Today challenge: ask more questions and think critically about today endeavor and partner with again, someone you don’t know very well.
The day began with a guest speaker and consisted of a lecture that furthered our understanding of South African past and how it is dealt with currently. Kenneth Kivenkew is from the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation. It is an organization that interrogates the past to find the truth and find reconciliation. One of their main projects is the Community Healing Project. The mission is that all people who come from a violent past (apartheid) need healing not only on a personal level but also communal level. It is the opportunity to address gaps and overcome division. They have created a video to show past footage of their history as well as efforts to overcome it. It found ti much more effective than my experience with history lessons. Because I am a visual learner, the video worked very well at describing and showing the feeling of the past. The program also gives the youth or those participating to discuss the past with those who actually experienced it. It was difficult to react to the movie and history lesson as I was trying to be vulnerable but I was also at a lose of how to react because of all the conflicting emotions, much like how I have felt about most of the things we have been doing. I feel that everyone should view a video such as this especially the youth because it can help the younger generation as they were not exposed to that kind of hardship. Consequently, their leadership may form into some of the weaknesses that brought about apartheid. So having this video in school or making it more available can help prepare people for the future and continue working on the present transition and recognize trends within history to avoid mistakes in the future.
The second half of my day was probably the highlight of my trip thus far. We visited the hospice services in Guguletu. A crew of 19 caregivers and approximately 130 patients. We were able to split into two groups and follow the caregivers to their scheduled visits for the afternoon. We traveled deep into the shacks to visit a man who suffered from SEVERE pressure ulcers (bed sores). As I watched the caregivers prepare to care for the man, all that was running through my head was the furether actions and precautions I wanted them to take. The smell that filled the room was of soiled linens and deteriorating flesh. The man was HIV positive and had been bedridden since 2007. He was frail and immobile. Since the caregivers last visit, the man had progressed quicker than expected. On a better day, he loved visitors and is open to talking/sharing his story, his struggles, and his outlook. Today was a different story. He had progressed to a point where he couldn’t talk and couldn’t even smile when I empathetically gave hgim my hope and sent him my prayers. They cleansed his deep wounds with a commen disinjectant and dressed them. I learned that when the disinfectant is run out or not available, they resort to using salt water. The use of salt water on open flesh causes excruciating pain and I cannot imagine inflicting that much pain on a human being. I continued to ask questions about their practice and interventions. I large part of my education is educating the family on how to help the patient cope as well as how t ocare for the patient’s condition. This is not at all a apart of what they do here, which hurst me. It could easily be done while care is being done. Another thing that is not included is how the grieving process affects the patient and family as well as the caregivers. I cannot imagine how quickly all those involved burn out from all of the emotions (much like I am starting to burn out from all of our rollercoaster rides of emotions). Our group filtered through and watched and interacted, I recognized that this is an opportunity to help any group member to cope with the experience. It was a time for vulnerability to be put aside and composure and rationale to sink in in order to stay strong for the family, patient, and group members. It was a time to lead by example and put logical terms to the circumstance. While also feeling the pain that this family as well as the hundreds of people who are suffering from the same situation but no one knows and no one is there to assist.
We left the man with conflicting emotions and continue on our way. Wishing for a more uplifting experience, we had the opportunity to see the Siyaya Musical Education Gorup. The spirit and enthusiasm that is sweat off these gifted people is beautiful. Their talent is nothing like anything I have seen. This group is able to express the wide range of emotions and struggles that the community is experiencing. They made us realize that there is no need to feel shame or sadness because the people that live here are happy and content with their lvies (for themost part). However, what they need is to be shown how to live better. It was an insight conversation and uplighting experience to bring to out last night in Gugs.
We concluded the evening with dinner and dancing with all the host families. It was a sad yet joyful night with a bittersweet goodbye. I never realized that I really valued Noxi and her willingness to open her home and her life to us. She shared her love and was not shy about expressing it. I can’t tell you how good it made me feel when she would tell us, her children, how much she loved us and how happy she was that we were there. We had one final, meaningful conversation with Noxi. She told us about the circumstances around her son’s murder. It was a situation revolving around a stolen cell phone. That’s right, you read that correctly, a person was murdered over a stolen cell phone, and the story gets even worse. Her son had a very similar name to another boy in the neighborhood and he was mistaken for him. That’s right, they beat the wrong 17 year old boy to death over a stolen cell phone. The story broke my heart. However, Noxi told the story with little emotion. She had been strong for many, many years, and wasn’t going to give up now. She spoke of her struggle to forgive those who participated in murder. She talked about how you cannot change the past, so one must trust in God and believe that He will help you through and give you what you need. Through her story and her words, she never gave up.
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