Onto South Africa....

African Queen??

And so my South Africa journey has begun! I am almost one month in and have settled in nicely.

I currently live in Clayville and work about 3 miles away in Tembisa, a large township which is halfway between, and about 45 minutes from, Pretoria (the capital) and Johannesburg. I'm staying in a house which is owned by the ABV South Africa Coordinator, however she does not live here. Instead, her cousin Sarah has come from Zimbabwe to act as our "House Mother". Come to find out, Allison, a young American, and I are the first volunteers through the SA program with ABV and although things are generally great, there are some logistical glitches to prove it!  There is also another couple who rents a room in this house who have a 2 year old son, Thalo. Allison and I share a room (although she just left today so I am now alone for my final month) and we share the remainder of the house with the 3 other people. Our house is in a middle class neighborhood with most modern conveniences - indoor plumbing, electricity, TV, etc; however, we are missing most kitchen appliances: no oven, microwave, toaster, washer/dryer or heat. We're going into winter here so heat is becoming a problem - it's become the top item on my list of what I miss most about America! With an average temperature of 115 in Ghana, I couldn't cool down and now I can't warm up! However, no doubt about it, my standard of living here is MUCH more comfortable than when I was in Ghana!

I may in fact come home with this child, - is he not the cutest?!

As for my volunteer work, that is a big improvement as well. I'm at a Children's Center and Hospice. In the morning I work with hospice while I spend afternoons in the Children's Center. Hospice is all out-patient, therefore most mornings I go out with caretakers to visit patients in their home, mostly HIV/AIDS and TB patients; cervical cancer is also very prominent here and by far, the leading cancer among all people. Although the caretakers have received training they are not nurses and regularly I witness them exposing themselves to HIV/AIDS/TB in ways that I can't believe! Is it lack of education/training? Is it the blase' factor that they've been working with this population for so long and have therefore lost their heightened sensitivity? I don't know...probably a combination of both.

Freedom Square, an informal settlement where thousands of people in Tembisa live.

I visit many of our hospice patients in Informal Settlements like these.

Orphanages, in the traditional sense, are few and far between in SA. Instead, they have day-orphanages that function as Child Care Centers, which is where I'm volunteering. Children come to the center during day time hours and then go home, usually to a guardian, at dinner time. There are approximately 40 1-6 year olds who stay all day and approximately 50 6-16 year olds who come after school. Many of the kids at this Center have been affected by HIV/AIDS: 13 of the kids are infected while most of the other's parents have either died from the disease or are too sick to care for their kids full-time. 

Gotta love the alligator outfit!!

 I'm still combating a language barrier, which, again, I did not expect here. Many of the patients we see are very, very poor and much of their living conditions are worse than anything I've ever seen. They have had very little schooling and therefore only speak a small amount of English. The caretakers are pretty good about translating for me but because of the barrier, much of my time is spent observing rather than doing. Likewise at the Children's Center, most of my time is spent with the 1-6 year olds who also speak very little English. Although not being able to effectively communicate with them is frustrating, they need unspoken attention and affection more than anything.

All of the employees at the center are really great! They are welcoming and friendly and have gone out of their way to make me feel at home. They are thrilled to be hosting a white volunteer and have told all of their friends that they have a maloongu (white person) at the center and people drop in just to see us! I'm surprised by this as well because...well...it's South Africa - there's supposed to be lots of white people here. But in this area, there are none to be found anywhere!

Allison and I have been taking some day trips on the weekends and so time has been passing nicely. I will upload some pictures and tell you about those journeys on my next blog.

Until the next time....
Kim

Farewell Ghana....

After  a bit of deliberation, I have decided to leave Ghana early. I feel passionately about contributing to the improvement of something here and I really don't think that's happening. With stars in my eyes, I really had expected to make a difference here, and although I'm sure I've impacted some things, I was really looking for much more. So I will be heading to South Africa later this week where, as originally planned, I will spend 2 months between the kids and in healthcare and then a couple of weeks traveling.

Of course there are many things that make living here difficult: the oppressive heat, the dirt everywhere, the lack of modern conveniences (running water, sinks, toilets, showers, electricity), the general slow pace of life, the discrimination against white people in certain environments, the pollution, the attitude/indifference/lack of care & compassion among health care professionals, the impoverished surroundings, the treatment of the children and the unhealthy food (I don't think I ever covered lunch or dinner, which are pretty much the same: we are always served A LOT of some starch - boiled potatoes, white rice, spaghetti, fried plantains or an African starch - FuFu, Banku, Bola, Kenke; this is usually accompanied by a tomato stew  or a nut based stew where the most prevalent ingredient is palm oil! For dinner we are usually also given a square of chicken on the bone. And by square I mean the chicken was plucked and cleaned and then chopped up, as is, into 2" x 2" squares and fried!).
However, with some time, these have been relatively easy to adapt to and accept. It's been the lack of work ethic, motivation and progress in the work place that has pushed me towards the decision to leave early. As for the pluses, it is the people I will miss the most. Kpando has a very friendly, small village feel that emanates from the people. They are extremely warm and welcoming. Everyday people go out of their way to welcome the yovo (white people), give their greetings and provide help for anything that's needed. But, like every journey, I have had some more memorable and interesting moments that I'd like to share:

 TOP 8 THINGS THAT MADE ME GO "HHHHMMMMM....."
8. At home, it's common to see a dog tied up at a park or outside a store; here, it's common to see a lamb, goat or chicken tied up instead.

7. "Why aren't we giving 10am medicines to the 11 year old hemophiliac boy who has a severe infection from a snake bite and is bleeding from most of his orifices?" I ask. "Because he wasn't in his bed when it was his turn" the nurse tells me. "Hhhmm, he's there now so why don't we go give him his meds" I suggest (mind you all beds are in the same room). "No" she emphatically responds, "He wasn't in his bed when we were there so the afternoon nurses will see him at his next dosing time this afternoon".   (Talk about making me go hmmm...).

6. At home, it is common to see some teens/younger men wearing their jeans below their butt with their boxers showing; here, it is the soccer players who do it most! Men of varying age will be in a rather serious match, playing pretty high level ball and many of them will have their shorts at their hips in the front and literally below their butts in the back.
 
5.At home we have lawn mowers to cut the grass, here boys use machetes to cut the grass.

4. At home, maybe some men will urinate in a somewhat public place in a dire situation, here men will urinate anywhere anytime. In addition, it is almost as acceptable for women to do the same. They do not hide behind a tree or a structure and they do not squat; instead, they pull their long skirts up to their knees, they spread their legs across the gutter and....they pee.

3. In an economy where very few people own a car, how does someone get a live goat home after they've purchased it at the market? Cabs and tro-tros (vans) will not allow them in the vehicle so it's common to see a goat standing upright on the roof of a tro tro with it's feet tied down! It's also common to see a goat strapped to the gas tank area on a motorcycle!

2. Who says I haven't enjoyed any intimacy while I've been in Africa? On several occasions, I've had a goat wander into the outdoor stall while I'm showering.

1. Upon a patient arriving at the hospital emergency room having an asthma attack a nurse asked me "Is asthma an airborne disease?".
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This past week another volunteer and I spent 5 days at Cape Coast - a "touristy/beach" area that many westerners visit. 11 hours and 2 buses later we had traveled only approx. 250miles to this beautiful ocean side spot.  We enjoyed some of the history of the area including the slave trade castles, we went hiking in Kakum National Park where we did the famous (at least in Ghana) Canopy Walk, and browsed the busting markets. It was a great ending to my journey in Ghana.

And now my days in Ghana are about over. Thank you to everyone who provided donations to help make life better here for the kids and the patients. I appreciate your support and look forward to sharing South Africa with you soon.