Week 3

Sorry I haven't been updating much, I tend to be a bit rubbish at that sort of thing. Anyway, I suppose I should mention what's been going on since my last post.
Over the weekend we went to the Drakensbergs, which was incredible. We went up the Sani pass to Lesotho, and we went for a hike in the mountains to see some Bushman paintings and we also went for a horseback ride, which was really fun, despite the fact I've never ridden a horse before in my life!
When we got back on monday, we found out quite a few of the patients had died over the weekend which was a bit tough. The majority of patients' deaths seem to happen on the weekends which is a bit strange.
Most of the week was just the usual, feeding and cleaning patients, changing beds, chatting to them, laundry and helping to count pills in the pharmacy. We had bingo on Tuesday night, and Sbongile, who I always take down, was one of the first ones to win, so she got a box of biscuits and was very happy with that. A group of us went out on Tuesday night aswell, to a local bar for kareoke night. It had been a bit of a difficult day, since there had been a couple of deaths, including a woman called Janke who we were all rather attached to and another man on the 4th floor, so it really helped cheer us up. We had a really good night, although one of the volunteers (who shall remain nameless) did have to be carried home.
On Wednesday we had a volunteer day and got to go see the other Be-More projects in the area and meet some of the other volunteers. We went to the Tree Clinic first, which is an area outside where a lot of local women and children come to receive food and some medical help. It was really interesting and we met a really lovely little girl who we taught how to high five, do thumbs ups and do the chicken dance. We then went to see the Bobbi bear and mother of peace projects, then Isiah 54 and Umthombo. It was really good to see the other projects and the other volunteers were all really nice. We then had dinner out in UShaka in Durban and ended up getting back quite late.
Thursday we did our usual during the day, and then in the evening we went to help out with a church project in a homeless shelter. It was quite a strange experience, I really didn't expect the church to be quite as evangelical as they were, and when we went to the shelter they only handed around a few sandwiches, not nearly enough for everyone there, and trying to pray with them all. I didn't really enjoy it, and some of the comments some of the church members made, about other religions, homosexuality and a number of other subjects made me very uncomfortable. So I don't think most of the volunteers will be going back next week. But it was good to see the shelters and just talk to some of the people there, although I felt a bit rude and intrusive, they all seemed very friendly, and it was nice to see a different aspect of South African life.
Anyway, today I've been doing my usual washing, changing, feeding, and everything, and we have movie night later, so that will be good. This weekend some of the volunteers are going to Cape Town, but Oona, Tiara, Ruth and I will be staying in Durban and seeing some of the sights around here. Should be good!
I shall try and update after the weekend, hope everyone's keeping well!
Salakahle x x

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