Eleanor Curtis

I've had the time of my life (no I never felt this way before...)

Fri, 22 Aug 08 16:06:39 +0200

Well, it's now pretty much reached the end of my stay here, so I figure I should give a brief resume of the last week.
The weekend was brilliant, on Saturday I went to Durban with Oona, Ruth, Tiara, Willy and Irma to the Victoria Street Market and we all bought some souvenirs. Afterwards, we went to Ushaka which is a local tourist area with an aquarium (which we didn't go in). We did some more shopping there and then Willy and Irma had to get a taxi to the airport since they were going to Cape Town with the other 2. We stayed around in Ushaka and went to an African restaurant called Moya for dinner with a couple of volunteers from Uthombo which is one of the other projects that helps street children. It was a lovely dinner, they had some african dancing and they did some face painting on us, and we all had a great time.
Afterwards we went to the hostel we were staying at in Durban called Tekweni, which is where the other two volunteers were staying. There was a bit of a party going on so we had a few drinks and then went for a sleep (after a hot shower!). The next day we went to the botanical gardens for a bit which were lovely, and then we went on to the Musgrave centre which is a large shopping complex. We did some browsing, had a very large dinner and then went to the cinema to see the Dark Knight before getting our taxi home.
We were pretty tired on Monday, but we did the usual chatting to the patients and feeding and things, and since there were only four of us (the other four got back from Cape Town Monday evening) it meant we got to do a lot more, although it was weird without Irma and Willy.
Tuesday was once again much of the same, we had Bingo in the evening, and it was ridiculously full. I took Sbongile down as usual, although she didn't win anything this time. It was really fun as usual. That night we went out to the Shlurp for another kareoke night. A couple of the volunteers went home early, but the rest of us decided to stay, since it was our last big night out, and we wanted to enjoy ourselves. Although the same volunteer as last time who shall still remain nameless had to be carried home again, this time even more the worse for wear than the week before. It was a brilliant night though, we did some excellent songs, and finished with I've had the time of my life and then we are the champions.
Wednesday was a bit of a slow day after the previous night's merriment, but we went up and saw some of the patients and chatted to them. We had been planning to take all our photos then, but we weren't looking our best so we decided to leave it until Thursday. In the evening we had a takeaway and watched some sex and the city, so it was quite a nice relaxed day.
Yesterday we went around taking photos with some of our favourite patients. They all love having their photo taken, although Anele, the 12 year old girl, thought she looked ugly in hers, so we took another one. She still said she looked ugly but she wanted a copy and we spent about 10 mins just repeatedly telling her how pretty she was. We also had film club last night and some of the volunteers took out Big Momma's house. I'm not sure it went down too well, since quite a lot of the patients left, but it's always hard to please everyone.
This morning we've been handing out the photos and taking some more. We're planning a little party for the patients tonight, we've got some party food and we're going to bring down the radio and have some music so that should be a nice way to say goodbye. It's going to be difficult to say goodbye to the patient's, some of them I really don't want to leave behind, but unfortunately I don't really have much choice.
All in all, it's been a brilliant experience. I've made some great friends amongst the volunteers, and I think next year at some point Ruth, Oona and I may have to do a tour of Holland and go and see Willy and Irma. It's going to be hard to say goodbye to all of this, but I have to go sometime, and although I'm going to miss a lot of people, I'm glad I came here and it's nice to know that I met these people and made such good friends, even though it's hard to leave them.
Anyway, this is probably going to be my last post, but I hope they weren't too dull for everyone, and I hope to see many people after I get back on Monday.
Doei doei! x x x x

Week 3

Fri, 15 Aug 08 12:01:14 +0200

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

The end of week 2

Fri, 08 Aug 08 18:29:34 +0200

I actually can't believe I'm pretty much half-way through. I know everyone says that, but it really doesn't feel like it's been that long.
Anyway, it's been a few days since my last post, so I shall try to remember what's happened since then.
On wednesday there was the general strike in South Africa, so there weren't many people around. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, we didn't really have to do that much more. We had to go round feeding the patients at each mealtime, but other than that, pretty much all non-essential activites had been cancelled, so it was ok. Ruth, Irma and I took the 4th floor for service and it was actually not too bad. There's a new lady there who is ridiculously demanding and keeps asking if I've got any sweets for her. There was also a lady in the same room who I kept trying to feed, but she wouldn't eat. She had yoghurt because she couldn't manage solid food, but it was all I could do to get her to eat a few mouthfuls, she was really in pain and confused, and she died last night.
There are some really cool people on the fourth floor, I've got to know a few of the patients there. There's a man called Linda who can't speak, but he is so funny, he's always laughing and he tries to steal everyone's dinners. There's also a lady who has one leg and is really lovely, but she can't speak either, so she hisses when she wants your attention, which was pretty scary the first timeSome of us volunteers then went out in the evening to a nearby bar which was really nice, and we had a great time, it was really nice to get out of the hospital for a bit.
Yesterday was a fairly quiet day, we didn't really do too much. It was a patient called Kevin's birthday, so we bought him a card and some balloons and a Liverpool scarf since they're his favourite team. He really appreciated it. We then had movie night and watched Pretty Woman, which Edward really loved. Unfortunately it was a bit long, so some of the patients had to leave early to take their medication. During the film Kevin whispered to Irma that we should all go meet him in the garden at 9 o clock, so we went down after dinner, and he'd brought out a huge cake and loads of biscuits and cookies and sweets and things so we and two other patients could have a little party. It was really fun, and he was so nice, it was a brilliant evening.
Today hasn't really involved a lot, I helped some patients too and from physio and chatted to some of them in the garden, and then bought some things for the weekend at the mall. We're off to the Drakensbergs tomorrow at 5 in the morning, so that should be fun. Well, we're all going to Nando's now for some dinner, and then I shall be getting a very early night in preperation, so I shall have a go at updating it after the weekend.
Doei doei x x x

2 posts in 2 days, too much?

Tue, 05 Aug 08 21:52:44 +0200

Since I have a spare moment this evening, I thought I'd give a quick update on life here at the dream centre. Today was a bit of a strange day. This morning, Ruth and I went to the fourth floor to help the nurses out. We both ended up helping the nurses wash some patients, but we were with different patients. The guy I ended up with was in a bit of a bad way, he was quite confused, he couldn't really do anything at all for himself and he had a huge lump on his arm which looked really raw. We tried to remove the bandages but they were stuck on. Then the nurse went to go and see if the patient bathroom was free, and while he was gone, the man grabbed my hand and held on to it. We then took him to the bathroom, but I had to stand outside, since there wasn't much room. The whole washing process was fairly brutal, they just use a hose on the patients and then use a flannel and soap to clean them and then hose them down again. The patient just looked scared and confused and kept reaching out for my hand, but I couldn't go in without getting in the nurses way. Afterwards, we had to dry him off, but since this place has no towels we had to wring out the flannel and use that and a sheet. We then put him back into bed, and I had to leave with Ruth, since we were supposed to be joining the doctor on ward rounds, but we couldn't find her.
I then went to the laundry with Tiara to go and help Elvis out, which really cheered me up, since Elvis convinced Tiara to push me around in the laundry cart. We also went to help the pharmacist count pills, which may have been a tad repetitive, but it was fine. I then went out to the garden with Ruth where we met an ex-patient called Ned, who was delighted to find out we were english and then kept telloing us how much he loves Phil Collins. He also informed me that global warming was God's vengeance on us all and that when the icebergs melt Jesus will come with a giant eye accompanied by angels with claws. So that was nice. There was another guy in the garden called Chief, who loves colouring in, and started doing an impression of the porcupine he'd just coloured in, and it was probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
Afterwards Ruth and I went to Sassa, which sort out grants and ID books for everyone, with a patient called Npomelelo to get her grant, which luckily only took about an hour. Usually people can be waiting in line there for up to seven hours easily.
After we got back we had to prepare for bingo, which we moved forward to today so we didn't have to do it tomorrow with the strike on. Tiara and I had to go get Sbongile again, and the nurses were royally unhelpful. It took them 20 minutes to try and organise helping us, and then they all left, so we had to get her into her wheelchair by ourselves and then afterwards we had to put her back into bed by ourselves again. It was pretty tough, but we managed it.
Anythewhy, I'm going to have to get off now and have a nice shower, since the showers finally have some heating back in them. Instead of having ice cold showers, we can finally have lukewarm ones! How brilliant. And then I'll need to be off to bed, since we have to be down in the kitchens early tomorrow to help prepare all the food, since the strike means that barely anyone's going to be in. Should be fun.
Until next time, doei doei! xx

My first post

Mon, 04 Aug 08 10:34:26 +0200

Sorry it's taken so long to get round to writing, I've been a bit busy, and since there's 8 of us using the computer it's been a bit difficult. Anyway, I've been here pretty much exactly a week now, so here's a quick recap...
I arrived last Monday and we just spent the day orientating ourselves, finding out where the shops were and all the rest. I went up to see some of the patients with Tiara, a canadian volunteer who was here the previous month aswell, in the evening, and everyone was really friendly. Most of the week was spent in meetings, just discussing what we can do, and what sort of help would be best.
The other volunteers are all lovely, all girls, 4 from holland, 3 of us Brits and Tiara. The Dutch girls are Anne and Femke who are both medical students, Irma, who's a bookkeeper and Willy who works in tax. For the brits there's me, Ruth, who I brought along with me, and Oona, who's from Manchester and just finished a psychology degree up in Scotland.
On Wednesday, we had bingo, which all the patients seemed to really enjoy. The hall we had it in was tiny, so it was a bit of a squeeze, but it was fun. Some of the patients need a bit of help understanding the game and finding the numbers, but even the ones who seemed confused by it all still seemed to be having a good time.
Thursday I spent quite a lot of time helping inthe laundry room with Tiara and Ruth. It was pretty fun and the guy who usually works there (Elvis) was really nice. We got to put loads of laundry out on the roof aswell, and we could see for miles. Elvis pointed out where he lives, and invited us round for dinner, but he seems to live on right the other side of town and doesn't have a car or anything, so I think we might have to give that one a miss. That evening was movie night, so I went with Tiara to the video store and we rented a Zulu comedy film. We brought all the patients down including a woman called Sbongele, who has to use a wheelchair and has a catheter, which makes it difficult for us to move her, but she's so lovely we make an extra effort to get her down. I didn't understand most/any of the movie, but it seemed to go down pretty well, and I did have a good giggle when someone started throwing snakes around for reasons I still don't entirely understand...
We got up early on Friday to help the nurses in the morning. Oona and I went up to the 6th floor and mostly just made beds and cleaned the place. We're trying to learn as much as possible, since there's a general strike on Wednesday, and apparently last time that happened, over 85% of the staff couldn't or wouldn't come in, since there's little to no transport.
We then left for a weekend safari which was really fun. We saw crocodiles and hippos and lions, giraffes, elephants, rhino, buffalo, cheetah and loads more. I've also learnt a bit of Dutch, all the important things, such as kunt u ein kopje thee voor me maken? (I think I spelt that right..) which means can you make me a cup of tea. I'm also slowly picking up some Zulu phrases, I can now say Sawubona (hello), unjani (how are you), saphila(i'm fine) and salakahle (almost certainly spelt wrong, but it means goodbye).
Today we got up early and helped the nurses again, this time I went with Ruth and Willy to the 6th floor. Ruth and I had to help clean up a woman and change the sheets on her bed, which was a bit tough, but alright. After this entry I'm going to see the psychologists with Oona and see what we can do to help them, and possibly do some initial assessments. After that I think I will be helping Elvis in the afternoon and then a bit of grocery shopping afterwards.
Anyway, I've been on here a while now, but I shall try to post a new message soon and keep everyone up to date, and write anything I've forgotten about. I might also put up some pictures if I have enough time.
Doei doei!(that's Dutch) xx