the task - but those that were did well.

In the creche we did different stations of activities with the 5-6 year olds - felt very productive and alot of fun. Everytime I go to the creche I end up getting very dusty kneeling down next to the tables where the children work; but that just adds to the fun :)

On Weds eve S and I got down to some serious baking(!) my first in several years! I baked a 'cold tea loaf' for Gail's birthday cake and S attempted to use my gran's (seriously scrumptious) chocolate cake recipe to make cupcakes.

Neither turned out especially well (we didn't have scales) but my Gran's reciple did make some fantastic crumbly brownies (once they'd been prised from the tins!...)

We had some confusion with the social responsibility timetable (where the learners come to the community projects - the creche and the disability home once a term) so we ended up going to the creche and the disability home on Weds and Thurs of that week.

So on Weds in the disability I did a basic exercise group (which is what I do at the start of every weekly session) and then just spent some time interacting with individual residents and the manager about future plans and improving individual function; all very small steps - but every little helps right!?
On Thursday the learners from the school came into the home and helped facilitate a painting group with the focus of designing a painting for a wall outside the home.
The learners were less motivated than usual with helping the residents and alot of them ended up doing their own paintings which was disappointing for me - and unfortunately there wasn't a teacher to back me up on my attempts to engage them more. I'm a little bit disillusioned about whether the learners will continue with interactive tasks with the residents when I'm not around but I am putting together some literature that will actively encourage participation from the learners - so hopefully that will help.

Thursday on the whole was pretty cool; I got up early to put up some birthday decorations, there were lots of airmailed cards and plenty of presents :) After social responsibilty Gail and I went to Long St, wondered around and saw some of the cool, tourist-aimed shops around there. Then we picked S up from the station and drove up to the Table Mt cable car station.
As a South African citizen Gail has the priviledge of travelling up and down Table Mt for free - so she took advantage of that and S and I followed.
We wandered around the table top (which had changed significantly since my visit in '08 - I guess the world cup had something to do with that...), took many photos, got very cold, bought hot choc and watched the sun go down, hopped in the next available cable car and S and I led the car in a disjointed serenade of 'Happy Birthday' while Gail cringed appropriately (you only turn 21 once though right!?!)
We made a late night stop at Spar for last minute goodies and then came home to eat (it was pretty much 10pm by then!)

Luckily we had Friday off - so after a brief lie-in Gail and I were busily getting ready.
Unfortunately my trainers had been stolen from the back garden (where I left them to dry at the weekend and cleverly proceded to forget about them). I have no concrete proof that they were stolen apart from the fact that they have never been found. So I ended up choosing some trainers at the speed of light so that I had some suitable footwear for our weekend away.

On Friday afternoon an intrepid group of six headed up the west coast to a camp site. We had booked out three permanent tents (meaning they were all set up for us and had proper mattresses in :)

Upon arrival three of our party set about lighting the camp fire, tents were decided upon and impressive (unusual) toilet facilities were admired! We braai'd (Brits read barbequed) our own meat/veggie burgers/butternut squash/sandwiches and had a royal feast under the stars. 'Mazing.

The weekend was a mix-up of national park land, beaches, food, beaches, bird hides, viewpoints, smores, stars, Uno and beaches. Lots of fun with amazing friends, stunningly beautiful scenery and glorious sunshine.

We arrived home on Sunday afternoon (after taking the scenic route...delibarately..!) - sandy, over-heated, tired, burnt (only slightly!...) and ready for some refreshment.
So S and I jumped in the small swimming pool that we have in the back garden, and jumped straight back out again...too cold!

After unpacking, a short rest I set out for church - only to find that the gate (an automated beast that normally allows us access in and out of the drive way) was refusing to budge!
No church for me!
Our housemate eventually managed to get someone to at least open it and we secured it with a padlock for a few days before it was fixed.

Never a dull moment!
I love Table Mt
Peace out x

Week 11 - 25/10 - 31/10

This week there was a wheelchair assessment completed by a charity at the disability home - this is something that our supervisor at the school told me about and I organised. A lot of the wheelchairs at the disability are wholly unsuited to the needs of their owners or simply in a state of disrepair.

There are some chairs which are fine - but their occupant needs a new cushion to be comfortable.
The assessment went really well; there was a large team of therapists and assistants who were pro-active and helpful. Unfortunately the follow-up from the visit has not been quite so forthcoming - but there's not much I can do about that.

There was one day of chaos at the drug rehab centre - we did do some paper mache work with them but overall it wasn't the best time for the clients.

Later on in the week however I filmed them doing some role plays they did as part of their weekly drama activities; lots of fun -- but video editing is a schlep - I'm very inexperienced...
We also sat in a 'self-management skills training' group which was interesting as we've not really had much opportunity to get a better understanding of it.

Had some much overdue supervision (its been awkward because we have two supervisors who are now in two different locations and working with different client groups.)

Gail helped the creche workers fill in some forms to get more training. I did a playdough activity with the children in the meantime...and then got clambered all over :P

At the end of the week Gail and I attended the 'Friday Masuvo (sp?) Disability Lecture' Friday Masuvo was a high profile disability rights campaigner; one of the very first in SA. He passed away a while ago - this lecture is held in his memory.

The lecture was delievered by the Minister of Housing and Rural Developement; very interesting insight into some of the projects that are being run and the attempts that are being made to integrate disabled people into society and get them involved in different initiatives. He was very open about his own perceptions of disability and how they have been changed through visits to different intiatives.

Different issues were brought up about the perceptions of educating disabled children and the level of education that is available to them, the accessibility of these different initiatives that the department wants people to join etc. It was interesting to hear the ministers' plans and some of his concerns and areas of need.
some of the discussions and issues that were raised were pertinent and gave me a better understanding of the issues that are facing disabled South Africans.

On the weekend we were going to go for a hike at a place called Silvermine which is part of Table Mt National Park but the weather was rubbish (misty and overcast) so we went down to Muizenberg - sandy beachy area. S, C, Gail and I walked and picnicked. Then drove to another beach area and ate ice-cream in the cold and wind (or at least I did)

On Sunday Gail and S did a hike up Elephants Eye...apparently I missed a really good one - but I had a very relaxing date with my pillow instead - which at the time was far preferable to me. In the afternoon we just chilled out and then the normal church times.
Very good to have a chilled out day.

More blog coming soon!
I love Table Mt
Peace out x

Week 10 - 18/10 - 24/10

OK, so I'm working on catching up with all of this. Week 10 was a bumpy ride. Plenty of good times with some interesting times thrown in for good measure(!)

Monday we got our act together with some good friends from church so after our half day at the school (as part of our placement we have a half day study day a week, the idea of 'studying' is often subjective you understand :P) we went on a tour of the UCT campus and went on a short walk to Rhodes Memorial which looks out over Cape Town. Its a beautiful place with plenty of statues and amazing views. Its abit odd in that it commemorates one rather egoistical man (John Rhodes no less!) who essentially built the whole place in memoriam of him and how amazing he was!!
There is also a site nearby which was the home to many lions and the sport of lion baiting in years gone by!

We had a lot of fun exploring and tried to decide on something to do in the evening; but suggestions fell to the floor so we went home and chilled instead :)

Tuesday we started making paper mache with the residents of the rehabilitation centre. For those of you who know something of my irritational issues with balloons and the bursting of said items you will realise that this was not an easy session for me to be part of. Especially because the residents are perceptive and will play on whatever they say which annoys you/makes you jump...
I just tried to keep myself busy...and Gail and our supervisor were aware of my ridiculous anxieties and cut me some slack which I greatly appreciated :)

Wednesday was an interesting day. In the morning we did different activities with children at the creche (mostly involving playdough), did puzzles and played skittles while I continued in information collection for the wheelchair assessments being done next Monday.

Our lesson plan for the week (anonymously putting a fear/struggle into a hat (read box) in class then discussing issues as they arose went well with the two classes we had that afternoon. 

Gail didn't feel so great that evening so it was only me who went to small group. While parking on a kerb I inexplicably managed to burst one of our car tyres....cue much relief for the males in our group who were more than happy to help out and change to the spare for me! (I really do need to learn how to change a tyre but it was a dark, so this was not the opportune moment...)

Thursday was characterised by the purchasing of a tyre, more good lessons and a distinct lack of organisation when it came to evening activities; as everything we had semi-planned to attend ended up being sold out!

Friday - Gail didn't feel well enough to go to placement so I once again braved SA roads by myself(!) There was an event known as 'the wishing well' for those in their final year at the school so instead of lessons I was treated to a morning of gumboot dancing (a Xhosa tradition), dancing, singing, acting and other good things.

Once the afternoon lessons were done I came home, persuaded Gail that she would love to drive to the car rental place with me again (as the car was positively eating oil...total number of cans purchased now = 8!!) This time the mechanics paid us more attention and took our 'something isn't right' slightly more seriously; which felt nicer.

This time there were six mechanics stood around the car (yes, six!). They once again tried to blame the oil cap but that argument didn't stand for long once they saw the plumes of purple smoke being emitted from the exhaust pipe!

They said that we needed to swap the car so they could take the time to get it fixed so we'd need to come back early next week; so they filled the oil and we drove away satisfied and hoping that Whitey would make it safely through the weekend.

After such an car trouble filled afternoon take away pizza and a rented dvd was of course required...

Weekend:
We chilled out in Stellenbosch, visited Spier vineyard, Gail still not feeling 100%, considered visiting Chinatown and ended up just having another chilled night in. I never complain about that - I love chilled out evenings!

Early on Sunday morning S and I (along with a couple of friends) climbed Lion's Head. In reality it was only S and I as the other two walked much faster and so left us trailing. This was alot of fun - with some really spectacular views until it started raining and hailing while we were at the top!
I had very wisely left my rain jacket in the car (it had looked so promising!) so we got soaked and freezing cold as we slipped and slid for the hour it took to make our way down.

The rest of the day was spent recovering from said experience by showering and curling up with many blankets before heading out to church in the evening.

So that was that... working on catching up with the blogging I promise!

I love Table Mt 

Peace out x