Ok, so im home now, but I thought I would do a blog update on our last week and a bit, when I didn’t have internet access for long enough to write an update.
So where were we….Robben Island, Friday…
On Saturday we had a pretty chilled out day – went to a Dutch art gallery and the market in the morning, then went to the Irish pub to watch the Lions match.
On Sunday we went to a local Church, then went swimming at the pool by our hostel (there were pigeons on the poolside!). Rang my daddy as it was Father’s day, then Caroline and I managed to find some Grey’s Anatomy on tv! In the evening we went to the Cathedral for evensong, which we thought would be a cool experience. It turned out it was an induction of some choristers, and the choir and orchestra were doing a performance of Vivaldi’s entire Gloria! Really enjoyed it.
On Monday it was raining and the hostel had power cuts. So we went to a diamond place! Haha. Looking like drowned rats we arrived at this posh place and got given drinks and a little tour about different types of diamonds and how they are cut etc. Lots of pretty jewels and jewellery, and some interesting South African history.
We got a tapas lunch, then continued our girly day with a visit to the Turkish Bath! We then went to this super-cute little place next to our hostel called ‘Cake’ and had tea and cake. In the evening we went to Comedy night at a local bar. We weren’t sure whether we would find the humour funny, but there were some pretty funny comedians and it was a fun night. While we were out, Caroline got a text from our airline we were flying with a couple of days later (like a South African Easyjet or something), saying our flight had been cancelled! It was fine though – they just put us on a different flight.
Tuesday was the most ridiculous cold and wet day! Having exhausted pretty much all of Cape Town’s inside activities, we had a day just chilling out at the hostel, going to the internet café and packing our bags for the next day.
A few amusing things from South Africa:
- They have Woolworths! It’s not the same as here. In fact it’s more like M&S.
- In the HIV ABC (abstinence, being faithful, condoms), they use the verb ‘condomize’ and this is a word they actually use!
- A price can be, say, 4.99, but they don’t actually have 1 cent coins, so they have to round it down to 4.95 and give you 5 cents change (the smallest coin). But if you buy 5 items ending in .99, you have to pay those extra few cents! Crazy.
Early set-off on Wednesday to the airport, to fly to Jo’burg. Our flight being changed to a BA one meant we got food on the flight – woohoo! We then got lunch on the flight to Zambia.
In Zambia we got our bags and sorted out visas, then had a bit of a scary time as our pick-up wasn’t there and we didn’t have any local money or anything. Managed to phone the hostel on Caroline’s UK phone eventually and they came and got us. Our hostel was called Fawlty Towers! Haha.
Zambia is much more ‘African’ than South Africa, and hotter too! The currency is ridiculous. 5000 kwacha is 1 USD (currently about 70p!).
On Thursday we went to the bank to cash some traveller’s cheques (yep – we’d got to that point!) but the guy insisted on some stupid rule that you need your receipt to cash them. We tried to explain what a ridiculous rule that is, and I pointed out that I cashed a TC in South Africa totally fine without the receipt, but the guy was pretty rude and unhelpful. So we tried to withdraw USD from our cards, but mine wasn’t accepted! Thank God for Caroline’s Visa card!
We then got the shuttle bus from our hostel to Victoria Falls. So beautiful – totally awesome! Photos totally don’t do it justice, and can’t show the sound of it or the mist that makes it feel like it’s raining! We went down one path (in like rainforest, because it is so wet with the mist) and ended up wading across a section of river to continue along! The trek back up was tough – phew!
We went across a bridge called the Knife-edge which was really near the falls, and got SOAKED. Perhaps the guys hiring ponchos had an idea…! It was really funny though, and we soon dried off!
We went just upstream of the falls, which was really beautiful. This side is all dry and dusty though, because it doesn’t have the mist to make it lush.
Friday was gorge-swinging day!! Very big, beautiful gorge right on the Zimbabwean border. Jack Osbourne and Elijah Wood came to this place for their Adrenaline Junkie show. We started with abseiling, then trekking back up the steep gorge (we did this 6 times by the end of the day…urgh). We then did ‘the flying fox’, which is a zip-wire over the gorge and you are attached by your harness on your back. You then run and leap off the cliff and the harness catches you and you zoom across horizontally. This was really cool because you felt like you were flying, and you just looked down over the gorge. On one time doing the flying fox, I somehow managed to stack it off the cliff – one of Caroline’s absolutely favourite moments of the whole of our travels…but that’s a story for in person!
We then moved on to the actual gorge swing. Here you are attached to a big rope, step off the edge of a cliff, fall 53 metres in 3.5 seconds, then swing across, before being lowered fully down to the ground. Scary as! You can hear my petrified screams, like I’m being tortured, on the video on facebook (watch from about 30 secs in to see me jump). Caroline and I then went on to do a tandem swing (rolling off backwards), then a backwards step each (the scariest) and another forward one, before we had cuts and bruises from the harness and couldn’t face the hike up the gorge any more times!
Man we ached on Saturday! I don’t think our bodies are made for jumping off cliffs (my medical education is evidently money well spent…) We spent the morning wandering through the local craft market, buying a few bits. I bought some Zimbabwean money – 20 billion dollar note, 50 trillion dollars and 100 trillion dollars. I gave these to my dad when I got home. Don’t say I never give you anything dad!
In the evening we went on a sunset river cruise on the Zambezi river. We bumped into the 2 guys from the wine tour, who had made it to Zambia driving up! Had nibbles and dinner and wine and saw hippos. Beautiful sunset.
On Sunday we went to a local church. I think we were the only white people there. The sermon was pretty long, and the rickety bench we were on wasn’t quite comfortable, but it was cool to go. In the afternoon Caroline and I had massages at the hostel salon! I’ve never had a massage before, so it was cool. I was only ticklish on a few bits on my feet and back. We ordered in pizza for dinner, having run out of food and failing to realise that shops are shut on Sundays!
In sad news, my amazing £4 Argos watch is dying a little bit! It seems to decide to have a little rest for about 15minutes now and again. I still maintain it was a great buy though! haha
On Monday we were planning on going to Zimbabwe for the day. We did go in the end, but first had a bit of drama…in the morning Caroline was randomly looking at her passport rather miraculously … ‘err, Lydia…my passport says the 27th June…’ (It was by now the 29th). Checking my passport too, we discovered that the guy at the airport had simply invented a date for our visas to expire…meaning we had by this point been in the country illegally for 2 days! Imagining Zambian prison cells and praying like mad, we sped off to Immigration – a shabby building, with no signs or anything. Down the end of dodgy corridors we came to a little office. Preparing for a fight and thinking we might need to cry our way out, we explained our story….and the guy just sorted it out! God just sorted it out man. We honestly breezed through Immigration, were out within 10minutes, and just couldn’t stop laughing at what had just happened! We even made it back to the hostel in time to get the shuttle bus to the Falls! We went across to Zimbabwe, saw the Falls from that side, and walked into the town. I managed to ask directions from a guy wearing a t-shirt clearly explaining that he is deaf and dumb…smooth. The traders were really really pushy, which got annoying. We actually had to run away from one guy who just wouldn’t leave us alone!
On Tuesday we began our journey home! It didn’t really feel like it – just felt like we were setting off to somewhere else on our travels! We set off to the airport in Zambia at about 10.30am UK time, and didn’t get home til about 10pm on Wednesday! Every single one of our flights was delayed, which didn’t matter too much when we had 5 or 6 hour waits at the next airport, but did make a difference when it was our last flight heading to London! This flight was from Qatar (a VERY hot country) at about midday. We got onto the plane a bit early, but the air con doesn’t work until the plane is moving, so we just had the little air blower things. So it was pretty warm. By pretty warm, I mean it was 41 degrees outside – so hot that the plane’s computer wouldn’t work. So we had to sit for 2 hours, melting on the plane, because it was too hot to work! Not fun, and we learnt not to believe the very occasional announcements, promising we would leave in 10minutes!
Finally in London, it was a further hour until the plane parked, we got through passport control and got our bags! Then a tube journey across London, and then HOME! Crazy. Very strange.
Now to write up the research…
Saturday 4 July 2009
Friday 19 June 2009
Last night i ate half a zoo!
So our Cape Point peninsula tour was really good. We got driven round the coast around Cape Town, including a boat trip to see some seals at one place. We then went to see the penguin colony at Boulder's Beach! They are really funny, especially when they run.
We drove on to the Cape of Good Hope National Park, where we picnic'd then went for a cycle ride along the coast for about 7km. Then (at the most South Westerly point of Africa) we hiked up a coastal path. Saw some ostriches roaming about, and some beautiful views.
Back in town, we moved hostels. The one we've been at was really nice, but we fancied a change of scene rather than stay in the same place for 2weeks. In the evening we went out to a pub with a couple of people from the hostel, which was fun. We think a Public Safety guy was trying to sell us drugs at one point though!!
Yesterday we went to a museum about the World's first heart transplant that happened here in Cape Town in the 60's. It was quite interesting, and cool to see the actual place it happened (and the actual hearts, preserved), but it was a slightly weird museum overall!
Yesterday evening though, we had the best meal ever! We went to a place called Mama Africa, which is set out all traditionally and all the guidebooks rave about it, so we'd been looking forward to going there. We were initially a little shocked at the 195 Rand pricetag, before realising that is only about 15 pounds - we've just been used to the cheap prices here! Still, 15 pounds for a once-in-a-lifetime meal is pretty good! We both had the wild game mixed grill. This is it:
This included crocodile, springbok, kudu, ostrich and game sausage, plus bean curd stuff and pap. It was sooooo good!! My favourites were ostrich and springbok! There was a marimba band playing at the restaurant too, so it was just an amazing night!
Today we went to Robben Island on the ferry. It has a long history as a place of banishment and confinement - by the Dutch, English and South Africans. Of course it's most famous prisoner is Nelson Mandela (and we saw his confinement cell), but it has also has history as a leper colony and place for confining the mentally ill. We had a coach tour around the island, then a tour around the prison by a guy who was actually a political prisoner there for 5 years, having been arrested in the student uprisings in '76.
Love to everyone! xx
We drove on to the Cape of Good Hope National Park, where we picnic'd then went for a cycle ride along the coast for about 7km. Then (at the most South Westerly point of Africa) we hiked up a coastal path. Saw some ostriches roaming about, and some beautiful views.
Back in town, we moved hostels. The one we've been at was really nice, but we fancied a change of scene rather than stay in the same place for 2weeks. In the evening we went out to a pub with a couple of people from the hostel, which was fun. We think a Public Safety guy was trying to sell us drugs at one point though!!
Yesterday we went to a museum about the World's first heart transplant that happened here in Cape Town in the 60's. It was quite interesting, and cool to see the actual place it happened (and the actual hearts, preserved), but it was a slightly weird museum overall!
Yesterday evening though, we had the best meal ever! We went to a place called Mama Africa, which is set out all traditionally and all the guidebooks rave about it, so we'd been looking forward to going there. We were initially a little shocked at the 195 Rand pricetag, before realising that is only about 15 pounds - we've just been used to the cheap prices here! Still, 15 pounds for a once-in-a-lifetime meal is pretty good! We both had the wild game mixed grill. This is it:
This included crocodile, springbok, kudu, ostrich and game sausage, plus bean curd stuff and pap. It was sooooo good!! My favourites were ostrich and springbok! There was a marimba band playing at the restaurant too, so it was just an amazing night!
Today we went to Robben Island on the ferry. It has a long history as a place of banishment and confinement - by the Dutch, English and South Africans. Of course it's most famous prisoner is Nelson Mandela (and we saw his confinement cell), but it has also has history as a leper colony and place for confining the mentally ill. We had a coach tour around the island, then a tour around the prison by a guy who was actually a political prisoner there for 5 years, having been arrested in the student uprisings in '76.
Love to everyone! xx
Tuesday 16 June 2009
Lyd's latest
Ok, last couple of days...
On Sunday we went to a methodist church around the corner - a traditional service with organ etc, so it was different to what Caroline and I are used to, but people were very friendly, and the preach was interesting - looking at Biblical examples and principals of political power. Hardly anything is open on a Sunday here we discovered, so we ended up going to a Jewish museum (going through a security check to get in, including bag search and scanner!). First synagogue in South Africa, various artefacts, and interesting info about Jews emigrating here from Lithuania. We then went to a Holocaust memorial centre next door.
Went to go to the cash machine by the Supermarket in the Shopping Centre, which was a strange experience, as everything except the cash machine was shut - even the escalators were turned off!
Got a world phonecard, so I phoned home in the evening on the payphone in the hostel - spoke to my mummy and daddy :)
Yesterday we had our wine tour! Group of 7 of us - us, 2 guys from Texas from our hostel who are now driving up to Zambia through Botswana and Namibia, 2 teachers from Canada, a Swedish guy who works with drug addicted youths, and a Spaniard who apparently works with matador bulls! Drove through Cape Town with a local band playing in the bus (well, not actually playing in the bus...you know what i mean!), and went to 4 different vineyards, learning about wine making, tasting lots of different wines and champagnes, eating some (lots of) amazing cheese and having a nice lunch at a restaurant in a valley. Felt very much on holiday!
Here are a couple of vineyard shots:
Today we went to the South African National Museum, which turned out to be basically a natural history museum! There were some interesting things about traditional tribes though. After lunch we went to the castle here - oldest building in Cape Town (1600s ish) which is Dutch, and had some rooms set out from various century styles. We had coffee and cheesecake under the colonade bit, with Table Mountain in the background. Very nice. We then went to the District Six museum, which is about a district that was segregated under apartheid, and then people were forcibly removed from there. Interesting.
Tomorrow we go on a tour to Cape Point, which should be good!
Been away 5 weeks now!
Love to everyone.
On Sunday we went to a methodist church around the corner - a traditional service with organ etc, so it was different to what Caroline and I are used to, but people were very friendly, and the preach was interesting - looking at Biblical examples and principals of political power. Hardly anything is open on a Sunday here we discovered, so we ended up going to a Jewish museum (going through a security check to get in, including bag search and scanner!). First synagogue in South Africa, various artefacts, and interesting info about Jews emigrating here from Lithuania. We then went to a Holocaust memorial centre next door.
Went to go to the cash machine by the Supermarket in the Shopping Centre, which was a strange experience, as everything except the cash machine was shut - even the escalators were turned off!
Got a world phonecard, so I phoned home in the evening on the payphone in the hostel - spoke to my mummy and daddy :)
Yesterday we had our wine tour! Group of 7 of us - us, 2 guys from Texas from our hostel who are now driving up to Zambia through Botswana and Namibia, 2 teachers from Canada, a Swedish guy who works with drug addicted youths, and a Spaniard who apparently works with matador bulls! Drove through Cape Town with a local band playing in the bus (well, not actually playing in the bus...you know what i mean!), and went to 4 different vineyards, learning about wine making, tasting lots of different wines and champagnes, eating some (lots of) amazing cheese and having a nice lunch at a restaurant in a valley. Felt very much on holiday!
Here are a couple of vineyard shots:
Today we went to the South African National Museum, which turned out to be basically a natural history museum! There were some interesting things about traditional tribes though. After lunch we went to the castle here - oldest building in Cape Town (1600s ish) which is Dutch, and had some rooms set out from various century styles. We had coffee and cheesecake under the colonade bit, with Table Mountain in the background. Very nice. We then went to the District Six museum, which is about a district that was segregated under apartheid, and then people were forcibly removed from there. Interesting.
Tomorrow we go on a tour to Cape Point, which should be good!
Been away 5 weeks now!
Love to everyone.
Saturday 13 June 2009
Cape Town
We are having a lovely time in Cape Town. Up until today it has been absolutely beautiful weather, despite the BBC's predictions otherwise! On Thursday we went to St George's Cathedral - the oldest cathedral in Southern Africa, and where Desmond Tutu was bishop. From there we walked along Government Lane, with botanical gardens on one side, and important buildings (like presidential residence) on the other, with Table Mountain in the background. Along there we went to the South African National Gallery (5 Rand entrance - about 40p!). It was so sunny when we came out that we decided to take the opportunity to do Table Mountain - so many people told us to grab the chance if we got a nice day. So we got a taxi (a truly hilariously retro car!) to the cable car. The views from all around the top were beautiful, especially on one side where cloud hung around a mountain top. We had tea and cake at the cafe at the top :). Back at the hostel, we went for a wander, including some cool little shops and a bead shop where I got some nice necklace beads. Our hostel has a balcony overlooking the street, so we sat there, threaded beads, wrote our journals, then made dinner.
Yesterday it was another beautiful day, so we walked down to the V & A Waterfront (we thought there might have been a major historical miscommunication when we found that everything was Victoria and Alfred, but it turns out that Alfred was one of Victoria and Albert's sons, and was involved in the harbour here!) We wandered around the harbour and some shops, and went to a small Maritime museum. Really enjoyed some music groups that were playing around there - marimba and steel pans, plus sunshine really make you feel on holiday!! We bought tickets for going to Robben Island next week, and went to an amazing pancake place for lunch (with entertainment on the street outside, which was really funny).
The hostel is very busy at the moment, as lots of people have come for the Lions rugby tour (we saw their tour bus outside a posh hotel as we walked to the waterfront yesterday!). In fact, Caroline and I have just been watching the match (Western Province - Cape Town, vs. British and Irish Lions)on tv in an Irish pub along the road. We won (just). I'm sure there will be lots of celebrations in the hostel tonight!
We have booked lots of exciting things for the coming week in Cape Town - we are going on a wine tour on Monday and a tour to Cape Point on Wed. Going to Robben Island on Friday, and we have already chosen our museums etc for the days in between!
Will put up a few photos soon, but that's all for now folks!
Love to everyone xxxxx
Yesterday it was another beautiful day, so we walked down to the V & A Waterfront (we thought there might have been a major historical miscommunication when we found that everything was Victoria and Alfred, but it turns out that Alfred was one of Victoria and Albert's sons, and was involved in the harbour here!) We wandered around the harbour and some shops, and went to a small Maritime museum. Really enjoyed some music groups that were playing around there - marimba and steel pans, plus sunshine really make you feel on holiday!! We bought tickets for going to Robben Island next week, and went to an amazing pancake place for lunch (with entertainment on the street outside, which was really funny).
The hostel is very busy at the moment, as lots of people have come for the Lions rugby tour (we saw their tour bus outside a posh hotel as we walked to the waterfront yesterday!). In fact, Caroline and I have just been watching the match (Western Province - Cape Town, vs. British and Irish Lions)on tv in an Irish pub along the road. We won (just). I'm sure there will be lots of celebrations in the hostel tonight!
We have booked lots of exciting things for the coming week in Cape Town - we are going on a wine tour on Monday and a tour to Cape Point on Wed. Going to Robben Island on Friday, and we have already chosen our museums etc for the days in between!
Will put up a few photos soon, but that's all for now folks!
Love to everyone xxxxx
Wednesday 10 June 2009
hooray for internet cafes!
hello! sorry for being so long in giving an update - hopefully you will forgive me though if/when i manage to upload photos into this entry :)
So it has been a busy time since you last heard from me! Our 2 day adventure tour was great! It was us, plus 2 canadian girls, who have been in Tanzania for 4months teaching human rights for people with AIDS, or something. Our guide (Alfred!) picked us up from Durban and we drove about 3hours to a place in the mountains called Underberg. We stayed at a horse ranch here, and in the morning went horseriding from there up some mountains. It was beautiful, and totally silent apart from the horses, and the occasional squeal as our horses got ideas of their own!
this is my horse, and a bit of an idea of the scenery:
We had lunch at a restaurant, then drove into the National Park area and went on a short hike. Again, very beautiful, and we went into a small cave behind a waterfall to look at some bushman paintings. Apparently they're really old and impressive and important, but to be honest they just looked like some orange blobs to me!
The next day we went for a 4x4 drive (driver's name: Ernest!) up the Suni Pass. Absolutely amazing mountain views the whole time! Really really amazing. Photos don't do it justice - it was so awesome!
The road was windy windy all up the mountain, and right on the edge, and very rocky and bumpy (Ernest called it the 'African massage'). Occasionally spotted baboons or antelope-type things. We went through the SA border control, and then had 8km of no-man's-land before the Lesotho border! Lesotho is right at the top of the Suni Pass, and we went to a village there, and into a lady's traditional house to learn a bit about the Basotho culture. We also tried some home-brewed beer (awful) and fresh-baked bread (amazing).
Then we went to the highest pub in Africa (2874m) for lunch, and a local Lesotho beer! Incredible views of the valley we had just climbed.
Back down the pass we headed back towards Durban, although Caroline and I actually got dropped in a place called Hillcrest, where we met David and Jean (and their 10month old grandson Noah). They are a couple that Caroline's friend stayed with when he was in South Africa. They are white Rhodesian, David was in the Pretoria SAS, Jean was a nurse, and they now run a Christian kid's outdoor activity camp charity, as well as a special needs school. They have their youngest daughter (19) still at home, and currently 2 guys from the UK staying at their house too. We stayed with them Sat and Sunday night, and just had a lovely relaxing couple of days, chilling out, eating good food, and chatting about our research, nursing stories, and South African politics, wars and history!
On Monday we got a lift to Durban with Meg (the daughter) who had finished her exams (occupational therapy) and was going into Durban with her friends to celebrate. We went to a sushi restaurant with them and had a nice meal, before going to our backpackers.
Yesterday we got the local bus to an Indian market (every single person we asked directions from or anything told us to watch our bags, so we were a bit scared!) and had a nice time wandering around the stalls there, buying a couple of bits. We then were walking along the street and i decided to get an icecream. An elderly Indian couple were running the stand, and asked where we were from. When we said England, they said their niece is a doctor there. When they discovered that's what we're going to be doing, they proceeded to give Caroline an icecream for free! (even though she didn't want one!) We then asked directions from them to a museum we were heading to and the nice icecream man walked us part of the way there, chatting away! We eventually found the museum - an apartheid museum looking at social history of Durban and some ANC activist people etc. Interesting. After lunch we walked to the beach and walked along, before getting a taxi back and making dinner.
Today we flew to Cape Town (cheaper than getting the bus!). Everyone has been telling us how cold it would be here, but it's actually really hot today! We found our backpackers and went exploring around the area - it's very central, and Cape Town seems safer than Durban. We found a cool sidestreet with little market stalls, and we had lunch. Wandered around some souvenir markets, which was nice. We soon got annoyed with all the sellers saying 'hello ladies!', 'look at this!', 'i'll give you special price!' though! Found a food shop to get some bits, then headed to the internet cafe!
In other news, I have a cold. I know - who goes to Africa and gets a cold?!
We have 2 weeks here in Cape Town - going to do things like Table Mountain and Robben Island etc, then we are flying to Zambia for about 5 days before we come home.
I'll hopefully do another update sooner than this past time!
So it has been a busy time since you last heard from me! Our 2 day adventure tour was great! It was us, plus 2 canadian girls, who have been in Tanzania for 4months teaching human rights for people with AIDS, or something. Our guide (Alfred!) picked us up from Durban and we drove about 3hours to a place in the mountains called Underberg. We stayed at a horse ranch here, and in the morning went horseriding from there up some mountains. It was beautiful, and totally silent apart from the horses, and the occasional squeal as our horses got ideas of their own!
this is my horse, and a bit of an idea of the scenery:
We had lunch at a restaurant, then drove into the National Park area and went on a short hike. Again, very beautiful, and we went into a small cave behind a waterfall to look at some bushman paintings. Apparently they're really old and impressive and important, but to be honest they just looked like some orange blobs to me!
The next day we went for a 4x4 drive (driver's name: Ernest!) up the Suni Pass. Absolutely amazing mountain views the whole time! Really really amazing. Photos don't do it justice - it was so awesome!
The road was windy windy all up the mountain, and right on the edge, and very rocky and bumpy (Ernest called it the 'African massage'). Occasionally spotted baboons or antelope-type things. We went through the SA border control, and then had 8km of no-man's-land before the Lesotho border! Lesotho is right at the top of the Suni Pass, and we went to a village there, and into a lady's traditional house to learn a bit about the Basotho culture. We also tried some home-brewed beer (awful) and fresh-baked bread (amazing).
Then we went to the highest pub in Africa (2874m) for lunch, and a local Lesotho beer! Incredible views of the valley we had just climbed.
Back down the pass we headed back towards Durban, although Caroline and I actually got dropped in a place called Hillcrest, where we met David and Jean (and their 10month old grandson Noah). They are a couple that Caroline's friend stayed with when he was in South Africa. They are white Rhodesian, David was in the Pretoria SAS, Jean was a nurse, and they now run a Christian kid's outdoor activity camp charity, as well as a special needs school. They have their youngest daughter (19) still at home, and currently 2 guys from the UK staying at their house too. We stayed with them Sat and Sunday night, and just had a lovely relaxing couple of days, chilling out, eating good food, and chatting about our research, nursing stories, and South African politics, wars and history!
On Monday we got a lift to Durban with Meg (the daughter) who had finished her exams (occupational therapy) and was going into Durban with her friends to celebrate. We went to a sushi restaurant with them and had a nice meal, before going to our backpackers.
Yesterday we got the local bus to an Indian market (every single person we asked directions from or anything told us to watch our bags, so we were a bit scared!) and had a nice time wandering around the stalls there, buying a couple of bits. We then were walking along the street and i decided to get an icecream. An elderly Indian couple were running the stand, and asked where we were from. When we said England, they said their niece is a doctor there. When they discovered that's what we're going to be doing, they proceeded to give Caroline an icecream for free! (even though she didn't want one!) We then asked directions from them to a museum we were heading to and the nice icecream man walked us part of the way there, chatting away! We eventually found the museum - an apartheid museum looking at social history of Durban and some ANC activist people etc. Interesting. After lunch we walked to the beach and walked along, before getting a taxi back and making dinner.
Today we flew to Cape Town (cheaper than getting the bus!). Everyone has been telling us how cold it would be here, but it's actually really hot today! We found our backpackers and went exploring around the area - it's very central, and Cape Town seems safer than Durban. We found a cool sidestreet with little market stalls, and we had lunch. Wandered around some souvenir markets, which was nice. We soon got annoyed with all the sellers saying 'hello ladies!', 'look at this!', 'i'll give you special price!' though! Found a food shop to get some bits, then headed to the internet cafe!
In other news, I have a cold. I know - who goes to Africa and gets a cold?!
We have 2 weeks here in Cape Town - going to do things like Table Mountain and Robben Island etc, then we are flying to Zambia for about 5 days before we come home.
I'll hopefully do another update sooner than this past time!
Thursday 4 June 2009
A quick update
So Sunday was a nice day with Church and then a very yummy braai (BBQ) at Benson and Beatrice's house.
On Monday I was interviewing some people at another government social welfare department, which all went well. One lady started talking to me about the royal family after our interview - apparently people here love them! On Monday I also discovered an amazing chocolate here - it's caramel biscotti chocolate and it is a.ma.zing! I also introduced Rob and Debbie to the wonderful world of facebook!
Tuesday was my last day at CCP, so I took along some little cakes I made (with help from the kids). Went out for dinner with the family in the evening, to a place called Spurs, where I had some very tasty fajitas. Back at the house I rang home on Skype, and had a nice surprise of talking with Lizzy, who I didn't realise was at home at the moment!
On Wed I got a lift to Durban with Rob and Debbie, who were travelling down for a course on PTSD. It was strange to be leaving PMB and the house and family. They have been so lovely to me :)
Met up with Caroline and did lots of travelling sorting - we now have flights booked to Cape Town for a couple of weeks on Wednesday, and flights to and from Zambia for the end of our trip! Then we had the dramatic incident - Caroline tripped up the stairs and hit her knee. Thought it must've just bruised and grazed, but actually it was quite a gash. We took one look at it and realised it needed stitches! So we got someone from YFC to take us to the hospital. Very nice private hospital - we got seen and sorted very quickly (much quicker than in UK in fact!). All stitched and bandaged up, we paid up (will claim back on insurance) and went for a meal at a nice Mediterranean place, where we both had smoked salmon and cottage cheese salad - yumyum. Then we went to the Church that Caroline has been going to here for a 'Grill a Christian' questions event. Caroline has made really good friends with people there and they are really lovely. We went to a coffee place afterwards and just had a really nice time hanging out.
Today we did some more travel sorting - booking some hostels. Then we went to Umhlanga Rocks - just some nice rocks on a bit of beach. It was quite cloudy, but the sea was beautiful and we had some fun clambering on the rocks (Caroline a bit limited in her clambering by not being allowed to bend her knee fully in case she rips the stitches). Then we went to Gateway (the shopping mall) to buy some warmer clothes. It is winter here at the moment, and although I've been fine in PMB, and Durban is really warm, it is colder in Cape Town and the mountains in Lesotho, so we needed to get some things we hadn't quite come prepared for. So we went to 'Mr Price'! haha. It's like primark or matalan or something in UK.
Went to the Mugg and Bean coffee shop again, where I had a smoothie and we got 'flapjacks' which are actually not flapjacks at all - they're pancakes! We discovered this when one of the guys got them last night, and we tried to explain to our South African friends what flapjack is in England! They found it pretty funny!
Tomorrow we have a veeery early start, getting picked up at 5.15 to go on a 2 day adventure tour! We are going to the Drakensburg Mountains, hiking and pony-trekking into the mountains of Lesotho (although a slightly easier hike due to Caroline's knee!) and apparently going to the highest pub in Africa! We're staying overnight at a place at the foothills, and going on a 4x4 drive the following day. Should be good! Will let you know how it goes in my next update!
Thanks for messages :) Love to everyone xx
On Monday I was interviewing some people at another government social welfare department, which all went well. One lady started talking to me about the royal family after our interview - apparently people here love them! On Monday I also discovered an amazing chocolate here - it's caramel biscotti chocolate and it is a.ma.zing! I also introduced Rob and Debbie to the wonderful world of facebook!
Tuesday was my last day at CCP, so I took along some little cakes I made (with help from the kids). Went out for dinner with the family in the evening, to a place called Spurs, where I had some very tasty fajitas. Back at the house I rang home on Skype, and had a nice surprise of talking with Lizzy, who I didn't realise was at home at the moment!
On Wed I got a lift to Durban with Rob and Debbie, who were travelling down for a course on PTSD. It was strange to be leaving PMB and the house and family. They have been so lovely to me :)
Met up with Caroline and did lots of travelling sorting - we now have flights booked to Cape Town for a couple of weeks on Wednesday, and flights to and from Zambia for the end of our trip! Then we had the dramatic incident - Caroline tripped up the stairs and hit her knee. Thought it must've just bruised and grazed, but actually it was quite a gash. We took one look at it and realised it needed stitches! So we got someone from YFC to take us to the hospital. Very nice private hospital - we got seen and sorted very quickly (much quicker than in UK in fact!). All stitched and bandaged up, we paid up (will claim back on insurance) and went for a meal at a nice Mediterranean place, where we both had smoked salmon and cottage cheese salad - yumyum. Then we went to the Church that Caroline has been going to here for a 'Grill a Christian' questions event. Caroline has made really good friends with people there and they are really lovely. We went to a coffee place afterwards and just had a really nice time hanging out.
Today we did some more travel sorting - booking some hostels. Then we went to Umhlanga Rocks - just some nice rocks on a bit of beach. It was quite cloudy, but the sea was beautiful and we had some fun clambering on the rocks (Caroline a bit limited in her clambering by not being allowed to bend her knee fully in case she rips the stitches). Then we went to Gateway (the shopping mall) to buy some warmer clothes. It is winter here at the moment, and although I've been fine in PMB, and Durban is really warm, it is colder in Cape Town and the mountains in Lesotho, so we needed to get some things we hadn't quite come prepared for. So we went to 'Mr Price'! haha. It's like primark or matalan or something in UK.
Went to the Mugg and Bean coffee shop again, where I had a smoothie and we got 'flapjacks' which are actually not flapjacks at all - they're pancakes! We discovered this when one of the guys got them last night, and we tried to explain to our South African friends what flapjack is in England! They found it pretty funny!
Tomorrow we have a veeery early start, getting picked up at 5.15 to go on a 2 day adventure tour! We are going to the Drakensburg Mountains, hiking and pony-trekking into the mountains of Lesotho (although a slightly easier hike due to Caroline's knee!) and apparently going to the highest pub in Africa! We're staying overnight at a place at the foothills, and going on a 4x4 drive the following day. Should be good! Will let you know how it goes in my next update!
Thanks for messages :) Love to everyone xx
Saturday 30 May 2009
last few days
I think I ended my last update talking about the man whose name I can’t say...well, we went to meet him at the time he said, only to find he had gone out for the morning! ‘Welcome to working with government officials in South Africa’ said Debbie! After more phonecalls and another 2 visits to his office, we finally arranged some meetings through him.
Rob drove me around a number of settlements on Wednesday. I think 2 things really stuck with me from that. One was at the top of a hill, looking down into the valley. We were driving past big houses with swimming pools and security guards and stuff, then literally 10secs drive down the road was a mass of shack houses. It is really striking how juxtaposed wealth and poverty are here. It somehow makes it harder to deal with, which I guess makes me feel a bit uncomfortable that I am not so affected until it is mapped out in front of me so clearly.
At the top of another hill, up some seriously bad roads, I realised we had come to a graveyard. Rows and rows and rows of little wooden crosses and mounds of earth, as far as you could see, and further still. This is the reality of AIDS here, and up until a few years ago, when ARVs came in, Rob and Debbie (and people at CCP) were just going into house after house of dying people day after day. When it rains, lots of the graves get washed away. And Rob says it isn’t uncommon to be digging a grave and uncover other body remains.
On Thursday, I went into a local government hospital here. There is a no guns sign on the gate, and you have to go through security checks on the way in and out (mainly so people don’t steal from the hospital). The guy I went with explained to me that children in hospital hardly get any visitors – most get none, even if they’re in hospital for months. They are either orphans, or their parents can’t afford to come often/at all, or their parents just don’t care. Add to that, there is no education in hospitals, and no toys or anything on wards (staff would just steal them).
So the little organisation I was visiting, plays with the kids and does craft and basic education stuff, and just shows them love. They go into wards in the mornings for kids who are immobile, and they have a little room where they take the mobile kids in the afternoon. This is seriously the only stimulation at all that these kids get. They have made a little playground area, but when we arrived, it was strewn with rubbish – people had just emptied rubbish bins onto it. Broken glass etc – that just shows how lots of people here value children. Very sad.
We had a time of prayer for the kids, then went to get them from the Paed. Wards. I guess I was expecting this to be hard – even in UK, seeing sick kids isn’t easy to deal with. But to be honest, what I saw broke my heart. Cot after cot of ill kids all alone. One of the ladies I was with was explaining how one child’s mum had died of AIDS, when the kid in the next cot started fitting. It was probably about a minute before a nurse casually wandered over. One cot had a scrap of paper on the end saying ‘No mum. Please feed and care for me’. One little girl had awful sores inside her mouth and was just lying motionless, staring. We said hello, and she just stared, her eyes burning into me. I hesitated as we turned away, only to see a single tear falling from her eye. That sounds kind of dramatic or cheesy or whatever, but that’s what happened and I can’t think how else to describe it or how to describe how that made me feel. One little boy we went to pick up was lying in his own urine. 2 nurses stood literally next to his bed, just chatting, ignoring him. As we were sorting out a dry gown for him, another nurse came over to say he couldn’t go with us as he was just off to theatre. This kid looked so scared – he must’ve only been about 6, and he was being sent off to surgery all alone.
Another little boy we had collected started throwing up bile as we walked back to the room, so had to go back. His little face was so disappointed – not being able to come play today, and having to go back to his ward being all sick.
Had about 20 kids in the end, aged from toddlers in nappies to about 8 or 9 years old. Nearly all are likely to be HIV+. Sang some songs, had an interactive story, and learnt about different animals from some amazing photos, before playing on the playground. I had brought a pack of balloons, which they were dead excited about. The younger ones just clutched them and the older ones had great fun rubbing them on their hair and making them stick to the walls. At this point, one kids’ cannula fell out of his hand, so he was spurting blood onto the floor. I shuffled the other kids away, and was quite relieved that one of the ladies mopped him up instead of me – cut on my hand not quite healed over! Kids were v. excited by my camera too, so that provided more entertainment until they had to go back to their wards, clutching their balloons and chattering away.
Massive respect to the people who are doing that day after day. I honestly admire them so much and am so grateful for what they are doing for these kids.
Yesterday was a pretty quiet day – some more research work at CCP, then a bit of a leaving do for a lovely lady there. After work I went to the shop to get a few food bits, and was rather excited to get a chocolate mousse profiterole dessert thing reduced…however, back at the house, it took me a couple of mouthfuls of thinking ‘this actually isn’t that nice’ before I realised that the mousse stuff was totally off. Eww.
Talked to Em on Skype for a long time in the evening, which was good!
Then today I had a nice relaxing morning while the others were out (Rob off to ‘catch a wave’, and the kids and Debbie at sport matches). Then we went to a school fundraiser day for a bit, which included a bit of a paintball session! (African style – absolute minimum protective gear!), before going to the park for the boys’ football match. Then Debbie, the girls and I went to a thing called ‘Art in the Park’ which was just lots of different artists displaying and selling their work. I enjoyed that - some very talented artists.
Tomorrow will be Church, then going to Benson and Beatrice's house for lunch. Benson and Bea are the Ghanaian couple who met me at the airport, and cofounded CCP with Rob and Debbie. I'm sure their hospitality is going to be great - bring on the yummy food!!
xx
Rob drove me around a number of settlements on Wednesday. I think 2 things really stuck with me from that. One was at the top of a hill, looking down into the valley. We were driving past big houses with swimming pools and security guards and stuff, then literally 10secs drive down the road was a mass of shack houses. It is really striking how juxtaposed wealth and poverty are here. It somehow makes it harder to deal with, which I guess makes me feel a bit uncomfortable that I am not so affected until it is mapped out in front of me so clearly.
At the top of another hill, up some seriously bad roads, I realised we had come to a graveyard. Rows and rows and rows of little wooden crosses and mounds of earth, as far as you could see, and further still. This is the reality of AIDS here, and up until a few years ago, when ARVs came in, Rob and Debbie (and people at CCP) were just going into house after house of dying people day after day. When it rains, lots of the graves get washed away. And Rob says it isn’t uncommon to be digging a grave and uncover other body remains.
On Thursday, I went into a local government hospital here. There is a no guns sign on the gate, and you have to go through security checks on the way in and out (mainly so people don’t steal from the hospital). The guy I went with explained to me that children in hospital hardly get any visitors – most get none, even if they’re in hospital for months. They are either orphans, or their parents can’t afford to come often/at all, or their parents just don’t care. Add to that, there is no education in hospitals, and no toys or anything on wards (staff would just steal them).
So the little organisation I was visiting, plays with the kids and does craft and basic education stuff, and just shows them love. They go into wards in the mornings for kids who are immobile, and they have a little room where they take the mobile kids in the afternoon. This is seriously the only stimulation at all that these kids get. They have made a little playground area, but when we arrived, it was strewn with rubbish – people had just emptied rubbish bins onto it. Broken glass etc – that just shows how lots of people here value children. Very sad.
We had a time of prayer for the kids, then went to get them from the Paed. Wards. I guess I was expecting this to be hard – even in UK, seeing sick kids isn’t easy to deal with. But to be honest, what I saw broke my heart. Cot after cot of ill kids all alone. One of the ladies I was with was explaining how one child’s mum had died of AIDS, when the kid in the next cot started fitting. It was probably about a minute before a nurse casually wandered over. One cot had a scrap of paper on the end saying ‘No mum. Please feed and care for me’. One little girl had awful sores inside her mouth and was just lying motionless, staring. We said hello, and she just stared, her eyes burning into me. I hesitated as we turned away, only to see a single tear falling from her eye. That sounds kind of dramatic or cheesy or whatever, but that’s what happened and I can’t think how else to describe it or how to describe how that made me feel. One little boy we went to pick up was lying in his own urine. 2 nurses stood literally next to his bed, just chatting, ignoring him. As we were sorting out a dry gown for him, another nurse came over to say he couldn’t go with us as he was just off to theatre. This kid looked so scared – he must’ve only been about 6, and he was being sent off to surgery all alone.
Another little boy we had collected started throwing up bile as we walked back to the room, so had to go back. His little face was so disappointed – not being able to come play today, and having to go back to his ward being all sick.
Had about 20 kids in the end, aged from toddlers in nappies to about 8 or 9 years old. Nearly all are likely to be HIV+. Sang some songs, had an interactive story, and learnt about different animals from some amazing photos, before playing on the playground. I had brought a pack of balloons, which they were dead excited about. The younger ones just clutched them and the older ones had great fun rubbing them on their hair and making them stick to the walls. At this point, one kids’ cannula fell out of his hand, so he was spurting blood onto the floor. I shuffled the other kids away, and was quite relieved that one of the ladies mopped him up instead of me – cut on my hand not quite healed over! Kids were v. excited by my camera too, so that provided more entertainment until they had to go back to their wards, clutching their balloons and chattering away.
Massive respect to the people who are doing that day after day. I honestly admire them so much and am so grateful for what they are doing for these kids.
Yesterday was a pretty quiet day – some more research work at CCP, then a bit of a leaving do for a lovely lady there. After work I went to the shop to get a few food bits, and was rather excited to get a chocolate mousse profiterole dessert thing reduced…however, back at the house, it took me a couple of mouthfuls of thinking ‘this actually isn’t that nice’ before I realised that the mousse stuff was totally off. Eww.
Talked to Em on Skype for a long time in the evening, which was good!
Then today I had a nice relaxing morning while the others were out (Rob off to ‘catch a wave’, and the kids and Debbie at sport matches). Then we went to a school fundraiser day for a bit, which included a bit of a paintball session! (African style – absolute minimum protective gear!), before going to the park for the boys’ football match. Then Debbie, the girls and I went to a thing called ‘Art in the Park’ which was just lots of different artists displaying and selling their work. I enjoyed that - some very talented artists.
Tomorrow will be Church, then going to Benson and Beatrice's house for lunch. Benson and Bea are the Ghanaian couple who met me at the airport, and cofounded CCP with Rob and Debbie. I'm sure their hospitality is going to be great - bring on the yummy food!!
xx
Tuesday 26 May 2009
Mammoth post
So cooking for the family went fine on Friday. People going for 2nds and 3rds has got to be a good sign, and everyone is still alive! I managed to slice my hand open a bit on a tin lid though. The cut isn’t big, but it’s deep and gaping quite a bit. Probably could’ve done with a few stitches, but we’ve been patching it up with steri-strips and plasters and iodine! It’s being a bit reluctant to close up and start healing, and I keep pressing it on things by mistake which hurts.
On Sat, I had a relaxing start to the day, reading in bed with cups of tea and breakfast. Then I went to pick lemons with the 2 girls, from a tree next door, and we made lemonade! Rob and Debbie and the boys were at soccer matches, so us girls made cheesecake. I think I would make a rather good 50’s housewife, don’t you think?!
I was pretty tired – the kids are lovely, but have much more energy than old lady me!
On Sunday we got up at 5am (*pause for impressedness*) to see off the runners on the Comrades marathon to Durban (they ran past the top of the road). I can’t believe how many people enter in for it. All mental in my opinion!
On Sat, I had a relaxing start to the day, reading in bed with cups of tea and breakfast. Then I went to pick lemons with the 2 girls, from a tree next door, and we made lemonade! Rob and Debbie and the boys were at soccer matches, so us girls made cheesecake. I think I would make a rather good 50’s housewife, don’t you think?!
I was pretty tired – the kids are lovely, but have much more energy than old lady me!
On Sunday we got up at 5am (*pause for impressedness*) to see off the runners on the Comrades marathon to Durban (they ran past the top of the road). I can’t believe how many people enter in for it. All mental in my opinion!
Got back as it was getting light and I grabbed a few hours sleep before Church. Went out for lunch at a nice place called ‘MacDonalds’…funnily enough, opposite an actual McDonalds haha! Then we went to the Royal Show which is on all this week. Similar to the Yorkshire Show or something, but with African twists, such as runaway cows! We’d only been in the place about 5minutes when I had to grab Caleb (5) and jump out the way of a massive bull that was running away from its handler! We saw a totally awesome FMX display – 3 guys on motorbikes, driving up ramps and doing stunts in the air. In one of the stunts they got off the bike and fully let go, before grabbing it again and landing! This photo gives a bit of an idea of how high they were!
We went around the stalls and stuff a bit, then went to the funfair bit. Rob and Debbie both get sick on rides, so I had to go on the rides with the kids – what a shame! Hehe. Great fun.
The Comrades runners only get a medal if they finish in under 12hours (got it wrong in previous post). The last guy to get through (11hrs, 59 mins, 58secs!) was interviewed on tv and gave his amazing story. 5 years ago he was addicted to heroin, but became a Christian, God healed his addiction and he got into running. It was his 1st Comrades marathon, but he said he prayed the whole time he was running and knew that God enabled him to finish as the last person in time so that he could share his testimony. I found it so amazing that even after such an incredible human feat, he still had his focus on God, not himself. Happy man.
Yesterday we had staff devotions, as every morning. I then had to phone a guy I’m meeting with later in the week…his name has Zulu clicks in it, so me trying to say his name was pretty amusing! Then I went out to the community with Rob to see a lady I am going to interview later in the week. The township we went to is pretty rough and the community is quite displaced still from a big flood there years ago. Houses very basic, and lots of shack-type houses. Their school got burnt down the other week, either by teachers or pupils…both had stuff they were unhappy about. So that’s a bit of scene-setting! The lady we went to see runs a project that CCP partners with and supported her to set up. It’s called a crèche, but not like a crèche that we’d think of. She basically cares for about 30 kids whose parents have either died of AIDS, or are too sick from HIV to care for them. They’re getting a new building with some sponsorship money, but for now they are in 2 tiny ramshackle rooms, with about 5 toys and acouple of handwritten posters on the walls. Some cute toddlers, all intrigued by my skin and hair and trying to chat to me in Zulu! I played with them a bit while Rob chatted with the lady about some stuff, and then we prayed for an older girl in the other room who was very sick. Heartbreaking to be honest. I find it very hard to see stuff like that and not be able to change it. It’s an ongoing thing in me and I’m not sure whether I want to lose it or not! I do feel like I need some time and space to reflect on some stuff I’ve seen/heard/thought about, so I hope I get the chance to do that soon.
Chatted with Rob a bit about the legacies of apartheid in
Back at CCP, I did a bit of work, then headed back to Social Welfare dept. for another interview.
Today Debbie and I went to Greytown – a rural area about an hour’s drive away, to an AIDS NGO there. HIV prevalence in Greytown is about 70-80% (probably due to factors like presence of migrant workers, and lack of HIV education) and unemployment is 70%. Debbie and I chatted with staff there about the situation and all the things they do at the NGO. Then we went out with some community workers in a 4x4, to a town a bit of a drive away. We were soon on a dusty track road, at which point, they told Debbie and I that the town councillor was shot dead on that road yesterday! Apparently this councillor guy had hired gangster hitmen to kill 5 men, so people didn’t like him and hijacked his car, shot him dead, and shot the 15 other people in the vehicle! (killing nearly all of them too). Yikes!
We went down a grassy track to see an old lady who is looking after her 7 grandchildren, all primary school age, after her 4 children died (1 of gunshot wound, 2 of TB [probably HIV+ too, although she says not] and one from an accident with sand or something). She was so so poor. She welcomed us into her shack house though, and apologised that she didn’t have anything for us to sit on. This is her, and one of her grandchildren.
I asked if I could take her picture, which she was happy about, particularly when I showed her the photo!
I talked with her a bit (through one of the staff translating), about her experiences caring for her grandchildren, and HIV issues. Meeting this amazing lady, and finally seeing ‘real
My research ethics continued to go out the window, as I informally interviewed 3 more people about their experiences caring for orphans in their family! 2 more ‘Gogo’(granny) families, and a 21 year old, caring for her younger siblings and her own child.
This is one of the other grannies and some kids she cares for.
We delivered some food parcels, including one to a young boy we picked up from his school and drove to his house at the top of a mountain. He is just 12, is an orphan, and looks after his little brother – a ‘child-headed household’. He was such a beautiful child – he looks much younger than 12, and has a really beautiful face. This is his house:
As you can see, it is a fair size, but it is barely standing, isn't weatherproof, and it isn’t safe, as monkeys can get in. The conditions inside are really bad too.
When we had dropped off the food and been shown his house, he climbed a tree outside to pick some avocados. I found it a really poignant moment, as he did such a child-like act of climbing a tree, knowing his situation.
Back at the NGO, Debbie and I chatted with some staff some more, and I interviewed some home-based care workers, before we headed back to PMB.
I’m v. tired now – a very draining day. I’m really glad I experienced these things though – it’s a big reason that I came here, and even though it’s hard and can be quite upsetting, I think it’s really important and really valuable.
More interviews tomorrow – including the one with the guy whose name I can’t say! Busybusy!
Love to everyone xx
Friday 22 May 2009
Some more news
I thought I'd give a bit of an update on the week...
It has been a good week - I've felt more settled at CCP (the NGO I'm linked with here, for those a bit confused) and have been getting on with my research. I've been interviewing some staff at CCP, and went to the Dept. of Social Welfare yesterday to interview a lady there who is in charge of foster care of children with special needs (HIV is considered a special need). It has been interesting to talk with people about issues around HIV and extended family OVC (orphans and vulnerable children) care. There are so many influencing factors - social status, poverty, financial issues, healthcare access, stigma, gender etc. Going to be lots to write about!
CCP has been busy these last couple of days, rearranging the office spaces and putting in new desks and office dividers (total bargains by Rob earlier in the week, bought from a guy who took him to a dodgy warehouse! haha). One of the things they are organising is for a specific VCT room (voluntary counselling and testing....basically HIV testing) out in the prefab in the yard. Currently people coming to CCP for tests are sort of shoved into a corner in one of the offices...in fact the other day I was working on a computer and had to leave for a while so they could do some HIV tests in that office! Slight inconvenience for me, but crazy to think of the huge, potentially life-changing moment happening in the room. The future VCT room is pretty shabby at the moment, so I've offered to paint it next week. I'm quite excited at that! I helped move the medical equipment and supplies today...including a rather full sharps bin (non-medics: this is the bright yellow plastic tub that you put used needles etc in. It then gets taken away and incinerated). I held it up to point out that it was quite full, and pretty much on the verge of being a hazard, at which point Beatrice said 'ooo, be careful with that'. I was like 'well, yes!' It is a tub full of needles used for HIV tests, in an area with the highest prevalence of HIV in the world! Needle-stick injuries aren't exactly a major source of HIV infection, but it would be an understatement to say that I was being careful!
Next week I am meeting with some other social workers for research interviews, including travelling out to a more rural area, which will be interesting.
Tonight I have offered to cook for the family, which could be interesting! Went to the shop earlier to get ingredients and afew bits and bobs for me. Got some bargains (of course!), including a big tub of fresh pineapple chunks for 2Rand (about 15p)! My excitement was slightly doused by the pineapple opening in the bag on the way home and making quite a bit of stuff sticky! Ah well, tastes good!
I'm enjoying getting to know Rob and Debbie, the couple I'm staying with. Their kids love me (who can blame them, eh? haha), but seem to think I love playing games constantly as much as they do! Rob and Debbie are so cool, and we've had some great chats. They're really open and honest and full of amazing stories.
There is a big marathon happening tomorrow here in KZN (Kwa-zulu-Natal, this province). It is an annual thing, where runners go between Durban and PMB (Pietermaritzburg, here. They alternate which direction each year)...this is a DOUBLE marathon in the heat here! People have to do it in under 9 hours or something mental to get a medal. And I thought the great north run was bad...
Here are a couple of amusing things to share with you:
- jam here comes in a tin! (ok, that's not really funny, but it's kind of odd)
- ghekkos tails fall off when they are scared! (I found this pretty amusing. The cat caught a ghekko the other day, and yes, it's tail did fall off!!)
- i got asked by a guy at CCP last week, in all seriousness, if we have black people in England! I couldn't help laughing!
I'm sure there is lots more to tell, but I can't think what now!
Thanks for all your emails and messages.
Lots of love! xx
It has been a good week - I've felt more settled at CCP (the NGO I'm linked with here, for those a bit confused) and have been getting on with my research. I've been interviewing some staff at CCP, and went to the Dept. of Social Welfare yesterday to interview a lady there who is in charge of foster care of children with special needs (HIV is considered a special need). It has been interesting to talk with people about issues around HIV and extended family OVC (orphans and vulnerable children) care. There are so many influencing factors - social status, poverty, financial issues, healthcare access, stigma, gender etc. Going to be lots to write about!
CCP has been busy these last couple of days, rearranging the office spaces and putting in new desks and office dividers (total bargains by Rob earlier in the week, bought from a guy who took him to a dodgy warehouse! haha). One of the things they are organising is for a specific VCT room (voluntary counselling and testing....basically HIV testing) out in the prefab in the yard. Currently people coming to CCP for tests are sort of shoved into a corner in one of the offices...in fact the other day I was working on a computer and had to leave for a while so they could do some HIV tests in that office! Slight inconvenience for me, but crazy to think of the huge, potentially life-changing moment happening in the room. The future VCT room is pretty shabby at the moment, so I've offered to paint it next week. I'm quite excited at that! I helped move the medical equipment and supplies today...including a rather full sharps bin (non-medics: this is the bright yellow plastic tub that you put used needles etc in. It then gets taken away and incinerated). I held it up to point out that it was quite full, and pretty much on the verge of being a hazard, at which point Beatrice said 'ooo, be careful with that'. I was like 'well, yes!' It is a tub full of needles used for HIV tests, in an area with the highest prevalence of HIV in the world! Needle-stick injuries aren't exactly a major source of HIV infection, but it would be an understatement to say that I was being careful!
Next week I am meeting with some other social workers for research interviews, including travelling out to a more rural area, which will be interesting.
Tonight I have offered to cook for the family, which could be interesting! Went to the shop earlier to get ingredients and afew bits and bobs for me. Got some bargains (of course!), including a big tub of fresh pineapple chunks for 2Rand (about 15p)! My excitement was slightly doused by the pineapple opening in the bag on the way home and making quite a bit of stuff sticky! Ah well, tastes good!
I'm enjoying getting to know Rob and Debbie, the couple I'm staying with. Their kids love me (who can blame them, eh? haha), but seem to think I love playing games constantly as much as they do! Rob and Debbie are so cool, and we've had some great chats. They're really open and honest and full of amazing stories.
There is a big marathon happening tomorrow here in KZN (Kwa-zulu-Natal, this province). It is an annual thing, where runners go between Durban and PMB (Pietermaritzburg, here. They alternate which direction each year)...this is a DOUBLE marathon in the heat here! People have to do it in under 9 hours or something mental to get a medal. And I thought the great north run was bad...
Here are a couple of amusing things to share with you:
- jam here comes in a tin! (ok, that's not really funny, but it's kind of odd)
- ghekkos tails fall off when they are scared! (I found this pretty amusing. The cat caught a ghekko the other day, and yes, it's tail did fall off!!)
- i got asked by a guy at CCP last week, in all seriousness, if we have black people in England! I couldn't help laughing!
I'm sure there is lots more to tell, but I can't think what now!
Thanks for all your emails and messages.
Lots of love! xx
Monday 18 May 2009
some photos
thought i would load up a few pictures for you guys.
1st one is the lounge/kitchen bit of my little flat. Gives a bit of an idea of where im staying. On the floor is a game of junior monopoly i was playing with Caleb (5)!
Next is the beach in Durban we went to on Saturday! Alright place for a 21st eh?
This is where we sat when we were having lunch (a yummy salad with feta cheese).
These are the (huge!) yummy cocktails we had at a beachfront bar as the sun set.
Last is the view from outside a Church that i went to today for a meeting of community support workers. It's a pretty typical view of the area - in the township bits anyway.
Next is the beach in Durban we went to on Saturday! Alright place for a 21st eh?
This is where we sat when we were having lunch (a yummy salad with feta cheese).
These are the (huge!) yummy cocktails we had at a beachfront bar as the sun set.
Last is the view from outside a Church that i went to today for a meeting of community support workers. It's a pretty typical view of the area - in the township bits anyway.
Sunday 17 May 2009
number 2!
ok, a little update on the last couple of days!
on friday at CCP i went to an HIV training session for community workers, looking at the importance of testing and knowing your status. That was cool, and I actually saw an HIV test being done, which i hadn't seen before. Went to an HIV support group in a township in the afternoon...to be honest i have been in quite a few situations before where i knew that some people in the room were HIV+, but this was probably the first time i have been in a room where every single person was +. Looking at people and actually knowing that HIV is a reality for them is pretty humbling. I've read and studied and talked about HIV so much, but ultimately, it comes down to individual people, and it is so important to remember that. It's not just statistics - it's real people. The meeting was in Zulu, so i didn't understand much (i understand 'mlungo' (white person) when i was being introduced! haha). They were talking about ARVs though, and the importance of taking them. At one point I was asked my medical opinion on a rash that a lady had (!). Some people there looked really really sick. There were some cute babies there too, but of course that means these HIV+ people are having unprotected sex!
I was talking with a staff member afterwards about ARVs, and how they are obviously great, but they also mean people are alive and well for longer, but still infectious. So unless there is behaviour change, ARVs actually lead to increased transmission. So many issues - it's quite overwhelming at times.
Back at CCP I did some work on some forms from OVC home visits - looking at what was reported and their needs, and putting what support to give them (food parcel, clothes, crop aid, school fees etc etc).
Then Friday night i got a lift to Durban, where Caroline is staying. The journey was pretty mental - Jeff was driving at 140 km/h, about 2 metres from the car in front, eating sandwiches at one point with no hands on the wheel, with an 8-month pregnant lady in the car!! We arrived safely though (thank God) and I was pleased to see Caroline.
Seemed like we'd been apart longer than 3 days - lots to catch up on. We got pizza and watched Walk the Line, which a Dutch girl at the hostel had with her.
My birthday was great :) I woke up and opened some cards and little presents my sisters sent with me, which was lovely. Then we drove to the beach, which was beautiful and hot (got a bit burnt, oops). We walked along the beach, looked at some souvenir market stalls, had lunch in a beachside cafe, went to seaworld (including a dolphin show and penguin feeding! hehe), ate icecream (yumyum), then had amazing fruit cocktails by the sea as the sunset, before having a very yummy seafood dinner and cheesecake! I am very blessed!
Drove back - thought we were a bibt lost, but it was ok. Got caught in some traffic as there had been a rugby match at the stadium (Bulls won, if anyone follows S.A rugby!). The petrol dial was on empty, so that was a bit hairy! But we made it to the petrol station!
Today we set off for a Church a little way away. They shut the main road we wanted though, and there wasn't a diversion put out or anything! So we had to navigate a different route...which sounds not too bad, except that the map we have is a bit old....and they have changed most of the street names!! (they have changed them from things like 'Windemere road' and even a 'Woodford road'! to more zulu names). So some roads have the old names on signs, some have the new names, some have both and some have none! And our map just has old names!
We rather miraculously made it to Church in the end. A huge Church - mix of people in it. Quite Hillsong-esque! 2 hour service, and a nice coffee afterwards.
We are going to go to a local Church tonight too, which should be cool.
Must dash now - going to someone's house for lunch i believe.
Thanks for all your messages - especially yesterday.
Love to everyone xx
on friday at CCP i went to an HIV training session for community workers, looking at the importance of testing and knowing your status. That was cool, and I actually saw an HIV test being done, which i hadn't seen before. Went to an HIV support group in a township in the afternoon...to be honest i have been in quite a few situations before where i knew that some people in the room were HIV+, but this was probably the first time i have been in a room where every single person was +. Looking at people and actually knowing that HIV is a reality for them is pretty humbling. I've read and studied and talked about HIV so much, but ultimately, it comes down to individual people, and it is so important to remember that. It's not just statistics - it's real people. The meeting was in Zulu, so i didn't understand much (i understand 'mlungo' (white person) when i was being introduced! haha). They were talking about ARVs though, and the importance of taking them. At one point I was asked my medical opinion on a rash that a lady had (!). Some people there looked really really sick. There were some cute babies there too, but of course that means these HIV+ people are having unprotected sex!
I was talking with a staff member afterwards about ARVs, and how they are obviously great, but they also mean people are alive and well for longer, but still infectious. So unless there is behaviour change, ARVs actually lead to increased transmission. So many issues - it's quite overwhelming at times.
Back at CCP I did some work on some forms from OVC home visits - looking at what was reported and their needs, and putting what support to give them (food parcel, clothes, crop aid, school fees etc etc).
Then Friday night i got a lift to Durban, where Caroline is staying. The journey was pretty mental - Jeff was driving at 140 km/h, about 2 metres from the car in front, eating sandwiches at one point with no hands on the wheel, with an 8-month pregnant lady in the car!! We arrived safely though (thank God) and I was pleased to see Caroline.
Seemed like we'd been apart longer than 3 days - lots to catch up on. We got pizza and watched Walk the Line, which a Dutch girl at the hostel had with her.
My birthday was great :) I woke up and opened some cards and little presents my sisters sent with me, which was lovely. Then we drove to the beach, which was beautiful and hot (got a bit burnt, oops). We walked along the beach, looked at some souvenir market stalls, had lunch in a beachside cafe, went to seaworld (including a dolphin show and penguin feeding! hehe), ate icecream (yumyum), then had amazing fruit cocktails by the sea as the sunset, before having a very yummy seafood dinner and cheesecake! I am very blessed!
Drove back - thought we were a bibt lost, but it was ok. Got caught in some traffic as there had been a rugby match at the stadium (Bulls won, if anyone follows S.A rugby!). The petrol dial was on empty, so that was a bit hairy! But we made it to the petrol station!
Today we set off for a Church a little way away. They shut the main road we wanted though, and there wasn't a diversion put out or anything! So we had to navigate a different route...which sounds not too bad, except that the map we have is a bit old....and they have changed most of the street names!! (they have changed them from things like 'Windemere road' and even a 'Woodford road'! to more zulu names). So some roads have the old names on signs, some have the new names, some have both and some have none! And our map just has old names!
We rather miraculously made it to Church in the end. A huge Church - mix of people in it. Quite Hillsong-esque! 2 hour service, and a nice coffee afterwards.
We are going to go to a local Church tonight too, which should be cool.
Must dash now - going to someone's house for lunch i believe.
Thanks for all your messages - especially yesterday.
Love to everyone xx
Thursday 14 May 2009
first post!
hello! i've finally got round to giving you all an update. i feel like i have lots to say so i apologise in advance for the slightly garbled message!
so....monday night, i set off to heathrow, probably the most scared i have ever been in my life! even when i first went to uni, i kind of knew what to expect, and knew i could just jump on a train home at any time. but this was another continent, for 7 weeks, with no idea what to expect! The journey went fine, although i don't think id recommend a 5 hour flight, immediately followed by an 8 hour flight, then another flight again...we got food on every flight, which i was excited by. No idea what happened with mealtimes, with all the different flights and time-zones and stuff! I ended up eating some kind of a pasty at about 3.30am, and having curry for breakfast a few hours later! :S We got free drinks on the plane, which led Caroline to wonder whether to get a glass of wine, just because she could, at 5am! haha. (she didn't)
Didn't sleep much on the flights....watched some House, a documentary, and the film 'Bride Wars' (i chose this as i am excited about my sister getting engaged [Em, by the way - i really like the dress anne hathaway wears when she gets married] anyway...i digress...basically it is a rubbish film, and i was fast-forwarding through quite a bit of it. also, the 2 main male characters looked the same, so i was pretty confused most of the time!) Also played tetris and so much 'Who wants to be a millionaire' that Caroline and i were recognising the questions, and did eventually win the million pounds on our 2nd flight....frankly a massive anticlimax!
Got some local sim cards at Jo'burg airport, in a crazy candy store (obviously), but mine didn't work in the phone i brought, which was a bit annoying! I've now borrowed a phone, so its working. Hooray! Our bags got to Durban ok, which was a relief, and I was met by a friendly couple at the airport. I thought I was going to be staying with them, but they arranged for me to stay with someone else more central to the project. They drove me to Pietermaritzburg (PMB henceforth), via a stop at their son who is at uni in Durban...
Arrived, knakcered in PMB, but my accomodation and host family are lovely! Rob and Debbie are from UK, and have 4 kids (11 year old twins boy and girl, 8 year old girl, and cute adopted 5 year old, complete with mini afro. amazing.) They have a sort of flat in their garden which I am staying in - own bathroom (including hot water!) and little kitchen/lounge area. Very comfortable! Tonight I discovered that Rob is the number 1 long-board surfing champion in the province or something! How bizarre.
Woke up at 6.30am next morning (not cool) and went to CCP - the charity I am linking up with. The day started in true African style with lots of singing! I think I have sung more in the last 2 days than the month before then! The charity basically works with churches and schools and communities doing HIV/AIDs education, and identifying OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children), who they then visit to assess their situations and how best to help them (eg. food parcels, helping with food growing, helping pay for schooling, helping with grant access etc). So the last 2 days I have been sort of getting to know what's going on...they had some training course things the last 2 days for their community support workers, which I have sat in on quite a bit of. Yesterday I was with the 'livelihoods' group, looking at crop choices, employment issues, gender roles, and today I was with the HIV group, looking at loads of issues around PLWHA (people living with HIV/AIDs, for those of you not doing international health! haha). It was interesting for me to get a bit of an idea of how communities are, and issues around HIV in this area (Kwa-zulu-Natal i believe has the highest levels of HIV anywhere in the world) and how CCP is responding.
Today I also went out into a couple of townships with people doing school and church visits, so I saw a bit of how many people live here. Will start actually doing my research project soon.
It is winter here in South Africa, but still pretty hot! I think it was about 27 degrees today. Apparently storms are forecast in the next few days, and they are apparently totally awesome!
I'm hopefully going to visit Caroline in Durban this weekend, which will be good. Even though people are very friendly here, it can be quite lonely being on my own, and I am very tired, so it will be good to see a familiar face, and spend my birthday with her in Durban.
So yes, there is a pretty comprehensive update for you of my trip so far! I've got internet access in the family's house, so am pretty contactable, and appreciate emails etc.
Lots of love to everyone...hopefully update soon!
xx
so....monday night, i set off to heathrow, probably the most scared i have ever been in my life! even when i first went to uni, i kind of knew what to expect, and knew i could just jump on a train home at any time. but this was another continent, for 7 weeks, with no idea what to expect! The journey went fine, although i don't think id recommend a 5 hour flight, immediately followed by an 8 hour flight, then another flight again...we got food on every flight, which i was excited by. No idea what happened with mealtimes, with all the different flights and time-zones and stuff! I ended up eating some kind of a pasty at about 3.30am, and having curry for breakfast a few hours later! :S We got free drinks on the plane, which led Caroline to wonder whether to get a glass of wine, just because she could, at 5am! haha. (she didn't)
Didn't sleep much on the flights....watched some House, a documentary, and the film 'Bride Wars' (i chose this as i am excited about my sister getting engaged [Em, by the way - i really like the dress anne hathaway wears when she gets married] anyway...i digress...basically it is a rubbish film, and i was fast-forwarding through quite a bit of it. also, the 2 main male characters looked the same, so i was pretty confused most of the time!) Also played tetris and so much 'Who wants to be a millionaire' that Caroline and i were recognising the questions, and did eventually win the million pounds on our 2nd flight....frankly a massive anticlimax!
Got some local sim cards at Jo'burg airport, in a crazy candy store (obviously), but mine didn't work in the phone i brought, which was a bit annoying! I've now borrowed a phone, so its working. Hooray! Our bags got to Durban ok, which was a relief, and I was met by a friendly couple at the airport. I thought I was going to be staying with them, but they arranged for me to stay with someone else more central to the project. They drove me to Pietermaritzburg (PMB henceforth), via a stop at their son who is at uni in Durban...
Arrived, knakcered in PMB, but my accomodation and host family are lovely! Rob and Debbie are from UK, and have 4 kids (11 year old twins boy and girl, 8 year old girl, and cute adopted 5 year old, complete with mini afro. amazing.) They have a sort of flat in their garden which I am staying in - own bathroom (including hot water!) and little kitchen/lounge area. Very comfortable! Tonight I discovered that Rob is the number 1 long-board surfing champion in the province or something! How bizarre.
Woke up at 6.30am next morning (not cool) and went to CCP - the charity I am linking up with. The day started in true African style with lots of singing! I think I have sung more in the last 2 days than the month before then! The charity basically works with churches and schools and communities doing HIV/AIDs education, and identifying OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children), who they then visit to assess their situations and how best to help them (eg. food parcels, helping with food growing, helping pay for schooling, helping with grant access etc). So the last 2 days I have been sort of getting to know what's going on...they had some training course things the last 2 days for their community support workers, which I have sat in on quite a bit of. Yesterday I was with the 'livelihoods' group, looking at crop choices, employment issues, gender roles, and today I was with the HIV group, looking at loads of issues around PLWHA (people living with HIV/AIDs, for those of you not doing international health! haha). It was interesting for me to get a bit of an idea of how communities are, and issues around HIV in this area (Kwa-zulu-Natal i believe has the highest levels of HIV anywhere in the world) and how CCP is responding.
Today I also went out into a couple of townships with people doing school and church visits, so I saw a bit of how many people live here. Will start actually doing my research project soon.
It is winter here in South Africa, but still pretty hot! I think it was about 27 degrees today. Apparently storms are forecast in the next few days, and they are apparently totally awesome!
I'm hopefully going to visit Caroline in Durban this weekend, which will be good. Even though people are very friendly here, it can be quite lonely being on my own, and I am very tired, so it will be good to see a familiar face, and spend my birthday with her in Durban.
So yes, there is a pretty comprehensive update for you of my trip so far! I've got internet access in the family's house, so am pretty contactable, and appreciate emails etc.
Lots of love to everyone...hopefully update soon!
xx
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