Heritage Day in the R.S.A.

Another busy week in South Africa filled with volunteering, running around, and a public holiday. Most of this week has been focused around today, Heritage Day. For the last three weeks, Simone and I have been spending extra time after homework sessions working with the kids at Sparrow in preparation for their annual Heritage Celebration. Every year groups of children at Sparrow but together different acts and items that capture the culture here in South Africa, and present them during a big program. We had the pleasure of working with two groups of kids for this year’s program. Our first group consisted of around a dozen 7 year olds that were nicknamed the Rainbow Buddies. We helped the kids paint a South African flag using their hand prints and lead them in singing the SA national anthem. Needless to say it was adorable. Our other group, was a group of 4 teenage boys that were performing a bit of a Scottish dance in honor of Rev. Corrine McClintock, the founder of Sparrow. Taking some bits from Braveheart, we helped paint their faces in Scottish colors and taught them a very, VERY simplified version of the Scottish sword dance. Thankfully, the guys had fun with it and Rev. Corrine seemed to enjoy it.

The rest of the program was filled with singing and dancing, all in the spirit of Africa. It was very exciting to be a part of this special event at Sparrow because it allowed us to see the Sparrow Village community come together as a whole, and it exposed to more of South Africa’s rich culture. With this event behind us, we can now get back to the homework and the students upcoming exams!

As stated before, the weeks have been plenty busy with other bits of running around. Simone’s grandmother has been battling some health programs so we have been doing what we can, where we can to help out. Thankfully, she seems to be doing better and we should be able to cap off the week on a positive note with her birthday.

Simone and I are still pursuing the gym actively, as I am trying to gain some physical change from this trip as well as mental, emotional, and cultural. Things seem to be off to a good start but I have a long road ahead of me…

Other than all of this, we have been in a bit of a lull when it comes to adventures. We are starting to gear up for a week in Durban, where we will be able to take in the sights and sounds of the Indian Ocean. We have budgeted for several more exciting outings but are keeping them for the end half of our trip. But what can I say…everyday in SA is an adventure in itself.

Ek mis Amerika en almal daar (Missing America and everyone there in Afrikaans)

Mike

Night of the Carnivore

As always, Simone and I have been busy with all different aspects of our African adventure. Our most recent escapade was to the Carnivore restaurant for our one year anniversary celebration. This event had been planned since before we flew to SA so it was crazy to finally be at this exciting and interesting restaurant. The Carnivore of Johannesburg is a wild game cooking, African themed venue that is unique to only three places in all of Africa (the Johannesburg restaurant being the only one in all of South Africa). At Carnivore, the name is very fitting as the menu consisted of zebra, impala, kudu, crocodile, and gemsbok. This was certainly not a place for any of you vegetarians! All of the meat is cooked of a giant fire pit that is in the center of the restaurant and the costume-clad circulate with the simmering meat on huge skewers. When you are ready to take for the a particular meat, the waiters use a machete-like sword and slice the wild game on to your plate (below). The entire meal is all you can eat and when you have met your maximum you surrender by lowering a paper South African flag on your table. Truly an interesting and delicious experience!

Of course, we have not lost sight in our reason for being in South Africa in the first place. Our week days have continued to be filled with volunteering at Sparrow and our shadowing at the Right to Care Themba Lethu HIV Clinic. At Sparrow, we are making our final push toward studying for upcoming exams and the big Heritage Day performance. It looks like we will be putting in some long days this week but the kids sure make it all worth it. At Themba Lethu, we were lucky enough to attend the physicians’ lecture sessions Friday morning and another session of ward rounds. It is very exciting and interesting to observe the unique patient cases that all the physicians come toward to discussion. I only wish that I was able to help contribute toward the conversations but hopefully in a few years I will get my own chance :)

Well, it is the beginning of week 7 over here and we are still going strong. Missing home more and more with every passing day, but I can happily say that RSA is taking good care of us.

Alles is goed (All is good in Afrikaans)

P.S. My computer is back and working great. Unfortunately my hard drive had to be replaced so everything this save to just my laptop is gone forever...include the now officially lost blog entry. Oh well. Win some, loss some...

Healthcare and Humankind

It is safe to say that the week’s end does not bring about the intending rest and relaxation but more typically brings about business and potential adventure. As the fifth week of my African adventure comes to a close there was certainly no exception to this trend.

After finishing up with the kids at Sparrow on Thursday, Simone and I looked ahead to Friday and I began to prepare myself for my first day of shadowing at Helen Joseph Public Hospital in Johannesburg. For our first day, Simone and I jumping in head first and making up the time that we had lost because of the health workers strike. The morning started with sitting in Dr. Thapelo Maotoe, the supervisor of the Right to Care: Themba Lethu HIV Clinic of Helen Joseph. With Dr. Maotoe, I received my first glimpse of the physician-patient relationship held between an HIV Clinician and their HIV positive patient. While the patient situations were pretty routine and relaxed for the day, it was hard not to feel a welling up of emotion for the personal struggle being taken on by each of the HIV patients. Their entire lives have been transformed by their disease and I they must walk such a thin, regimented line to make the most of their situation. Dr. Maotoe was very kind in explaining each patient situation to us so that we could gain the most of the experience, but as he said, with every patient you must just work the pieces of the puzzle out over time to get a clear picture.

For the second portion of our day, we were given the privilege of attending Ward Rounds with several of the doctors at the hospital. The our session, we visited two different wards and I was put face to face with patients suffering from HIV and renal failure to MDR TB and liver dysfunction. Needless to say, it was very powerful to be in the presence of doctors brainstorming their method of attack for each patient’s problems, especially since so many of the disorders have been ones that I have only read about. The day provided me with a great first taste of the South African healthcare system and I look forward to spending time each week learning and experiencing more.

Having finished another long work week, Simone and I decided that it was time to embark on our weekly adventure. This week we choice to examine the rich human history associated with Africa which led us to the area known as the Cradle of Humankind at Maropeng and the Sterkfontein Caves. At Maropeng, an incredibly designed museum human history (below), we ventured through the fascinating displays discussing the creation of our planet, the development of humankind, and the history of life. The exhibition started with an exciting underground river boat ride which acted as a sort of recreation of the planet’s formation by the four elements (Earth, Air, Water, and Fire). At this, we made our way through the many displays, examining the evolution and extinction of different forms of life and fossils from some of the oldest know hominid (human) descendents.

From the architecturally beautiful and informative Maropeng, Simone and I ventured to the Sterkfontein Caves where we were able to go deep into the underground caves where many of the earliest human fossils have been found. This was truly my favorite part of the day! Never before had I experienced the beauty and thrill of being meters below ground, seeing the wonders of the natural world. Our hour long tour took us in to great stretches of caves and so particularly fun squeezes (below). Thank goodness I have been going to the gym! All and all, it was great day of fun and discovery!

Wins julle was hier (Wish you all were here in Afrikaans)

Mike

One Month Down

Greetings all! I must apologize for the lateness of this most recent blog entry. It has been a crazy last week or so. Part of the reason for the craziness is that my computer is currently dead. The problem seems to be with either windows or the hard drive but regardless of the exact issue this has been very frustrating and quite inconvenient. Thankfully, we have been able to track down a Toshiba shop where they are currently working on the issue and have informed me that they are able to honor my current warranty. Right now I just have to keep my fingers crossed, hope that things won’t take too long, and be very gentle as I use Simone’s computer.

But of the last week, I am happy to say that not everything I have to report is of the negative nature. Simone and I have been getting along well at Sparrow Village, bonding with the kids and helping to make their days more exciting. The South African teacher’s strike has just been surrendered as of this Monday and today is the first day in over two weeks that the kids are back in school. While the strikes were on, we found ourselves doing our best to get the kids in an academic and creative mind set. Some of the highlights have been leading the kids in a drawing contest for the annual holiday of Spring Day (pictured below), and helping several groups of kids organize performances for the upcoming Heritage Day celebration. Every year, the children of Sparrow put together various cultural performances that bring to life the rich background and culture of South Africa. I look forward to posting pictures in two weeks from the celebration but until then I am happy to share a glimpse of the fun time we are having with the kids (below).

Beyond working at Sparrow, Simone and I have been busy going to the gym, working on medical school secondary application, and planning out our activities for the rest of the trip. Our most recent adventure was to the Johannesburg Zoo where we spent hours taking in the exciting sights of elephants, rhinos, hippos and many, MANY incredible animals (below). So far it looks like we are set to have a new adventure every week so plenty more to come soon!

As always, I hope that you all are doing well back home and I miss you all! It is hard to think that we have been here for over a month already but no amount of time can make me forget any of you back home. I am hoping to send out some emails to everyone soon but please feel free to drop me a line if you have some time! I would love to hear what is new and exciting with all of you!

Ek sal met julle later praat (Talk to you all later in Afrikaans)

Mike :)

P.S. I had wrote a blog entry for August 31st that never got posted because of my computer problems. If my hard drive does not get wiped then I will hopefully one day post the lost entry...will see...