Monthly Update: February

Volunteers working hard on the new Ezwenelisha Support
Group garden.

The warm weather of February is here, and with its arrival came 13 new volunteers to join the ranks of African Impact volunteers. With many more volunteers than projected, we were able to begin two exciting new projects and visit more crèches than ever before, among other accomplishments.

Read on to find out how each project developed over the course of the month.

Home Based Care

February was the first month that our volunteers and Nokwethemba used the new Home Based Care plan, which has helped us to keep better track of the patients. The medical volunteers were able to visit Gogo Breast Cancer and check on her wound – we were saddened to learn that during the holiday season her daughter died suddenly. However, we were able to look at her wound, clean, cover it with a new bandage and leave her with new bandages. We also visited Phendukile’s sister who has a very large wound on her neck as a result of an abscess. The medical volunteers tried their best to clean the wound and dress it. Marjolein, a medical volunteer and trained nurse took some photos of the wound to send to her colleagues in the Netherlands for a consultation. Despite some tough visits to very sick patients, our medical team of four has made great strides with our record system so that future volunteers can understand who needs to be seen and how they can be cared for in the coming months.

Afterschool Club

The month of February at Afterschool Club has been filled with music, laughter, sport, and art. At Ezwenelisha Afterschool Club we have begun teaching computer lessons once more. The children have enjoyed the lessons and have gotten more proficient and comfortable with the computers and typing. We have many new members in the club who have started to get to know each other better this month, a concern we had during the month of January.

At Khula Afterschool Club the children have gotten into a routine of attending the club and we have seen the numbers increase every week. The children at both Afterschool Clubs have enjoyed coloring pages, free drawing, paper airplanes, and origami fortunetellers. Due to the heat the children have been reluctant to play outside but have enjoyed dancing to music and playing limbo. The children at Khula had a blast drawing on the blacktop with sidewalk chalk while others enjoyed playing one-touch football. Community volunteer Carmen had a blast in the last week of February teaching aerobics to some of the Gogos who had gathered at Senzokuhle – a great sight for everyone playing with the kids! 

Creche

For the month of February we were able to work at 3 crèches simultaneously, thanks to our growing number of volunteers. We continued to work at Impumelelo Crèche were the children have a wonderful grasp of colors and shapes. 
At Malibongwe Crèche we have continued to focus on working with the older children even though the majority of children at the crèche are infants. However, even the tiniest of crèche-goers have begun to sing along with the songs and Alphabet.  We have also started working at Dukuduku Creche. We have been working there for only a few weeks but our presence can been seen with the how many of the children are able to recognize different colors, shapes, and letters. The children are beginning to identify different letters and numbers, thus grasping the concept of the Alphabet and not just memorizing the song.

HIV Education

Throughout the month of February the volunteers have been able to run several HIV education courses in Khula and Ezwenelisha.  The volunteers along with Shwele also held two courses for the women of the fruit market in St. Lucia at Reef and Dune.

We also resumed the primary HIV class at Ubuhlebembelo, with one class sitting the test in mid-February and the other set to write the test on March 1^st.  The first class of 2012 was a great success and all 14 students passed. We have begun going to HIV Education five days a week, which means the students get more time with the teachers, although their school break has been shortened. This gives the volunteers a chance to review the test with the learners so they can better understand the questions they got wrong.    

Medical volunteer Sarah working
at OneSight's eye clinic in Khula.

Support Group

February has been an exciting month for both support groups. One topic that has been very important and discussed at both groups has been discrimination. Suggested by medical volunteer Kate, the topic sparked great discussion in both Khula and Ezwenelisha and will be revisited again due to its therapeutic nature. Both support groups also took part in an eyeglass clinic that was being run by NGOs One Sight and Mphilonhle. All the members had their eyes checked and even if they did not need glasses they were given sunglasses. The volunteers also had a great time helping with eye exams and ensuring every patient in need saw the ophthalmologist.

At Khula Support Group one week the topic that was discussed was at home exercises for the feet. It was a topic that everyone enjoyed and would keep on utilizing at home. At Ezwenelisha Support Group the members enjoyed learning about topics for positive living in 2012. The members shared their hopes for 2012 and then discussed how they could achieve these goals. The volunteers also found numerous exercises for Sizakhele, who suffered a stroke some years ago, and the members have enjoyed trying the exercises out with David, our yoga instructor.

At the end of the month we were finally given permission and a plot of land to start the support group garden. The members are overjoyed and we have already begun to till the land and everyone is excited to plant the first seeds. The support group will share the garden’s crops, even though some members are physically unable to tend to the plants, and together the group will decide when and what to plant. We’re very excited to see how the garden progresses over the coming months.

AMREF Garden

Community volunteer Melissa organizing
some of the container's baby books.

After clearing the plot of land last month we were able to begin planting.  We have planted beans and potatoes. The beans have already to begun to sprout and with our new hose pipe watering the garden has gotten much easier. We are looking forward to planting carrots, spinach, cabbage and onion in March, as it will then be the proper season for these crops. 

Container

We have made great progress on the container this month, as it undergoes its transformation from shipping container to full-blown library. Many afternoons were spent sorting the books into appropriate reading and age levels and then placing color-coded stickers on them to aid in organizing. 
It is amazing to see the progress that is being made every afternoon. With the help of community volunteer and former librarian Liz, the container has come a long way this month and we’re eager to continue organizing in the month of March. ]

Nutrition Programme

The Nutrition program with ePAP (a pre cooked porridge blend of maize & soya, high in vitamins & minerals, which just needs to be mixed with water), was started at the beginning of February with some families in Khula & Ezwenelsiha.

Compliance has not always been 100%, as it is taking a while for participants to understand when is the best time to take it alongside normal meals and their medications, without any adverse effects.  The positive effects, however, can be seen with some of the participants who have noticed an increase in energy levels, enabling them to help out more around the home.

-Written by our Medical Team