Patrick thankful for many incredible experiences

This week at Tafelsig was actually a rollercoaster. I worked in their version of the Emergency Room. I had gone to the nurse, Portia, last week and asked her if I could work with her and learn how to draw blood. So walking into work I was getting so nervous. I watched her do it a couple times and then she let me finally do it. Surprisingly, I was very calm sticking a needle into someone’s arm because Portia had been such a good teacher. I had done it multiple times for the rest of the week, and even learned how to dress open wounds by myself. Talking to Portia also gave me a lot of ideas about some of the challenges facing the clinic. They are understaffed, under-budgeted, and under-supplied.  A young man actually got shot outside the clinic on Wednesday, and with there only being me and Portia in the Emergency Room, we couldn’t take care of him. Even if they had more people, Tafelsig simply doesn’t have the equipment to aid him so he had to go to the day hospital. But the spirit of the patients and the staff really makes me so happy to get up for work every morning.

Audrey, Ethan, & Patrick getting to know some of the kids

We had class on Thursday and then after went immediately to our homestay in Oceanview. When we first got to Oceanview, we went to a home that served all 30 of us dinner. It was so nice just to be in a home again, and hug a mom, and be in an atmosphere where I only had to worry about my present self. On the walk there we also met a bunch of kids in the street and we ended up playing with them for a while before dinner. I met this girl named Cherize whose face I still haven’t been able to get out of my head since I’ve been home. She was probably five and I just have kept thinking about her future and her to growing up because she was so sweet and genuinely happy. I couldn’t get it out of my head how unfair it was for such a young and kind spirit to live in this neighborhood, whose mom lets her run rampant through the streets until past eight on a school night. She probably wouldn’t have the same future that I will have either. Anyway, after dinner we met our host parents, Auntie Katy and Uncle Andrew. After staying up a little, Jerard and I almost immediately went to bed because we were so tired from the long day of classes.

The next day we woke up early and walked to Aquila Creche, the kindergarten class where Jerard, Wylie, Avery and I had agreed to volunteer at for a day. Playing with all of the kids was awesome, and Cherize even ended up being in the class I was helping out with which was very random but awesome. Once we were done there, the four of us went to go find a place to play soccer. On the street a bunch of middle schoolers ran over to us and started to try to play with us.  This actually turned out to be one of the best things I’ve done since I’ve been here. It was fun and we made little kids happy, so it was a great experience for everyone. On our walk home from soccer, I saw Cherize running at me. It made me feel so good about myself that I had such a positive effect on a young girl. We also went to a concert that night which sponsors the Open Door Program, which is an after school program for adolescents. If you want more information on supporting it or what the program is, you can go to volunteermzansiafrika.com. Anyways, the next day we went to a braai at one of our host families’ friends’ houses. There we saw a bunch of other kids from UConn which was nice because I had already started to miss them. Then Sunday, some of the other UConn students and I walked to the beach in Ocean View after going to church with our families.

We then had to say bye, and as we loaded the bus I knew this weekend had affected me a lot. Although I wish I could have gotten to grow closer with my family, I would like to thank Marita and Chantel for setting up the home stay. I think the work both of these women are doing for the youth is incredible and commendable. I really appreciated getting to be in a home again and getting to know some new South Africans for an extended period of time. It really was a blessed and pleasurable weekend.