Jingyi Zhang

No time to write more!!

Sat, 26 Jul 08 21:55:29 +0200

Argh!! getting ready to go out to 54 for the final time, last day was hectic to say the least. Haven't had time to write more about the last couple of weeks but when Imo and I go travelling, I'll be sure to catch up with it!!

Lots of love xxxxxxxx

The Tree Clinic and Bobbi Bear

Fri, 25 Jul 08 08:05:02 +0200

Ok. Here we go, as some of you may have noticed, this blog is pretty late! I have a feeling this is gonna take a while so get your snacks ready!!

Last Wednesday we went around the other projects, and it was great seeing the work, effort and love that goes into them. They are all so different from the Dream Centre. We don't work with children for a start! First stop was the Tree Clinic. It was amazing, simple as. Beside the main road there's a patch of grass with a huge tree, under which women, children and occasionally men gather weekly so support each other. These people are the poorest of the poor and often wake up early and walk hours to arrive. They sing, pray and receive whatever the volunteers can collect, sometimes it's nothing but they still come. Helen was really upset at seeing a boy who had been hit by his mother's boyfriend so hard that the left side of his face was completely swollen. There was also the cutest little thing who we thought was a 6 month old baby – maybe because of malnutrition, maybe because of Aids - he was actually 2 years old. It was strange seeing a tiny tiny person with a full set of baby teeth! He was being looked after by his 13 year old sister as his mother died.

I sound like such a girl here but when he laughed it was amazing!! And he loved kissing the Love Bug (see pictures!) hehe. I think these women do fantastic work, if only to bring people together to share problems. There was a bucket going around for a family who couldn't afford to retrieve their daughter from the mortuary to bury her. It cost R4000 – about 250 pounds. Everyone put something in, even if it was 5 cents, because they know that when they need help themselves, everyone else would rally around to help.

Went to Bobbi Bear, a charity for abused children. They collect evidence against rapists and paedophiles and take them to court, often waiting for hours at hospitals and police stations with the child. I was not prepared for how I would feel listening to the woman talk about 2 or 3 out of thousands of similar stories.

An 18 month baby was left at the bottom of the Tree, she opened the blanket and in her own words “her tiny vagina fell open”. She had been raped and died of internal injuries. An 18 month old baby. In South Africa, it is quite widely believed that if you have sex with a virgin, your Aids will be cured.

Another story. A husband was convicted of raping his young daughter. Bobbi Bear receives a call from the wife saying “you killed my husband, he's threatening to hang himself”. He actually did. But hang on, your husband raped your own daughter and you think nothing of that?! She, like many others, place more importance on keeping their husbands than protecting their children.

In order to not traumatise the child as much as necessary, Bobbi Bear gives the child a bear and a pen, and soon they start drawing on what happened to them. The bears are covered entirely in ink. One that I saw affected me a lot, someone had written, “cut piece of my hair”. Why??? Because the child hasn't gone through enough?!

God I just took a break from writing because I started crying again. Again, I can't even begin to describe how it felt.

Dream Centre - Week Two

Tue, 15 Jul 08 08:30:55 +0200

The thin girl died last Tuesday. I didn't even know her name. I'll never forget her face, or the haunting stare she looked at me with.

Sat in the garden on Thursday morning with a man called Anthony for a couple of hours, soaking up the sun, just chatting to him about his upcoming birthday on Monday, his 8 year old son, how he was going to get married as soon as he leaves this place.

He died that night.

I don't even know how to describe how it felt to walk into his room in the morning, to see the empty bed with the name rubbed off the chalk board, his bed perfectly made with the drawings still stuck up on the wall. His death affected me more than anything so far, his birthday was in 10 days ffs, we were going to buy a cake and celebrate with him, and although weak, I was having a wonderful conversation with him 12 hours earlier! The only thing that made me feel better was when Bart pointed out that he was happy that day. I will never forget him basking in the sun with his feet propped up on a chair, smiling at me because I asked him for a smile.

3 others died last week. 6 more died over the weekend. That is not the 30% we were told to expect.

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Onto happier times!!

Last Wednesday, there was a strike on all transport (even cabs!) so that none of the staff could get into TDC! We had the few night staff and that was pretty much all, meaning all the cooking, cleaning, looking after patients, activities had to be done by us. First job was to wake up at 6 to get breakfast sorted, I gotta say, I look HOT in a hair net!!! Tough day, especially as Imo and I both had a temperature.

The people at TDC tend to be poor, and because they have Aids, they are liable for a disability grant – but only if their CD4 count (the amount of good cells in their body) is below 200. For a healthy person it's around 8-900. You often hear about people not taking the ARVs which would prolong their life just to get the grant. After all that they only get R960 – about 60 pounds – a month. Getting the grant isn't easy either, you need an ID book, a district surgeons note etc etc etc, and don't forget we are operating on SA time – everything takes months!! It's a very beaureaucratic system and it doesn't help that SASSA (where new applications are made) is split into districts who don't liaise with each other. V frustrating. Bart and I have been following up a case for Nonpumelelo (try and pronounce that one – I dare ya!) and we are just going back and forth. Thought everything was sorted, don't be silly! Now need school reports and clinic cards for her children, fingers crossed for today!!

Thursday night we got a Zulu film for the patients and they loved it – was amazing to hear them laugh so much. I didn't understand a word of the film but was proper “old skool”! Went out to Durban that night (Ruth and Elle – do not, repeat, DO NOT go to a club called Joe Cools, it's full of freshers and they are off their faces by half 9 – although what we were doing in a packed club at half 9 is slightly beyond me). Drinks were cheap though!! They had cut off 2.25 litre Sprite bottles full of alcohol – classy joint for a classy bird! Seriously though, the segregation in SA was so obvious, the only black people there were the staff, and when Malou talked to a couple of white people, let's just say they weren't shy about their opinions. In fact, I think one of them said “all black people have Aids and are criminals”.

The weekend came around far too quickly!! We went to the Drakensberg World Heritage Site and into Lesotho, a small country that is landlocked entirely by SA – apparently because no-one wanted to claim it! How rejected would you feel?! There was no shortage of alcohol, met some more volunteers from other projects and a few other backpackers at the first hostel, had a pretty chilled evening just chatting and drinking. It was freezing outside though, and our little fireplace was so bad!

In the morning (too early in the morning I must say) we went on a hike and saw some rock art, it was pretty spectacular, the views were beautiful and I felt really small with nothing but mountains and fauna around. I was pretty much staring at my feet the entire time though so that I wouldn't trip up – don't worry, I still did *sigh*. After a lunch of the fakest pinkest hotdogs you will ever see, we went horse riding!!!!! I can't tell you how excited I was!! I got a gorgeous horse called Flash who liked to bite other horses' bums..... HMM! We all rode up the mountain to see the views from the top, and my my my were they worth the sore bum! On the way down we cantered a lot of the way :-D I have a bruise the size of an apple from the rubbing but it was definitely worth it!!

On Sunday we drove along the Sani Pass into Lesotho, rocky, steep and breathtaking. Tasted the local beer, Maluti – homebrew, yummy..! Looked like dirt water and tasted like it too! Made a beeline for the Highest Pub in South Africa after that, and had a nice warm glass of mulled wine – couldn't have been more perfect.

OH! I just read Imo's blog to get inspiration and I completely forgot to tell you guys about the criminal!! There's a guy who is on trial accused of murder/attempted murder and you know what, he is actually a really nice guy, just another patient. We were warned that his friends may try and break him out – EXCITEMENT!!!! (i'm secretly hoping it happens – don't tell anyone else).

Putting up a few pictures for you guys!

Take care!

Lots of love

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Dream Centre - Week One

Mon, 07 Jul 08 08:39:40 +0200

Ive been putting off writing an entry, it's really hard to put into words what i've seen just in the first week and everything that's happened! I dont really know how to describe it, the entire experience seemed ok for the first couple of days then it really hit me that these people are so so ill. Some wet themselves and wear nappies, some are so thin they cant support their own weight and literally look like skeletons. Theyre in a lot of pain but somehow they still manage to smile a huge smile everytime they see you. Sounds cheesy, but being here really does make you appreciate being able to leave, walk around freely, being able to eat/drink unaided and being able to see friends and family as you choose.

On Tuesday we had a game of Pass the Parcel in the garden (forgot to mention, the weather is around 26 C and it's winter!! woo!) When helping the patients outside, I tell one woman my name, and immediately she sings “jingle bells, jingle bells!” - one of my favourite memories so far. I'm not remotely religious but being in the chapel when the nurses and the pastor are belting out amazing voices is pretty overwhelming, the patients who can stand are dancing, even the ones in wheelchairs move their arms to the music.

One of the saddest moments was when we went around the 6th floor women's ward. Nomusa has problems remembering, so when the physio went over to unclench her fist, she says to him “who are you?”, to which he replies “I'm Saul, you know me, I see you every day.” Then she asks the most heartbreaking question to which he doesnt really reply - “my son died didn't he?”. How do you respond to that?

Great quote from the physio though - “physiotherapist – physical terrorist!” Sums up the atmosphere here, it's tough, it's awful to see, but it's not a depressing place, in fact, a lot of the time it's the opposite - however bad the jokes get!

Bingo night on Wednesday was a lot of fun, had about 60 patients down (half! us volunteers are amazing!) bought them little prizes for bingo, they really like juice and socks it seems! They are always given a cup of squash and some kind of snack after activities, some are quite cheeky though, they hide theirs in pockets etc and try and get more (I am now wisened up to this – they cant trick me!!!!!) At then end, I waited with one man with the coolest name ever – Innocent Boy Zuma – to take him upstairs in his wheelchair. He was teaching me Zulu but I only remember a few words! The clicks are impossible to learn!

On Thursday evening was when I found it really difficult to deal with. We had a movie night so went around all the floors getting patients downstairs. As I helped take the sheet off, I couldn't believe how thin she was, it really really shocked me. I had to call Imogen over so that I didn't have to describe it to her afterwards, there is no way I can describe the sight, nor will I ever forget it. You know that she will die, and soon.

About 10 minutes later, I was watching over the patients downstairs, when one suddenly started pointing frantically to his throat. He had thrown up but was trying so so hard to keep it in his mouth, I have to say I was panicking, I didn't know how to deal with it and ground floor bathrooms are locked! Had to try to get him upstairs but it took so long that he just threw up in reception.But then there was noone around to clean it up! Took him upstairs to get a nurse to help me, but being 6pm, the day nurses had just finished their shift. They were sitting waiting to go home in a large group, but when I asked for help all they said was that they had finished for the day, but the evening nurses hadn't arrived yet! I found this attitude hard to deal with, but then when I thought about it afterwards, they see it so often that it ceases to be a big deal. Even so, I was annoyed that they didn't care about this patient. Eventually about an hour later, the vomit on the floor was cleaned up!

On the same night (I know, what else can happen right?) Imogen and I were trying to help a man, Linda, into bed, but because we were not taught how to lift them etc, we found it impossible! He was so so heavy, had just wet himself and we werent wearing gloves (for which we were told off by another patient!) It didnt help that he couldnt talk. We only managed with the help of two patients – because we couldnt find a nurse for that ward.

A LOT happened in such a short amount of time (I confess, I cried). I have to say, I drank a lot of wine that night! Talking about it with the other volunteers really helped though. I'm trying to explain to you guys but you havent seen it, and it's just not the same.

Really lucky that the other volunteers are lovely! On a happier note, we went to Karaoke on Tuesday night, my first time!! So much fun, sang and danced to every cheesy song going – yes, YMCA did play a huge part! Although, my favourite song was S Club 7, if you say you don't know all the words you are lying! Every night we have done something, even if its just been a few bottles of wine in the garden (alcohol – very cheap – that's for you Ruthiepoos!)

Saturday, Bart, Malou, Imo and I went into Durban to see the surfing championship and the festival. The weather could not have been more perfect. Walking on the warm sand was heaven!! Went to Ushaka Seaworld, Bart is sitting the lounge as I am typing and he says to include that I sat on his back (because he's strong like a model from Men's Health) to watch the sharks feeding. LOL! Was v cool though, can't wait to go cage diving with Great Whites!

Then, and I know alcohol is making a regular appearance in my blog entry, we went to a v relaxed cocktail place on the beach and had cocktails all night! Paddled in the sea watching the sunset and got extremely wet as we underestimated just how big the waves were! Went to Club 54 in Pinetown in the evening (known to the locals as “54 dirty whore”) Had a really good night though, it was packed!! And yes the club did live up to it's name lol.

Yesterday went back to the beach and lazed around, good times (:-p). Went swimming in the sea (the sea lauren, the sea!!!!!!!!!!!) sunbathed and got picked up and thrown in the sand a lot.

I apologise for the length of this entry, I was worried I wouldnt know what to write but obviously this has not been a problem! I love it here, I already know that it's going to be hard to leave.

Hope you guys are all well, I'm not getting enough updates about London though, shame on all of you!

Lots of love,

Jingyi bells

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