Swaziland and beyond

Last weekend was adventurous in every sense of the word, as my three other BC classmates placed in South Africa and I joined up and took a trip to Kruger National Park and Swaziland. In between seeing many elephants, getting lost in Swaziland, negotiating our way across the border and 9 hour drives along unpaved roads we had a minorly stressful majorly exciting trip.

I also learned that I truly do love South Africa, and seeing the beautiful countryside and the diversity this country has to offer only furthered my appreciation for my new home. Getting out of the shopping-malls of Johannesburg and seeing the natural beauty made all the difference.

I continue to battle with the various layers of cultural diversity here; which represents the beauty of South Africa's "rainbow nation" and also the years and years of division. As I have read my classmates blogs from around the world, and hear painful stories of female subjugation, I am grateful to be in a country that somewhat endorses gender equality. 

And yet ... in most of the African cultures, gender roles are governed by patriarchy; polygamy is defended (most prominently by the President), rape is rampant, women are coerced into unprotected sex, at times even consenting to "dry sex" where men insist on covering a woman's vagina with herbs, all of these practices furthering the spread of HIV/AIDS. The new post-natal clinic I am setting up will have an emphasis on PMTCT (preventing mother to child transmission), as this seems the most feasible and promising effort to combat the spread of HIV. As a social worker we are repeatedly taught to respect culture. How do I respect culture when "culture" is a scapegoat for such atrocities? These questions remain unanswered for me.

Ari arrives next Saturday (yippee!) and we are spending two weeks to drive down to Cape Town, taking a scenic route that includes the South African wine country, plenty of rural farms (our fav.) and coastal villages. Beautiful pictures to come ...

It will also mark the 3 month mark on my internship here. Almost all of my Global Practice classmates will head back to Boston in May for graduation, which I, sadly, will be missing. However, I continue to feel contentment and fulfillment in my decision to stay longer in South Africa, and have settled on December for my return to the U.S.  

Perhaps the hardest part about being away from home recently has been hearing of my grandpa's losing battle with cancer. Supporting my mom and sister from afar, and wishing desperately that I could be near, is no easy task. I find comfort in knowing that the experience I am having at work, and in life, is unparalleled. Though often challenging, heartbreaking, and difficult, I know this is exactly where I am to be, as I let my environment change and affect me. Two quotes speak to this :

"The familiar life horizon has been outgrown; the old concepts, ideals, and emotional patterns no longer fit; the time for the passing of a threshold is at hand." 

-- Joseph Campbell

"When we get out of the glass bottle of our ego and when we escape like the squirrels in the cage of our personality and get into the forest again, we shall shiver with cold and fright. But things will happen to us so that we don't know ourselves. Cool, unlying life will rush in..." 

-- D.H. Lawrence

Birth

Yesterday I saw my first live birth. I was visiting a hospital near downtown Johannesburg to negotiate referral linkages for the new Post-Natal Clinic when we heard a shout down the corridor. A nurse ran off to attend to the patient in labor, and my co-worker reminded me that I wanted to see a birth and here was my opportunity.

Next thing I knew I had donned scrubs, and was watching a naked woman lying silently (yes, silent, save for a few grunts) on a bed as she delivered a baby girl. I do not consider myself a squeamish person though I must admit, I was feeling quite lightheaded watching this miracle of life and had midwifes and doctors alike shouting at me to "Breathe!" 

All in all it was an amazing experience, and even more amazing was bearing witness to the grit that black South African women have when it comes to childbirth. No pain meds, no partner (or family) standing at her side, no screaming at all. The midwife said she will collect the baby after about 6 hours, hop on a bus and head home. Amazing.

Above is a picture of a visit to a special needs classroom at the primary school next door to the clinic, where I went with a few social workers on Wednesday.

Updates and such

Again I find myself with so much to write, and no idea where to begin. A few recent updates seem especially relevant:

> I moved out of my apartment this weekend and in with Jean, the executive director, and her husband temporarily. I must admit, the lack of transport combined with rudimentary furnishings made living alone incredibly lonely. I feel much more at ease, already, to have the sound of people in the morning and conversation in the evening.

> I have been appointed a new project here at the clinic, which is to teach group therapy techniques to the social welfare department. I really think this rounds out my workload in terms of experience/challenges and interests. Keep plugging away at the SV prevention program and the post-natal clinic. Crossing my fingers that it is ready to open at the beginning of April.

> I received some very wonderful news (inadvertently) that my lovely boyfriend Ari is coming to visit in April! My supervisor is pushing me to take a few weeks off work and travel as apparently in SA the standard minimum amount of yearly time off is 3 weeks. Glorious! Travel plans yet to be determined, but it is just around the time I will have to renew my tourist visa and thus leave the country.

Summer marches on, and I have acquired quite a tan by now thanks for hours and hours by the pool. I am including that note just for all you on the East Coast who are suffering through snow and chill ... you are always welcome in South Africa!

Above is a picture from my Lion Park experience. 

Kruger Park, here I come ...

The pediatric waiting queue:

(Just to give you an idea)

I'm going to a Lion Park ...

I am officially at 3.5 weeks in South Africa, and my-oh-my has it been an interesting journey thus far!

My projects have taken off at work, and I am usually found running around from about 7:30am until I collapse on the couch in the evening.  Then, somehow, I rouse myself to keep up (or begin?) a social life and out the door I go again. I have begun a regualar practice of salsa dancing on Wednesday nights which seems a bit ludacrious considering I am in Sub-Saharian Africa, but then again, why not?

I have met many many many wonderful people over the past several weeks and continue to be amazed and perplexed by the South African way of immediately welcoming people. I am able to re-connect with my friendly California roots, after a year and a half chill, and am quite enjoying it. I have also joined a small group through the Anglican Church on Tuesdays, a yoga class on Thursdays and a regular practice of long runs on the weekends. Some things stay the same no matter the country.

Today I went with the social workers to Diepsloot, to a township (read: shacks with no running water or electricity) just a few kilometers from the affluent suburb the clinic is located in. Despite all the preparation I received, the disparity was shocking, and reminiscent of my days in Huanuco, Peru. In one shack we found a woman lying on the ground, naked, wrapped in a blanket. She has advanced AIDS and had been discharged from the hospital several times over the past month without proper treatment. She was unable to walk and severely emaciated, so we brought her back to the clinic immediately. Scenes such as these are the ones that stay, begrudgingly, for a long time.

My tasks at hand are, in order of priority: to set up a post-natal clinic, to train the staff on sexual abuse response and to bring sex education/sexual abuse prevention to the neighboring schools. But for now I am interviewing staff and pregnant women to gather info for the post-natal clinic. 

On a lighter note: a fellow BC GSSW intern is coming out this weekend to stay at my place! It will be nice to hear an American accent again, and discuss all things culture-shock. Her supervisor is taking us to the "lion park" on Sunday and while I am not entirely sure where or what this is, I assume it will feel very African. 

And per the very-British-custom, I am due for a cup of "normal" (black) tea before meeting with my supervisor.

Cheers for now!

Week One

What a whirlwind. I arrived in Johannesburg, spent a few days trying to regulate my body to the time zone (unsuccessfully), got strep throat, had my first South African braii (bar-b-que), moved into my apartment, and started work.

Along the way, I have also learned way more than I ever wanted to about South African phone and internet companies and survived power outage number 1 (complete with panic-strickenness).

I am spending the rest of this week and next shadowing different departments at the clinic, which will allow me to more fully understand what Witkoppen Health and Welfare Centre does. I began today with Psychiatry in the morning and pap smears in the afternoon. What a combo, eh?

Both were fascinating, and in between translation of Zulu, Swesotho, and Xhosa (the “click” language), I truly learned a great deal. More to come, but for now, my address:

Katie Gaddini c/o Jean Bassett

P.O. Box 237

Riverclub

2149

South Africa

I appreciate any and all letters, words of encouragement, reading material, and American yummies.

Oh how I loathe packing.

Packing for Africa, attempt number 2. I've switched from the folding method to the rolling method in order to maximize luggage space.

The snow outside is motivating me onward as I dream of my upcoming leap into summer. I'll arrive in Johannesburg at 6:30pm local time Sunday, January 10 after an 18+ hour flight from Boston by way of DC and Dakar.

I will send updates once I have arrived, hydrated, and found internet.