4th Monday
It’s cool and rainy today. 
I cannot believe that I’m already halfway through my stay here in St. Lucia, South Africa 😳 that’s pretty cray.
I get out of bed, brush my teeth, get dressed, spray on some mosquito spray, and grab a light jacket before heading out of the door. I went to bed with a bit of a tummy ache so for breakfast I had a bowl of yoghurt.
After our morning meeting I prepare for my day. I have clinic pickups in Ezwenelisha and physio in Khula. We were supposed to take the Avanza today but due to the weather we switched to the Fortuner- this car is pretty big so I’m hoping our patients are able to get into it lol.
Non makes me and Shwele’s lunch and shortly after packing the beast we’re off! We decide to listen to the radio today. Shwele immediately gave me the number of an east coast station but I surprised her by asking for a Zulu station instead ☺️ she goes, “you want to listen to a Zulu station? Okayyy” I turn the radio to 91.50 FM and Shwele starts singing- I’m not sure of what they’re singing about but the English that I did hear said “I was born in the rain” that’s appropriate for this weather. 
We pick up our first patient- she’s a younger woman who has trouble walking so I hop into the back so it will be easier for her. 
I’m not sure of all of her medical issues but I do see that she walks with a crutch. She’s not morbidly obese or anything so I’m not too sure where her disabilities stem. It almost sounds terrible, but the first thing that I noticed were that her nails were professionally done. I’m not used to seeing that here even though there are nail salons. Her nails are painted a bright red and the ring fingers on each had have gold jewels going down the middle.
We arrive at the clinic in Khula, it is packed and warm. This clinic visit was different from all of the ones I’ve been on. I went into two rooms that I’ve never been in before and I got to learn a lot about my patient today- she speaks fluent English and I’m happy that she was willing to share. This patient is Zulu but she would be considered “colored” because of her lighter skin. She’s 29 years old and the reason why she has limited use of her right leg was due to a car accident that she was in January of last year. She went to school for graphics and web design and has hopes of coming to America. She put her dreams on hold because she had a baby but she’s still looking into visas. We talked about jobs in the States and she’s worried about whether or not she’ll be able to adapt because the systems are so different, she doesn’t believe that her qualifications will suffice. I encouraged her to follow her dreams, she’ll never know unless she tries
.
The first room we go into is where they take blood. Back in the States I’m used to privacy when doing such things but here, not at all. It’s my patient and another patient sitting right beside one another waiting for the nurses to take their blood. Instead of a blue band that is normally used to reduce circulation and make a persons veins show better the nurses ties a plastic glove around their arms. My patients veins were very hard to see so it took them a while to get some blood, but two sticks later we were good to go. We then travel to the chronic treatment room. There I learned that this young woman has TB and she’s asthmatic, the nurses give her a bunch of medication- thankfully her TB is controlled.
During this room visit I had yet another marriage proposal and I was very surprised because this man was old lol. He started the conversation with “what’s your favorite music” and I answered with “gospel” then he proceeds to play “father can you hear me” I told him that I knew the song and then he immediately says “I want to marry you” he must of been sure of himself because after I said “no thank you, I have a boyfriend at home” he goes “you can have a boyfriend here too, I can pay the lobola” (being able to pay the lobola is a big deal, the normal rate of marriage is 11 cows, 1 cow costs about R10,000 😳 that’s $714. If I’m charging 25 cows and he’s able to pay R250 000 which is $17,857 he’s obviously well off). Shwele must have seen that he was making me uncomfortable because she goes “leave my daughter alone, she’s a mamas girl”. (Aww she loves me,she called me her daughter ☺️ lol)
We leave the TB treatment area and then go across the hallway to the chronic medication nurse. We see this nurse every week so we’re familiar with each other. The first thing I say to this nurse is “oh you moved your desk, I like it” I can tell the she was happy I noticed, she proceeds to tell me that she’s the same way at home and we laugh about it. This visit was different, and I appreciated it- I’m thinking that my patient asked the nurse to continue to speak in English so that I can follow along. The appointments are never in English, but this one was so I’m positive that they did this just for me. My patient is also on ARVs. The professional nurse asks her how the current treatment is going and if anything needs to I change, everything is currently good and then she is prescribed a bottle of Atroiza-this is a combination pill used to treat HIV infection.
From the blood test, TB treatment, and Atroiza prescription I believe that the patients CD4 count was low at one point. Tuberculosis is common in individuals infected with HIV, and the nurse advised the young woman to come every 4-6 months.
We leave the clinic, drop the patient off at home, and then we head to Ezwenelisha to pick up more people. Even though the sun is hidden behind clouds and there’s a slight drizzle it’s warm outside. 
We loaded the GoGo who’s grandchild was playing with the broken toy into the Fortuner, and the daughter of the “mom and daughter duo”. On the way to Ezwenelisha’s clinic we hear on the radio that two medical students in Durban died. One of the deaths were unexpected, but the other committed suicide- he jumped from the 16th floor of the hospital. We are now listening to 94.70 FM. It’s an English and Zulu mix, but they are mostly playing songs from eastcoast. I hear some Jason Derulo (which I don’t mind), that Panda song, and some Niki Minaj- I personally don’t want to hear this crap (sorry not sorry to those who like it lol😌) so I change it after the 100th curse word Niki says in under a minute, I just can’t listen to everything.
We finally arrive at the clinic. This one isn’t near as busy as the one in Khula, but it’s also more rural so that tells me that it has less resources. This visit takes a while longer than Khula but a little after 12:30 we’re done. We take the patients to their homes and then we head back to the town of Khula for lunch. We get some chips (fries) to go with our sandwiches (I got tuna, Shwele got chicken bologna with cheese) and I buy a juice because my water is still frozen, it nots hot enough for it to melt at a decent hour. 
I really like this juice, coco cola makes it so I’m hoping they sell them at home too.
We eat at the car wash and I notice that no one is here. When it rains here people tend to stay at home-kids will skip school,and some adults will miss work depending on how far you live. During lunch I ask Shwele about the deaths of those two individuals that we heard on the radio earlier. She told me that the unexpected death was due to a taxi accident and that a number of people who work in healthcare have been killing themselves lately- she doesn’t know why but agrees that it is sad. 😢
At exactly 1:44pm pull out of the car wash to head back to Ezwenelisha. It’s time for physio! The patient that we’re seeing lives deep down into the village.
It takes about 25 minutes to get there safely. This patient that we’re seeing had a right side stroke. She’s 60 years old and her main method of getting around is crawling. On her last physio notes it was stated that she was able to stand with the assistance of her walker, this time it wasn’t so. She tried twice, but quit because she was so tired. On the 3rd try, both Shwele and I assisted her but she was still only able to stand for approximately one minute. We sat her back down and then proceeded to complete stretches with her. What I love about Shwele and physio is the fact that she doesn’t just tell our patients to do an exercise she does it with them every step of the way. It’s obvious that this patient has it been exercising or even attempt to walk because her body is extremely tight. It’s 2:45, the appointment is over. We advise the patient to continue her stretches and then we head to make our way back to Khula.
Young children are walking home from school and I’m just loving how nice they look in their uniforms. The school for this area is far away so most children have to walk 3km (or a little over 1.8 miles) to get a decent education. 
On our way the way through Ezwenelisha we see the children of GoGo 4, we stop briefly just to say hello and I am so happy to see Nelli in her new uniform. The news is still on the radio, the President of South Africa comes on and advises the nation to pray for the Springbox rugby coach. It seems that no longer than 5 minutes later it was announced that the coach died. According to Shwele, this player was young- he fell sick last week and was admitted to the hospital and unfortunately he never made it out.
We finally make it to Khula to see the young lady with the motor neuron disease. I finally figured out what it is, she has ALS. She is so happy to see us, as always it makes me happy- she’s the sweetest. 
We visit our final physio patient of the afternoon. She’s an older woman and probably the first person I’ve met so far who was excited to do the exercises lol, we quickly visit her and then at exactly 3:53pm we are back in the Fortuner-our work day is over! This visit was funny. The lady wanted to know more about me so Shwele told her- I went from Barack Obama’s daughter, to her daughter, and I ended as being Beyoncés sister 😂. Back to St Lucia we go, Shwele takes a different way this time. I can tell that I’ve never been over here due to the amount of Africaans people and nicely built fences.
At exactly 4:02pm we make it back to St. Lucia!
I realize how tired I am so I quickly decide to nap during my break-unfortunately I wasn’t able to, of course I start talking and just couldn’t stop 😂, at 5:45 we have our meeting for some reason my stomach is acting crazy so I decide to skip dinner. Movie night is at 19:00, How to Be Single is the choice, we all gather around Claudy’s laptop and watch peacefully. The movie was alright, it wasn’t as funny as I hoped it would be but at least I got break.
The movie ends a little after 21:00. I shower then get into bed I’m tired, but not tired enough to be sure I’ll sleep through the night-ugh, I’ll try anyway.
4th Tuesday
For some reason I woke up at 5:50am- I rolled back over and forced myself to sleep some more. I don’t know why I feel like I’m going to miss my alarm clock, at 6:45am I’m officially up.
Today will be different, this morning I’m with the education ladies at Crèche. I eat a tuna sandwich for breakfast, at 7:50am we have the morning meeting and at exactly 8:00am I’m leaving the house to drop my clothes off at the laundromat (if you’re ever in St. Lucia, SA go to Lee’s Laundry, excellent service). The lady greets me with a common “Hey Sissy” and I can tell that she’s happy to see me. The exchange was brief, and since she recognizes me, this time I don’t have to complete any paperwork. Win!
It’s 8:05 and I’m already on my way back to the house. It’s hot already, but for some reason I’m walking at a brisk pace instead of taking my time. At 8:30am, we load into the Fortuner. Claudy is driving, Shwele is in the front passenger seat, and Barbara, Helene, and myself are in the back.
We arrive for Crèche, I’m excited for the day, the kiddos are so cute! We open the day with singing, and then we immediately start our ABC’s and 123’s. When that’s over we let the children have a little bit of free play and then soon it’s time for lunch. Some kids had cookies, and pap, for others there was rice and beans, and for one there was some chicken feet with rice. We made sure that they all drink several cups of water. As they finish one by one they put their dishes away and head to the play ground.
When everyone has finished with lunch, that’s when the games begun. We had a relay race, played Duck Duck Goose, and had spoon races- I’d call sports day a success! There was a new girl about the age of 1 and a half not quite 2 who really took to me. I couldn’t get her to play, I couldn’t get her to talk, she wouldn’t even smile for me, but she loved holding my hand so I let her. At the end of our time here we had story time. Claudy read the short version of the Lion King and Shwele translated. They were both great with acting the parts out. All of the children were engrossed. My little mama fell asleep though, she laid on my arm and was out in less than 5 minutes, I picked her up and put her down 
We had 18 kiddos at Crèche today! Mama G and Mama S are superstars cause these kids can get wild. Gotta love them though lol
At 12:02pm, we load back into the Fortuner and head to St. Lucia! For lunch we have jacket potatoes and salad, there were beans too but I chose to keep it light.
Lunch is now over. Instead of planning on Tuesdays we switch it to Thursdays so now Shwele and I are on nutrition in Khula. Since we just seen our nutrition patients this past Thursday and Friday we decide to just take some measurements since they have enough ePAP to last at this moment. We drop Nok, Claudy, Barbara, and Helene off at Crèche for some painting and then we head to Khula.
We have two clinic pickups in Khula today, it’s 07/02/2017- the day that the specialists will be at the clinic. First we get the GoGo with the one leg. She’s a joy, even with her disability she’s very independent. We got to her house and we see that she’s waiting for us. She dressed, in her wheelchair, and she smells amazing!! We roll her to the car and she gets in. She did it with so much easy you wouldn’t even think she only had one leg! 
Keep in mind that this truck is high, I struggle to get into it lol.
91.50 FM is playing on the radio, at 2:11pm we are off to Sipho Zungu clinic. I watch the children as they walk home from school and I’m sadden when I see a lady in her early 30’s finish her 2L or soda and then throw the bottle on the ground. No one talks about littering here, that’s the norm- it’s okay to drop your plastic bottle in the street without fear of repercussion, that’s why it’s dirty.
We make it into the clinic, we wait for a few and I notice that this main area isn’t as crowded.
I’m surprised! I look around, and I see signs indicating who gets priority. The elderly are third on the list and I am reminded of how much the Zulu culture respects their elders. GoGo makes it into the vitals room and then we’re off to the consultation waiting room- there’s not a seat in the place, I see why the initial waiting room was so empty.
I wait for GoGo to get her medicine and then I roll her back out to the Fortuner.
It’s 3:15pm and we’re finally leaving the clinic. Luckily we were able to pick up the medication for one of our other patients while we were here. We drop GoGo off safe and sounds and then we go to see about our 13 year old nutrition patient.
I will always cherish looking out into the horizon. 
At 3:36 we arrive out the Happy Girls house. Everyone looks surprised to see us.-we’re2 days early. I weigh the boy, prescribe some Imodium for his running stomach and some oral rehydration- he’s on ARVs, we cannot let him get dehydrated he’s doing so well. Once I do some paperwork I let him and his friends play with my phone. This is what I got out of it, 
gotta love Snapchat filters.
At 3:54pm we’re in the car and it’s time to pick the gals up from the Inkanyezi Crèche! They’ve painted numbers and letters on the colorful tires and I must admit, it looks really good. Mama G needs a ride so of course we give her one! She’s definitely a superstar with the kiddos in the community.
We arrive onto 24 Flamingo Rd at exactly 4:23pm, I take the medical supplies out of the Fortuner, put them away, and within seconds I’m in the shower. The meeting is at 5:30pm tonight so there will be enough time to catch a good sunset at the Jetty. I skip this one as well so I can get a start on my annotated bibliography.
There’s dinner eventually-chicken tenders and a salad. I complete my ‘Monkey Watch’ duties (taking the garbage out so the monkeys don’t get to it) and then climb into bed. Overall it was a great day!
4th Wednesday
It’s 6:30am and I’m wide awake, I get out of bed to brush my teeth and then I lay back down to dink around in my phone. 7am hits and now it’s time to get ready for the day. I get dressed, then head for breakfast- peaches & cream yoghurt and plain oats is what I’ll be having.
Since we didn’t have planning on yesterday, Barbara and I make the food parcels promptly after breakfast, she’s with me today! (thank you Kim for doing the shopping ☺️)
It’s 8:30am and it’s officially time to go, but this time pack up is an absolute mess! Since the Avanza has been taken to the garage we only have one vehicle, the Fortuner, and though it is a 7 passenger car we have 8 people who needs a ride to their projects with all of their things……..
Barbara and I hop into the very back and we end up making two trips. The first, Shwele drops Mumsy, Helene, and Claudy off to a Crèche and then we head all the back to Khula to pick up Valerie and Nok for War room- the war room is basically a quarterly meeting with all of the high leaders in the community, sounds cool. We drop the off at the Khula multi-purpose center and then we head to buy our bananas. During this time Shwele gets a call from Happy Girl saying that her sons diarrhea got worse over night and that she’s taking him to the clinic-this worries me because I was really hoping that the medicine we provided would help.
We see our first patient, she’s a sweet GoGo since I have my hair wrapped she starts speaking to me in isiZulu, she laughs when I tell her that I don’t speak Zulu lol. I told her that my hair warapped fooled her and we laugh, I’m not sure if she understood me but we laugh again anyway.
Next we see GoGo Eleanori, she’s one of the sweetest GoGos ever, we include her in The Happy Africa Foundation campaign for Valentine’s Day and she’s so honored, I have to make sure she gets a copy of the picture because she definitely asked for one lol.
After we leave the Gogo, we visit one of our blind patients he’s so happy for us to visit. He’s a generally healthy man, we take his vitals this time his blood pressure of high, he doesn’t usually have blood pressure issues but today he also complains of a headache, we decide to put him on the list for clinic pickups next Monday.
Now that we’re finished we stop by our ALS patient home to drop off the medication we picked up for her yesterday. Once we do that we are on our way to the GoGo with the hand wound. GoGo Hand is a traditional healer and I am happy to see that she still receives other methods of healing. She’s dressed in all red, even her hair is wrapped in some red type yarn- I choose not to take a picture of her because she’s more traditional and I want to be respectful.
We are at our final patients home. She had stomach cancer so she’s on our home based care and nutrition program. We take her vitals and weight and then give her some anti itch cream because of the rash and swelling surrounding her colostomy bag. I must say that Barbara was a superstar today, having an extra pair of hands on the medical project is always appreciated. I’ve been he only medical volunteer so far but I’m expecting more this coming Sunday.
Our day is over at exactly 11:30am we are making outstanding time. We decide to head back to the Khula Multi-Purpose center to pick up Nok and Valerie from War Room. Once that is over we head back to fool ol St Lucia for lunch. Barbara and I unload the Fortuner and then Nok and Shwele drive back to Khula to get Claudy and Helene from Crèche.
Today has just been frustrating! When Barbara and I go to get lunch, the bread is molded…. 3 loaves of bread, all have mold. Then there was fruit flies in the salad. I really had a taste for cheese and tomato sandwiches but I was so over it I just ate left over chicken tenders wit a few slices of tomato with salt, pepper, and cheese. (This is not a reflection on African Impact, just a simple ‘which one of you forgot to put the bread in the refrigerator’ thing lol, as far as the fruit flies….well idk the salad should have probably be left in the fridge until we came home lol, but anyway) we immediately tell Kim and Valerie what’s going on and they work together to rectify the issue. Kim cut up some more vegetables and Valerie walked all the way to Spar in the hot sun and 90 degree air to get us some more bread. Thank you guys!
We have about an hours break then Nok, Shwele, Kim, Non, Helene, Barbara, and I load into the Fortuner for our different projects. We drop Kim, Helene, and Non at afternoon Support Group and then it’s time for Barbara and I to head to GoGo 4s. We’re about 7 minutes away from GoGos and then we get a very scary call from Happy Girl. She called requesting nappys for her son because his diarrhea is still pretty bad but during this time Shwele head Happy Girl calling her sons name and then the line disconnected. Shwele called back twice but Happy Girl did not answer so we quickly decide to turn around and attend to our 13 year old patient. Hearing this news literally took my breath away. I was laying down in the back seat, but now I’m wide awake….
As soon as we pull into Happy Girls yard, I see the ‘worried mother’ look all over her face. Happy Girl got her name from smiling all of the time, this time there isn’t one. Mom is sitting next to her son who’s laying down on a traditional mat under a shade tree, he doesn’t look good at all. At the clinic, they gave him IV rehydration so he’s not as bad off as he could be, but I’m still saddened to see this young boy just lying there in discomfort. We try to get him to drink some fluids but he just won’t, he wants to rest, still we reiterate how important it is for him to get something into his stomach. We stay for a while, mom requested some nappys so Shwele promised to send her kids to give them some. I pray he gets better very soon- I’ve grown to truly love this little boy. We assess the situation and decide to not take him to the clinic, we will monitor him closely for the next few days.
We leave there and then we go to GoGo 4’s. The children are happy to see us, even a cute little baby joined us! We make signs for our spreading the love campaign for Valentine’s Day, take a bunch of pictures, and then we are off to pick up the girls from support group.
We arrive in St. Lucia at exactly 4:20pm, we drop Kim off at the corner of the Main Street so she can go to the store to buy a poster board and we make our way to the house! Kim hasn’t seen her boyfriend in 297 days come Saturday, she’s picking him up from the airport and on the poster she will put ‘Guess who’s happy to see the love of her life after 297 days’ she’s cutting a heart out big enough to fit her face and she’s drawing arrows pointing towards her, I just love, love ☺️☺️
Shoutout to Barbara for snagging this coconut lol
I shower and then we have our meeting at 5:45pm. Claudy and Helene are still at the gym so they are absent but we make it happen anyway. Once that happens I just lounge on the couch until it’s time for dinner. We plan to leave at 7:00pm, but of course that doesn’t happen 😒.
Barbara, Valerie, Helene, and I have dinner at John Dorys, as always it’s absolutely amazing! Claudy eventually comes for wine and dessert and we all chat for quite a while.
We arrive at the house around half past 9 and I hop into a cold shower to rinse off my evening. It is HOT in this room. I feel like I’m having a hot flash I don’t even know what’s going on. Even the pillow is making me hot so I remove that from my dad and literally lay flat on my back. The fan is on full blast but that’s not even helping.
4th Thursday
Somehow I woke up later than usual, 7:08am, I guess I just didn’t hear my alarm go off the first time. It takes me a while to actually get out of bed, I didn’t start to get dressed until after 7:30. It’s cool outside right now and I’m grateful. Tossing and turning all night from being hot really wore me out.
I get ready for my day, then I head out to the common area for breakfast. Oats with plain yoghurt sounds good at the moment so that’s what I have. We have the morning meeting as usual and then start to gather the materials needed. Claudy and I talk about life and then soon it’s time for project!
Claudy is with me on Home Based Care in Ezwenelisha, how fun! We have 4 patients scheduled for the day and I’m expecting they will all go well. We drop Nok, Barbara, and Helene off at Crèche and then we head out to the rural areas of Ezwenelisha.
The first patient that we see is our wound care patient (this was the young man who was stabbed by another one of our patients). I am very happy to see that his wound is healing!
Our final patient worries me though, this is the guy who had the family issues last week that’s on our nutrition program. We can obviously see that he is losing weight so with the help of his wife we weigh him…he weighs 85 pounds according to the scale but I feel that he may weigh even less because he was standing with assistance of a crutch and the arm for his wife. We take his blood pressure and it is high 141/99, we decide to put him on our clinic pickup list. Since he is losing weight at such a fast pace I’m afraid that his CD4 count may be a bit low, but according to him he’s taking his antiretroviral treatment regularly.
It’s 11:46am, it’s time to go pick up the ladies from Crèche and head back to town. I’m grateful that Shwele willing took me to pick up my laundry because man it is hot! For lunch there was tuna sandwiches with toppings it I just ate two boiled eggs, some slices of tomato, and a bunch of cucumber slices. I honestly feel too hot to eat but I know that I need something in my tummy.
Today we have planning this afternoon. I like the switch to Thursdays, it gives me a much needed break from the week. Shwele and I plan for physio, and home based care in Khula and Ezwenelisha, and then we reload our medication bag. For some reason we do not go shopping and I have no idea why and they aren’t either. I guess Kim is going to do it again.
I’m very tired so I try to take a nap, unfortunately I’m kept awake by chatter that is not whispered and steps back and forth through my room eventhough another door could have been used which would have put them closer to their issue. I’m very annoyed. For those who know me y’all know that the one thing that I may actually hate in this world is being woken up 😡. I want to go home, I need peaceful sleep !!! 😂 I’m somewhere in the middle between ‘I’m happy that I made this trip last for 2 months so I can get all the experience I can because I just love helping the people I come into contact with’ and ‘yo, I’m ready to go’ lol
I sit up out of my bed and start to play around on my computer. Barbara and I chat and eventually it’s time for our afternoon meeting. We have dinner. The house had a cottage pie, since I opted out of dinner I warmed up my leftover John Dorys- angelfish, vegetable rice, prawns, and half a piece of chocolate cake was just what I needed.
When everyone finishes their meal, Kim leads a very informative workshop on HIV. Though the infection rates are growing lower, the number of those infected yearly, and dying due to AIDS related deaths are staggering. In my area alone, 1 in 6 adults are infected with the virus. Even with all of the shocking news/statistics, I am happy to hear that as of October 2016 the South African government declared all Antiretroviral Therapy to be free to every resident of the country diagnosed with HIV. Before then, the only way to qualify for free treatment was if your CD4 count was below 350., you are diagnosed with AIDS once your CD4 count is below 200..a healthy CD4 count is between 500-1,000.
After the workshop we all talk for a while, then I head back to the room for a shower and to lie down. Since it’s still early I decide to read until I fall asleep. It’s hot, but not as bad as it was last night.. thank goodness
4th Friday
It’s another Friday, time is truly flying here. I wake up at exactly 6:56am and slowly start to get myself together. Today is different… one of our patients died on Tuesday night at the hospital, so today we are paying our respects to the family members. I put on the best ‘funeral clothes’ that I can find and I wrap my hair up to look the part. 
Breakfast was the same as yesterday-oats and plan yoghurt. Today is Home Assistance day. Claudy is with me again and I’m sure Shwele is greatful for her help because I sure am! We load up the two cars and at exactly 8:30am we leave for Khula to head to the family’s home. All of African Impact St Lucia make our way to show support to the family and I love it.
During the morning meeting we were advised on how we should behave during this time- we must wear a skirt or a dress and be sure that our arms are covered, no eye contact (so basically look down the whole time), and don’t move too much.
We arrive at the house at exactly 9am, we all take off our shoes before entering the room the past loved one was last in, our eyes are looking towards the ground, Claudy and Barbara each carry a bag of food parcel we’re offering, and I carry the 10kg bag of Aunt Carolines rice. We put the food donation near the middle of the room and Nok starts a song, all of the Zulu ladies and family members sing along and we listen along, some of us are sitting on a mat on the floor and some of us are sitting in the available chairs. After a song is song, Nok leads us in prayer then shares words of kindness with the family, still we all sit as still as we possible can with our eyes to the ground. When Nok finishes, the family then offers a thanks and when the exchange is over. Nok translates and then Kim says a few words herself and Nok translates for the family.
After another exchange a plate is passed around and Valerie, the business manager, offers R100 as a gift from all of us. The food parcel alone was worth about R400 so I’m positive that the family is extremely grateful.
If I haven’t learned anything else from this experience, I’ve learned to be submissive..especially if there’s a man (young or old) in the room. Women avoid eye contact in this culture and we also take many seats on the ground. Submission=respect.
We are back in the car by 9:30am, Shwele drops Barbara, Helene,and Nok off at Crèche. Claudy and I change out of our dresses and skirts and then me, her, and Shwele make our way to GoGo One leg’s for some home assistance. We sweep, clean the toilet, wash dishes, and then collect some water. An extra hand was definitely needed. Claudy is a superstar, she got right in there and didn’t mind getting dirty, thank you thank you, thank you! Best volunteer coordinator ever lol. Claudy asks for an update in Happy Girls son and we are happy to hear that he’s doing better, thank you Jesus!
We finish with GoGo at 11:22am, since we have to pick the others up at 11:45am we quickly determine that there isn’t enough time to assist anyone else so we head to Crèche instead. We hand out there for about 20 minutes and then we leave for the house. It’s 11:55am and I am tired 😴 maybe I’ll get my nap today 🤔 as soon as I get to the house, I change my shirt and undershirt! I’m sweaty.
I’m so tired as I’m eating my lunch but it’s soooo good lol. We have farmers sausage, and yellow rice with a tomato and onion stew to cover it. Once I’m satisfied I lay on the couch until it’s time for my midpoint checkin with Kim!
Checkin with Kim lasted about 15 minutes. She just asked a few questions on how I was, what I liked/didn’t like, and what could African Impact do to make my stay here more enjoyable. Once that’s over it’s time for me to get ready for nutrition in Ezwenelisha! I make 5 containers of ePAP and then I hop into the front seat of the Fortuner next to Shwele. We drop Non, Barbara, Claudy, and Helene off at afternoon Reading Club. On the way to Reading Club, we saw Non’s boys walking home from school, they are so cute and they look just like her! Even in this hot sun, they are happy to walk along the road with their friends, we beep the horn at them, and they wave. Life here is so different, I would have never thought I’d have to walk back and forth to and from school, especially not a mile-watching young children attempting to catch a ride in random vehicles is frightening to me, but here….that’s life.
It’s time for nutrition. We drop of some ePAP for a patient in Khula and then we head to Ezwenelisha to see the 85ibs patient of ours, though we saw him yesterday it was unexpected so we did not have the proper items with us. I pray his wife has at least cleaned him up and fed him a good meal before we get there. It’s unfortunate that he is not able to go to a home, you would think that because he needs healthcare there would be a place for him to go..but nope. So in this case, in South Africa if you’re legally married (even if your wife isn’t taking care of you) you won’t be able to go to a home because the government sees the wife as being a person able to take care of you. This is the same with children, even if the parents are neglecting them they will or be taken away from the home because the government sees the unfit parents as a person who is taking care of that child. To be considered an orphan here your parents must be dead, not just terrible people.
We arrive at the home, we can tell that from the lack of smell that the wife has cleaned him up, he even looks better. The visit is brief because we seen him already so we just take some measurements and chat for a little. We give him the ePAP and then we make our way.
We arrive at the sweet GoGo’s who picked with me last time we visited but unfortunately she wasn’t here. Shwele helped herself to some indoni and then we went to GoGo 4’s, the children are always so happy to see us ☺️ I’m sure that Nelli will be discharged from our nutrition program soon, she’s gaining weight at a great pace.
It’s 3:35pm, and we are finished with our day. Back to St. Lucia we go! It’s a bit odd to say, but it really sucks to go home to a nice house and work in the communities we do, especially when the distance between us are so close. People here know that if you live in St. Lucia you’re “rich”. It’s almost the exact representation of the apartheid, everyone who lives in St. Lucia are white, and everyone who works in St. Lucia are black..if you’re white and work here it’s because you own the place.
I watch many workers walk home from St. Lucia as we make ourselves in.
It’s 3:55pm and we are home. I walk into the common area and see Mumsy dancing and singing to Chris Brown, I’m so ‘not hip’ to modern day music that I couldn’t even begin to tell you what she’s listening to. She greets me with a “Hey Sissy” and I proceed to ask her about her day as I’m putting away things for nutrition.
I go to my room to freshen up and change my clothes and I’m grateful that the rest of the day is mine. I decide to lie down before I start on my school work, afternoon debrief is at the regular 5:45pm so I decide to nap until then.
Tonight we’re having a traditional Zulu meal, I wasn’t hungry, but I did try it- it was some kind of spicy vegetable stew with a crumbly pap which resembled couscous. Valerie, Kim, and Claudy went out for a staff meeting so me, Helene, and Barbara all stayed behind at the house. I worked on some school work for a while and eventually fell asleep
4th Saturday
I’m pretty sure I was in bed by like 8:30pm last night- I must have been tired, with the sucky internet there really wasn’t anything else to do.
I woke up around 6:30am, I feel a cold coming on so I blow my nose at least 50 times, take some golden seal and allergy medicine, and pray this does the job.
Today Valerie, Helene, myself, and Barbara are going to Richards Bay! I’m pretty excited, it’s a little over an hour away, there’s a mall, a couple of nice restaurants, and a cinema- just what we need. I shower, get dressed, make my bed, and then head to the common area for the simple fact that I just don’t want to be in the room anymore lol.
As soon as I walk in, I see Kim’s airport sign for her boyfriend John, I’m so excited for her!!!! 298 is a long time to not be able to see your significant other in person. Love is a beautiful thing ☺️☺️
We leave for Richards Bay at 10:30am, Valerie has only driven an automatic 2 other times in her life so this should be interesting. It’s so funny, she keeps wanting to use both feet and shift.
This is the first time I’ve been out of the town of St. Lucia since the airport. This is great. I called shotgun and played co-pilot, then enjoyed the hour and a half ride to the mall. 
Helene and I are going on an early Valentine’s date. Shoutout to her for being my movie partner! I’m still socked at this exchange rate. I got a movie ticket, large popcorn, drink, and candy all for $8.76 that’s crazy.
We walk around the mall for quite a while, Helene, myself, and Barbara all try on a few dresses. Too bad I won’t able to wear it when I get home lol. I buy some food to make for dinner some time this week, while the food is good here I just cannot eat bread and potatoes everyday.
We end up having lunch and Elephant and I, it was good, I just had a burger and some fries. 
We leave the mall at a little after 5pm and make our way back to the good ol St. Lucia. It’s a good thing we were with Valerie, she reminds me of my mom when it comes to direction 😂 ( I love you mommy!)
We make it onto the drive way a little before 6:30pm. Helene and I help Valerie unload the Fortuner and then I catch my breath. The funniest thing happened though, Valerie literally sat her bag down for 1 second to close the trunk and a monkey found himself in it- these guys are a bit too comfortable.
Within 45 minutes of being home there was a power cut, y’all I almost cried lol. I’m hot, missing home, and really want a shower-I don’t think I could’ve handled a lack of power at this moment lol, pray for me though,seriously!
We have 4 new volunteers coming tomorrow, there’s not much room, but I make some space anyway, hopefully this goes well. I do some school work for a while and eventually fall asleep
5th Sunday
It’s 9:09am and I am HOT it’s 93 degrees Fahrenheit over here. 
I take the time to repack my bags and move the things that I just haven’t used so far to get ready for the new arrivals. I paint my toe nails and take some much needed time for myself.
The new volunteers get here around 4:45, there was a really bad rainstorm coming from Durban so Claudy had to drive slower than usual. Since African Impact shares a property with two others more people than usual are using the pool, it looks like they’re about to have a party lol. The new volunteers are pretty cool so far, there are two older ladies and two girls about my age- I like them all so far. I’m a bit worried about this bathroom situation though….it’s gotten crowded pretty quickly lol.
We have a braai, and I must say it turned out very good. There was chicken, burgers, two types of garlic bread, corn, stuffed mushrooms, onion marmalade, and a green salad. We get to know each other over a meal and just enjoy one another’s company.
It’s getting late, our day is over. I shower, complete my assignment, talk to our new roommates Gursharan and Lisa and then head off to bed by 11:30pm. It’s hot…it’s going to be a long night
This final home based care visit was very interesting, let’s just say I had my first marriage proposal 🙊 the young man went so far as to even ask how many cows it takes in my country for him to marry me, jokingly Shwele and I said 20 (that’s double the normal rate). The GoGo (the young mans grandmother) also told me that she likes me and that I would make a wonderful daughter-in-law lol, hilarious!!! We laughed for a few minutes and then I proceeded to take the GoGo’s vitals and give her the needed medication. The ground was too sandy for Shwele to be able to drive all the way up to the hut so we had to park at the bottom of the hill and walk up, on our way back to the car low and behold, this is what I see, 
After our evening we take the 10 minute walk back to the house. I love that we always have the days meals and left overs spread out. We try really hard to not have wasted left overs.
The night is over, the Internet has been down all day-no family I’m not dead I just haven’t had a way to contact you lol
I get to learn a little bit about Shwele on the ride to the next patients house. I find out that she lives in Khula herself and that we were near her house on Wednesday. Shwele finds it’s very rewarding to work in the village she lives in- I think that is absolutely amazing. She’s pretty awesome. I also found out that the Ezwenelisha is government housing, that’s the reason it’s so nice here.
(this straw is used to make mats)
(the thing on top of the house is used to heat the water inside of the home)
though the day is hot it’s beautiful. I’m still amazed at the age children start taking care of themselves. It’s common to see a 3 year old walk to daycare by themselves. On this particular trip I see a young girl probably about the age of 6 carrying a 2 year old up a hill with her back pack and all. For those of you who know my family, that’s like Markell carrying Kennedi on his hip while walking all the way home from school with his backpack and her diaper bag all by himself….(I miss all of my babies by the way!)
The mom herself looks very healthy, I wouldn’t have ever suspected she was positive. I will never forget the faces of those I’m able to help. We end our day at 4pm and make our way back to St. Lucia. After freshening up and changing into some cooler clothes I notice that my leg has a pretty nasty hematoma 😳
There’s no such thing as a smooth flow of water, just saying. Thankfully I got to cool off, but I’m sure I got a wicked tan, not a cloud in the sky. While I did that Shwele cleaned the red dirt off of the car, it was much needed.
That’s crazy cheap-that’s $0.71 for 14 bananas!!!!
I admire all of the planted gum trees and take in my environment this patient wasn’t home she had to go to the clinic so we just provided the nutrition anyway after talking with the family. Right after that we head to GoGo 4 children
We say our goodbyes and then make our way to the final GoGos hut.
Claudy signed us in and we meet our guide. We quickly notice that we get to tour with another group of volunteers, yay!
As soon as we get inside after telling the gate keeper in Zulu that we come in peace, we get to pick out our clothing for the evening. 
Normally, single Zulu women wear the beads pictured with nothing underneath 🙊. We learn about the family roles, the building of the huts, the making of the mats, and then head into ‘the kitchen’ to greet some of the Zulu boys using a traditional Zulu handshake.
Somehow during that time I was made Queen for the night, but of course I didn’t mind lol. After we watch the young men change the spears from shields to bags we all head to ‘the meeting room’ here we get a more in depth lesson about the Zulu culture and that’s when I become Queen. 
I strip out of my clothes, the guide dresses me in traditional jewelry and we are good to go. 
(My skirt is made out of real cow hide by the way)
It’s time for a traditional Zulu show back in ‘the kitchen’. I must say that the dancing is AMAZING and very intense. The high kicks, sudden jerks, and vibrations from the beating of the drums made it hard to take my eyes away. We enjoy about 30 to 45 minutes of interactive entertainment full of singing and dancing and I must say that I’m impressed. 
(I attempted a traditional high kick lol)
Once we’re finished we decide to end our adventure with a hippo hunt in the avanza! We saw 3 hippos, a croc and a deer, I’d call that pretty successful. 
Steve is our tour guide and I must say he’s pretty awesome. 
warthogs,
a black rhino (very rare),
buffalos,
white rhinos, baboons, kudus, and of course God’s marvelous vegetative works and so much more. (if I get better internet connection I may be able to upload more pictures)
I see Steve grabbing brunch, it’s nice to see a familiar face, I get to meet his beautiful wife and tell her all about the game drive on yesterday morning. She also volunteered with African Impact. 5 years ago Steve took her on a tour and she’s been here ever since-it’s beautiful how things work. While we talked, Steve shared that one of the same elephants we saw the day before actually charged a car after we left. Tusks through the door, flipped it and all, the people involved went to the hospital- I pray that they’re alright.
I grab the physio bag, scale, medicine bag, pens, and then wait for the ladies to get out of their morning meeting with Kim. I’m sad to see that we’re in the Avanza today, it’s sooooooo hot lol.
The scenery still amazes me too. 
The amount of fruit trees are remarkable, I see a bunch of mango, guava, and coconut. We are in the deep forest-the ground is very sandy, I held my breath a few times because I wasn’t sure the Avanza was going to make it- Shwele even stalled at one point-most of the vehicles here are manual.
I give him and his little sister a piece of gum too. They take it with two hands to show respect and I give it to them in the same way, with both hands.
I see the boy who was playing with the toy gun and marble a few days earlier and give him a piece of gum too. He’s very shy, it’s adorable. The wind is so soothing I could nap- Ms Ellen comes out dressed in blue and she smells really really good- like some kind of sweet lotion, I see why she took so long. Our car has almost reached its maximum capacity, it’s 11:30am we’re off for the clinic again. We see a community health worker waiting for a taxi as we go to the clinic so to be nice, Shwele gives her a ride because we are already in the way
But still beautiful sites along the way. We make it to Ezwenelisha clinic, this one is a bit run down, but I notice the signs indicating that America helped build the buildings.
They look like small mobile homes but they seem to work. I hung out with the little girl during the appointments, she took to me quite well. She was talking to me the entire time and I’m sad to not know what she was saying. She was great at pointing and pulling at my legs and arms though. The only thing I really understood was the word ‘phone’ lol she was a sweet girl, but after she gave my phone a bath with her tongue I had to take it away.
The soda was 13Rand, that’s less than $1. Shwele and I talk, We bond as I show her pictures of my family and then lunch is over, time for physio in Khula.
We picked some ripe pieces off the ground, rinsed them in my warm water and enjoyed. They had the texture of a grape sort off and was the color of a plum. Very good! Shwele called it Indoni she doesn’t know the English translation but said she would find out.
I literally freaked, it’s amazing that I did not wake the other ladies. I immediately text my mom and Forever for comfort because I just couldn’t handle that. Mom texts me back immediately (shoutout to you). If I didn’t love everything about South Africa so far, I probably would’ve started fundraising for an early flight home.
We have planning this afternoon so I’m expecting an easier day. We arrive in Khula and immediately buy some bananas for the local ladies. I put them in a bag I found. 
It’s crazy that we can get all of these for only 10 Rand.
By the way (since I cannot remember if I told you), the Support Group is for HIV positive men and women and also for family empowerment. Mostly women come to The Khula Support Group, but Kim said there is a man in the Ezwenelisha Support Group. We pick up another member, it’s so nice to see her! She speaks to me in English, I love that she took to the time to do that.
(I blurred out the middle woman’s eyes so that you cannot identify her). It’s safe to say that we took another way 😂😂. We pick up more members, these are some amazing women! The ladies are happy to see me and I am truly happy to see them. Windows are down, it’s 9:45am and I’m enjoying listening to the chatter of the Zulu women. We finally arrive at the community center, we use a different room this time because we expect it to be cooler and less noisy. We run out of chairs for all the women, so I quickly find one and clear it off so that The GoGo could have a seat. She was extremely grateful for that action- she hugged me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. The lady who honored me at the last meeting also gave me a very embracing hug, she grabbed my bum and everything lol. I didn’t find this inappropriate because Kim already told me how touchy Zulu women are lol.
It’s 11:50am and its hot. I go to get a sip of water then remember it that I forgot my bottles in the fridge. We drop the members off then make our way to Crèche to pick up Shwele, Kait, Barbara, and Claudy. 
In the car ride over I ask Nok about church and she said that she will be happy to take me. I’m excited!!
(a photo of lightening from the top bunk)
Even though I wasn’t sure about having power at the house, I let her play with my phone and this is what I got out of it lol.
After we eat the rest of the girls (Kim, Claudy, and Barbara) come for wine and dessert.
We ate great food, and made new friends, it was worth it.
and I prepare for my day (Shoutout to T’Conya by the way! I love your random text messages to check in on me-you’re the best!). I have HBC in Ezwenelisha, and it’s cool outside. Today will be a great day.
the roads in Ezwenelisha are already bad so we head to the clinic to drop of the promised ibuprofen- it’s unfortunate the clinic is slowing running out of supplies, but thankfully we can help out.
the animals are just as hungry as the people are. 12:23pm we get the girls, it’s time to head to St. Lucia for lunch. We have a tuna pasta bake. It was yum!!
My allergies are killing me so I decide to take some Benadryl and just go to bed. Kait and Claudy decide to go out. It’s Kait’s last Friday here in SA, I will surely miss her!-hopefully I’ll see her again in the near future (she may have some planning to do in Martha’s Vineyard?)
I briefly talk to my mother and then I call my professor promptly at 5pm my time, 10am EST. My professor and I talk for about 30minutes about my experiences so far-she’s pretty awesome, I will be sure to keep in touch so I can get a reference lol.
Claudy comes eventually and we decide to hangout around town.
(steak with onions, grilled tomato, two fried eggs, chips, and a coke for R103 = $7.36)
Life's A Journey 