This past week at Tafelsig was very good. I worked with Portia again,
learning bandaging techniques and how to give people a nebulizer. The things
I’m leaning in this clinic are just astonishing and so much more in-depth than
I would be learning at a semester in Storrs. I’m not even talking about just my
internship or the classes, but through talking with the community of Cape Town
and through my fellow co-educators on this trip. I’ve been learning about
myself and how to work with people that don’t exactly think the same way I do.
But I’ve been working on it and realizing that even though something may seem trivial
to me, it is important to my classmates and I have to learn to respect that.
What I really wanted to write about for this blog post was the weekend. After a
relaxing day off of exercising and reading, all of the other students and I got
picked up by this huge tour bus that took us to an Africa Unite center which
works for human rights and social cohesion in Africa. We picked up about 25
Africans from various countries to come along with us to Goedgedacht Farm which
is an olive farm about an hour and a half away from Rondebosch where we live.
We got off the bus to this beautiful view with valleys and mountains that
stretched for miles. We got our rooms and I was lucky enough to get paired with
a South African named Bongani. Bongani was interesting; he worked at an after
school care center that worked with kids whose parents had many issues going on
at home. He also grew up in Nyanga and attended Sithembele Matiso High School
which is where Allie, Anna and I are doing our activist project of building a
library. If anyone reading this has any recently used, not damaged high school
level novels/ textbooks we would all definitely appreciate it. You could email
me at Patrick.clarke@uconn.edu
for info about my project or if you’re interested in sponsoring us.
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| Patrick & friends enjoying mealtime at the weekend |
Anyway, we went to an awesome dinner and a program where we started to learn
about human rights. After program, a bunch of my friends and I went out and
laid outside under the stars. We talked, laughed, and I even fell asleep
because it was so peaceful there. I don’t know how I can even say how much I’m
changing and the implications this place has on me. Being without Wi-Fi or any
electronics has given me such a greater appreciation of being in the company of
people without distractions. The next morning we broke into small groups
working on an exercise that involved politics and human rights. It was interesting
to talk to everyone about what they consider to be essential for all persons to
have, because it really got across how everyone was from such different
backgrounds. One of my favorite parts of the day was that after every time we
would break into groups or meal times, someone different would lead an
icebreaker exercise that involved some cool African dance or chant. This was
awesome because it introduced me to cultures from South Africa, Zimbabwe, the
Congo, and other parts of Africa.
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| Patrick (far left) working on a group project during the Human Rights for Social Cohesion Weekend. |
The last thing I want to say is how this weekend has finally given me something
to relate to back home. I’ve found myself having trouble talking to my family
and friends about everything I’m doing here because I don’t think they’ll
understand it. This weekend has finally given me something tangible to talk
about with people back in The States. I learned so much valuable information
about human rights and the situations that still occur every day where they are
violated. The right to proper health care here is thrown aside because as much
as these nurses and I care, there simply aren’t enough resources/staff and the
poor suffer because of it. This weekend taught me so much about the people,
human rights, and about myself. This was probably the best weekend I’ve had
thus far and I am so thankful to Marita and Africa Unite for this opportunity.
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