Community Work

Yesterday morning I was awakened at the bright and early time of 6:30am by a local Community Development Worker (CDW) I met a month ago when I first moved to the village. He wanted to know if I would come along with him for the day to do some work with an organization called Disabled People of South Africa (DPSA) in surrounding villages. The CDW is interested in creating a Assisted Living Facility in our ward (my village and 4 other surrounding villages) for people with disabilities.

I spent the day helping register the information of people in a village near mine and getting to know people in DPSA. It was a VERY rewarding experience. The DPSA volunteers were informing the people of their rights as disabled citizens here in South Africa. They wanted the people to know they have the right to equal opportunity, and if they are experiencing discrimination because of their disability, they have legal rights too.

The turnout for the meeting was big and the people were very interested in the help from DPSA. The CDW had gone around in the community (door-to-door) informing people of the meeting, and his grassroots efforts were very effective b/c alot of people attended. The CDW has A LOT of ambitious ideas for how to help disabled people in our community, and I'm looking forward to helping out any way I can.

Sadly, too often people with disabilities are taken advantage of or even abused by their own family members. If an Assisted Living Facility is built in our community, these individuals will have a place to go. Sort of like a refuge where they can be cared for and live peacefully with others. I'm looking forward to see how this all develops. I plan to continue to be involved in the meetings and planning.

I never thought I'd be involved in working with disabled people in my village, but I go and help where I'm needed. I'm very happy for the opportunity!

I've still been observing teachers this week, and today I was back at it again. I wanted to get a chance to watch all the teachers at my two schools teach at least once class, and by tomorrow I'll have accomplished that goal. Starting next week, I plan to begin team teaching with the teachers. I can honestly say that I'm feeling more and more welcomed at both of my schools each day I go! It's a very nice feeling.

I have A LOT of work ahead of me though in regards to helping improve the teaching at my two schools.....A LOT of work indeed.....

Girls Club this afternoon went well. I taught a session (w/ the help of the two other women who run the club) on women's health. I titled it "Keeping Our Bodies Healthy", and we went over four topics. (1) Cleanliness in regards to what types of products women use when menstruating and how they use them. My demonstrations during this part were.....interesting. (2) Breast exams and how women should get into the habit of checking themselves every month. I then explained why and how. (3) Yeast Infections in regards to the symptoms and what to do if experiencing the symptoms. I explained yeast as a type of fungus, like a mushroom, but then I had to go back and explain that mushrooms won't grow on your private area, just ANOTHER TYPE of fungus. And then (4) Safe Sex, dealing w/ what actually is considered safe sex, what's birth control, what types of birth control is there, and how do you get it. Birth control is free here in South Africa, so I'm always encouraging the sexually active young people to take advantage of the free service. I haven't figured out why so many choose not to.

Till next time....