Monthly Update: January

January has arrived and the New Year has brought three new volunteers to St. Lucia.  The African Impact team was excited to welcome Liz and Cora, who worked on the community projects and Thirsa, a medical volunteer.

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

Two of our Khula Support Group members showing off
their newborn babies to the rest of the group. 

Support Groups

Both support groups were excited to resume after the holiday break. At the Khula Support Group the women learned and discussed about how HIV and TB together can exacerbate the individual diseases. The topic of positive living was also introduced and the women shared what they would like to improve about their lives in 2012. They were also given suggestions on how to make positive decisions regarding their health and diet. As always, their craft sales are going well and they are happily continuing to learn new beading techniques and we’re always excited to see their creations.  

The Ezwenelisha Support Group has started 2012 off with some great meetings – one at yoga instructor David’s house and another in iSimangaliso. Their first meeting was spent relaxing in David’s backyard and even going for a dip in the pool. Nokwethemba was even lucky enough to receive some swimming instruction from David himself! The next week, the members participated in a rhino blessing in iSimangaliso, the World Heritage Site bordering St Lucia. After driving through Isimangaliso and not seeing any rhino the group stopped at Cape Vidal to enjoy a light snack while taking in the beauty of the ocean.  Some of the members walked down to the beach to get their feet wet, while David and Bheki decided to go for a swim. A blessing was performed by Mrs. Mbuyazi in the hopes that poachers will be less likely to kill iSimangaliso’s rhinos because of the religious beliefs of the area.

Home Based Care

Our regular home based care patients have done well this month. We distributed a cane to George Ntuli of Khula, who has been suffering from leg and back pain, and a walker to Khula’s Gogo High BP.  The smile on Gogo high BP’s face when she saw the walker was priceless and she was eager to use it. Khula’s Gogo Smiling and Big Man also received canes that were donations from the container donated last June by two former volunteers.

Over the Christmas holiday we were sad to discover that Snenhlanhla, a small girl with a history of domestic abuse, has been moved away from the Gogo who was caring for her. We are in the process of locating her and are hopeful that the Gogo will regain possession of the girl.

Thirsa and Nokwethemba worked on a new home based care plan that will ensure no patient is missed on the weekly rounds by making weekly plans for home based care visits. The first week of the new plan was a success and we are eager to utilize it in the coming weeks. 

Afterschool Club

The volunteers were excited to take part in both the Khula and Ezwenelisha Afterschool clubs this month. After a few weeks of the kids at Khula Afterschool Club leaving after eating their meal (not understanding we were there to play) large numbers of kids have started to stay behind to play relay races, Octopus, soccer baseball and colour. Thirsa had brought some coloring pages with her that were a hit in both Khula and Ezwenelisha. The children at Khula enjoyed sitting and coloring in the farm scene, with even Shwele making her artistic abilities evident.

The volunteers are excited to start teaching a new set of students in computer classes at Ezwenelisha, which should start up again in February. Ezwenelisha has plenty of new kids who have joined the club so we’ve spent the month of January playing games, dancing and allowing them all to get to know each other. It’s been a very happy and entertaining month for all!

Creche

Community volunteer Cora teaching at
Inkanyezi creche. 

This year our crèche structure will be slightly different as the Induna has asked us to spend two months at each crèche in Khula. Creating a timetable for each crèche was difficult, but our first weeks were spent working at Malibongwe Creche with Doris and her rondavel filled with babies! The challenge at Malibongwe is that there are more babies than school age children. After some quick thinking and creating a baby box, Cora and Liz were able to focus their attention on the school-age children. The learners are now actively listening and remembering the different topics that are being taught to them.

At the end of the month the volunteers started working with Impuelelo Creche. We are all eager to see how much the children blossom during the two months that are volunteers will be there. Next week, when the numbers of volunteers on our community project are higher, we will begin working at both crèches to ensure they both receive two months with the volunteers.

HIV Education

During the abbreviated month of January the volunteers were only able to run one HIV education course. Cora, a community volunteer was a natural at leading and teaching the course to three ladies from Dukuduku Creche and has even come up with some teaching resources and great ideas which we hope to incorporate into upcoming adult HIV education sessions. With the beginning of the school year in January, Mr. Dlomo at Ubuhlebembelo has asked us to begin our primary school HIV education courses in February.

AMREF Garden

The month of January allowed us to clear the entire AMREF garden plot after our beans and mealies were unsuccessful over the Christmas holidays. However, next week we will be planting potatoes and more beans to be given out on our home based care project.