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...

A Close Encounter with Some of the Locals

As I head toward the end of week three, Simone and I were eager to take on a new adventure. With the hospitals still on strike, we were left with a free Friday and endless possibilities. After some researching the night before, we set our sight on an early morning trip to the Lion Park, a mere 25 minute drive south of Joburg. Today I was going to do something that I would have never expected I would do in my life…walk calming into a pen with a dozen juvenile lions!

The Lion Park was set up with three main attraction areas. The first area that we headed off to was the Lion Cub Pens. Here we were met by some of the cutest, laziest lions, basking in the morning sun. With it being a non-holiday Friday morning, there was hardly anyone at the park as we were wandered around and took pictures of the lions, cheetahs, and hyenas. Before long we made our way around to the entrance of the lion cub pen where we could go in and enjoy playtime with the sleepy little cubs. As I walked into the double gated fence, reading all of the warning signs around me, I wondered if I was making a wise decision. I can honestly say that I did! We were able to do right up to the wandering cubs and pet them. Simone and I made our way around the pen, making new furry friends. Some of the cubs were a little on the feisty side, one going as hard as biting a little whole into Simone’s shorts! My guess is that that cub felt she looked tastier that I did :) It is hard to describe how exciting yet anxious I was around the cubs, but I was able to break down and get some pretty cute pictures with some of them (below).

After the lion cub pen, we made our way over to the main wildlife fence that put us with in arms reach of giraffes, ostriches, and zebra. For a bit of change we were able to by some food pellets and we gained quick popularity amongst the animals. Most of our time with spent feeding the one giraffe, which quickly became my favorite animal at the park. The gorgeous and HUGE animal devoured the treats straight from our hands (below); leaving a rather slimy mess on our hands I must say! I was truly a once in a lifetime experience…

After a short break for a picnic lunch that Simone and I have prepared, it was off to the next to portions of the park: the self-driven safari game drive and a drive through the adult lion park. Piloting our little manual Toyota, we drove into through the safari were we were surrounded by springbuck, wildebeest, zebra, ostrich, and main others (below). Putting our way through the game drive, we made our way to the main attraction…the adult lion pens. We made a way through three highly gated pens and before we knew it, we had the company of several different packs of lion right outside our car doors. Many of the lions allowed us to pass by as they rested, but others became more curious and scouted out our teal hatchback with great curiosity (below). While I knew that the car door would protect me…I did not want that aspect of protection to be tested!

What a day full of memories! The experience is one that I will surely never forget!

Wat ‘n dag! (What a day! in Afrikaans)

Mike

Getting into a Routine

Just as it goes back home, Simone and I have been doing our best to get into a routine over here. This has put me into quite a situation. I am happy to be adding another post to my blog but sadly I feel that my everyday life over here is not always the most interesting thing to document. Though things have been pretty low key as of lately, here is a brief update of what has been going on.

Thankfully, at the top of the list, Simone is no longer sick! We kind of lost a week there where we mostly stuck around the house so she could recover, but it was all worth. At the same time, even though I was not sick, I think it was good for me to have some downtime. It is easy to get caught up with the idea that we need to be running around doing something every minute of the day but that’s not a very realistic mentality. We were able to enjoy some little trips to some surrounding shopping malls and the great thing that we have discovered is that almost everything is roughly 10-15 minutes in any direction. Benefit of living in the city for sure!

Since Simone’s recovery, we have made our way back to the gym and back to Sparrow. We have hit some unexpected snags though. One major snag is that for the last two weeks, the public school teachers and the hospital workers have been on a pretty major strike. This has left of unable to go to Sparrow some days (many due to safety reasons). This has been a bit frustrating but at least we know that we will be here for the next four months and the strike will only go on so much longer. What is really sad are all the school children and hospital patients who are being neglected due to the strike. Some of the footage we have seen on the news has been terrible but I am keeping my hopes high that everyone will get their priorities straight soon!

As the days move forward, Simone and I are just trying to work through medical school secondary applications and plan our day according to what we are given. I want to say thanks to everyone who has sent me a comment or an email so far! I can’t tell you how much it means to me to hear from each of you. I must say, South Africa is a beautiful and lively country, but nothing makes me forget about home and all of you that I care so much about! Hope you hear more from everyone soon!

Well I guess that is all for now. I image as we get through the weekend, I will have more interesting things to write about. Until then I have attached some photos that I have taken while trying to complete Simone’s Culture Hunt List. For those of you who don’t know, as part of my birthday present, Simone made me a list of various things I need to see/accomplish while in Africa. She is such a sweetheart :). Below you will see Number 6 – Have a South African Beer, and Number 33 – Find Heinz Ketchup.

Tot volgende tyd (Till next time in Afrikaans)

Mike

Bring On The Kids

Since our big game park weekend, the latest adventure that Simone and I have been dealing with has sadly been illness. Simone has been battling the flu for the last three days so that has left us a bit sidelined. But to help us from getting cabin fever, we have been trying to take little trips to new places. I’m still not a huge fan of city living but one perk is that every place of social interest is typically only ten to fifteen minutes away. As a starter, we have been visiting many of the numerous shopping plazas and trying out the different South African restaurants. This has been very hopefully at making me feel more at home in Johannesburg.

With a bit of the week behind us, today was a day that I was both looking extremely forward to and very scared of at the first time. After several much needed flu recovery days we were finally ready to start working with the kids at Sparrow Village. Thankfully, our skills with the manual transmission have improved to the point where we can navigate the highway and traffic well enough to get us back and forth to volunteering. Having the driving obstacle overcome relieves a lot of stress for me but I was still nervous about how I might find myself working around the kids at Sparrow. Little did I know, I was about to jump in head first to the experience

As Simone and I made our way to the study center (pictured below) we were informed that most of the children did not have school today due to a recent teachers’ strike so rather than working with the average dozen kids at a time, the study center was packed with almost all of the children of the Sparrow Community. We made our way in and were introduced to Stacey, another American volunteer. Stacey was quick to introduce us to the children and give us the simple overview of the situation. The room head children of every age and grade and if they were in need of help; all we needed to do was look for a raised hand. Doesn’t sound too bad… Of course as soon as we were introduced as new tutors from American, hands began shooting up all over the room seeking our help.
At first sight of all the kids, I thought that I was in way over my head. Simone was heading off in one direction to help a group with her much sought after Afrikaans knowledge, but what was I good for. Thankfully, I had the kids on my side. Bright-eyed and smiling, several young students lead me over to their desks to assist with their assignment. Before I had enough time to question my abilities to help, two young girls, Jackie and Lunga were talking through their assignments and I was helping them to unravel where they were stuck. It felt so good to see their happiness when I was able to push them along to solving a problem or answering a question. It was a great achievement for them, but I don’t think they knew how much of they had done for me.

Soon enough, the kids were finishing up most of their assignments and leaving for the day. The once filled study hall was emptying out and Simone and I were straightening things up when we noticed a little shy boy who had wandered in nervously clutching his notebook. Little Simon, was there to practice his counting and writing his letters. The innocence of Simon (pictured below) and the smile on his face as we helped him to write his own name melted my heart. It was this moment—this little boy—that made me recall what this trip was all about. All I can say now is bring on the kids. :)
Hoop julle almal is goed! (Hope you all are well in Afrikaans)