What happened in 7 years?

 It might sound crazy, but it has been 7 years just about since I have written in this blog!

I think the time might be right to restart - refresh and regather my thoughts and do some new posts.

Well, what did happen in 7 years?

First graduation

Then registration as a social worker and employment.

I cut my social work teeth working with homeless people living on the streets of Cape Town CBD. It was intense and a steep learning curve. There were many success stories of people leaving the streets for better living circumstances but also many tragedies of people dying on getting close to death on the streets of our magnificent city.

I met with many different people whose major focus is assisting those in need of food, clothing, mentoring, toiletries, spiritual guidance and somebody who cares. They are too many to mention but made my job as a social worker easier in obtaining material goods to alleviate some of the hardship of their lives.

Students from all walks of life, interests and different parts of the globe walked into our organisation in Cape Town and contributed their time, ideas and hard work to ensure the continuation of services.

Then the bug of further study bit and in 2020 I was admitted to a Masters Degree in Clinical Social Work. The coursework year has flown by, not interrupted by COVID19, yes, a bit disrupted, but the university has made a huge effort to keep the academic project going, albeit online.

Right now, February 2021, COVID is still around, but so is the vaccine. I am embarking on a Research project to investigate the effects of COVID pandemic on the provision of mental health services in our province. That is my major task for the next 6 months.

Social Work is still, I have discovered, not ordinary work.

But more about that later.

Starting the year at a gallop...

The most important tool for anyone who is working part time and studying most of the time - is a diary. A good old fashioned, paper and pen device, operated entirely without electricity and no automatic reminders. Without this aid, my work, study and social life would be in a bit of dissarray. I use software and computer tools for just about everything else. The internet for registering, submitting assignments and even study material, software for writing, recording and analysing things. But for organising tasks and meetings and generally keeping track of things, nothing beats the good old fashioned paper and pen - although the words "pencil in"also have their use.

The structure of my days has changed in that I am not at work everyday which does mean that I have to keep a look out on thos things that are lying ahead. Reports, meetings and events that need planning for and implementation even while I am out the office. Also doing the practical placement (internship) phase of my degree also means that I am doing two jobs at once. The one very practical - keeping a daily programme up and running with funding requirements and the other doing counselling and group work that is transformative at an individual and group level - two very diffrent skills - but called on everyday. The placement will start with a week at the organisation finding my feet and getting to know everybody before actual casework and group work begins.

I am really looking forward to seeing my fellow students again - some of whom I have walked part of the path with and a year of learning and personal growth. This really is the testing time for putting all the theory from the past few years into practice and of course keeping quite extensive records of the journey this year. For now the mind is at ease but soon will be filled with new places and people.

To all students embarking on their placement year - good luck. Or maybe luck is not what is called for but a clear head and clear mind and a willingness to work hard.

What happens at the end of an academic year?

Apart from taking stock of the academic year in terms of skills learnt and marks achieved there is always cause for concern relating to what to do now that I have so much more free time when not poring over books or practising possible exam questions. Luckily my family always like to see me so more time is spent visiting and catching up with news of things that have happened while I have been attending university workshops, writing exams, reading for information (as opposed to pleasure), considering and reflecting on my own values, skills and attitudes as a student social worker. Often it seems that nieces and nephews have grown up - considerably, family members have taken trips that I wasn't even aware of and even more surprising, there are people out there who actually go out at night for entertainment. My evenings are mostly spent on assignments, catching up with reports for work or taking care of really basic needs like eating and sleeping with the odd phone call to see if I am on the right track with an assignment or done the right preparation for the next workshop at university.

But now that the academic year is over I have counted the credits, tried to see if there is anything that I need to catch up on (apart from exercise and proper eating habits), found the space to write a blog entry, recycled all the old paper that I have scribbled on - bits of old essays and thoughts and references - and started to read for pleasure. Oh, the pleasure of finding those books bought but not yet read because my head has been so full of essays, assignments and preparation for the next task at hand. I have the diary to prove it! Looking back at the schedule just before the final assessments were done amazed even myself and what I was able to accomplish in a few short weeks. It did help that I was physically, mentally and emotionally in a great space and that I had the means to get to all the different places that I had to be with the minimum of fuss and commuting time, but still seemed like quite a feat that I otherwise would never have contemplated had I not wanted to do this degree so badly! Indeed, where there is a will, there is a way.

So while there is not yet a great vacation planned and some work commitments to get through and the fact that I have no leave until the 21st December I will certainly enjoy the time that I have free to catch up with friends and family who live in the "real world", continue to read for pleasure and enjoy this great city of ours.

A fitting end to a year filled with excitement, nerves, deadlines and a fair amount of academic success.

Some reflections on group work.

While the year has run away with me and studies and work have been a priority, I have had the privilege of doing group and case work at university this year. I am a not so social, social worker in training and the thought of being in a group of unknown people sends me in either of two directions. Keeping to myself at the fringes or actually diving in and directing, giving many opinions and trying to outperform others. This year I found a very good middle road and a path that came to be as a result of being part of a very diverse and interesting university group of students that was flung together at the beginning of the year by absolute chance. No random selection procedure, no choosing to be with your friends or acquaintances - just pure chance.

The first few meetings were characterised by a calm formality as befitting people who were still getting to know each other, then came the offers of coffee and tea time treats and after 8 months of meeting each other once or twice a month, the real beauty of belonging to a semi-professional group of like minded people, sharing, confiding and helping with projects, personal issues and general encouragement to continue despite the hectic timetable of family, work and studies.

At our final assessment we were able to reflect together on what had been the highlights of the busy timetable, where people had travelled 700km to attend the compulsory sessions, where people had poured all the leave that they had from work into attending these compulsory sessions, where somebody who had been seriously ill, made a speedy recovery with the assistance of fellow students and the message was the same. Acceptance of others who may be different in values, belief and even behaviour, mutual encouragement and co-operation play a huge role in interpersonal relations and the building of personal character.

Thanks guys for a truly enriching experience.

After the celebrations.

"Let the work begin!" or something along those lines. Christmas followed by new year, closely followed by my birthday and then the first day of work that earns me an income. The beginning of 2012 has been punctuated by celebrations, get together's with friends not seen in many months, catching up with friends who are no longer in the country but having holidays and of course daring to look at the study schedule for the year ahead. Reality bites and really hard at that. While I do not have a full course load - discretion got the better part of valour on that one as well as financial constraints - it does seem as if I have a full time study schedule! Besides 5 exams there are 13 contact sessions with lecturer's and supervisors for 3rd level social work. For me this is a sure indicator of the practical nature of social work studies and something that a distance learning university has taken to heart in finding ways for their students to get to grips with the practical nature of applying the theoretical knowledge. I am fortunate enough to live within driving distance of a learning centre, but I imagine that other students will either have to make use of public transport or even get to the city to stay with friends and family to attend the compulsory workshops and supervision sessions. For me this year is definitely a shift from the reading of texts and writing essays to the actual implementation of the social work skills and being able to effectively show these skills during the sessions. So, roll on process notes, genograms, putting feelings into words, justifying certain ways of being or interacting in role plays and workshops.

"A genogram (also known as a McGoldrick-Gerson study^[1] or a Lapidus Schematic^[1]) is a pictorial display of a person's family relationships and medical history. It goes beyond a traditional family tree by allowing the user to visualize hereditary patterns and psychological factors that punctuate relationships.^[1] It can be used to identify repetitive patterns of behavior and to recognize hereditary tendencies.^[2]

Genograms were first developed and popularized in clinical settings by Monica McGoldrick and Randy Gerson through the publication of a book titled Genograms: Assessment and Intervention in 1985. Genograms are now used by various groups of people in a variety of fields such as medicine, psychiatry, psychology, social work, genetic research, education, and many more. Some practitioners in personal and family therapy use genograms for personal records and/ or to explain family dynamics to the client. Few if any genealogists use them.^{[3] "}

 ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genogram}

A New Year and New Challenges

With the beginning of a new year and looking back at the challenges that were taken up during 2011, I am both grateful and amazed. Grateful for the opportunity to work and study and amazed that despite financial difficulties and some health problems, 2011 has been a successful year.

Usually my position economically is starkly contrasted with the 40% of South Africans who have no formal work opportunities and for who everyday is a matter of getting food on the table. But 2011 certainly brought the rest of the world and especially Europe and North America into the limelight with financial woes and crises of their own. The impact of higher joblessness on these continents is already being seen with reports of higher numbers of homeless making the news. I would imagine that this crisis might see an increased need for social services at these troubled times and have lasting impact on families and individuals around the world.

Going into 2012, my wish is for those in the helping profession to continue to practise the values that form the basis of this work and to keep the faith in a world that at times may seem too much to bear with the pain and the suffering encountered everyday.

To end is a poem on the change of year:

"How beautiful the turning of the year!
A moment artificial yet profound:
Point upon an arbitrary chart
Passing like a breath upon the heart,
Yearning with anticipation wound,
New hope new harbored in old-fashioned cheer.
Even when the boundary line is clear,
We recognize the oneness of the ground.
Years, like circles, do not end or start
Except we lay across their truth our art,
Adjusting dates as they go round and round
Revolving to a tune long sung and dear." 

Turlough O'Carolan

"Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence." Aristotle.

I have a portfolio at work that requires an attitude towards life and people in particular. I am not about to change my name to "happy", but it does start to get complicated when people ask what department I am in and I have to reply "happiness" or when the agenda for team meeting asks for the happiness report. It could read something like this...

"Many people have been involved in making the daily lives of the residents much happier. The craft club got off to a roaring start with a breakfast at the centre. All the residents who are getting ready to make items for sale at the Christmas markets were involved. A Bingo morning was run by volunteers with lots of spot prizes and was enjoyed by many of the residents and this resulted in a games morning being set up with card games and board games.

The Rugby World Cup opening ceremony and all the Springbok pool games were shown on a big screen at the centre and hot dogs and tea and coffee were served."

So with that in mind how do residents in a setting for those who are in their older years go about pursuing happiness? I am of the opinion that those who have a reason to get up in the mornings and have regular contact with others in their house or community enjoy a happier life than those who are secluded or hidden away from sight. The beauty of independent living in a community is that life is far more extensive than the confines of the room or house but includes trips to the library or the clinic or just to have tea and play a few games of cards with music in the background at the community centre.

In hindsight I have never been happier as I am now working with a human attitude as an objective as opposed to those targets that are financially driven or related to statistics. These do play a role in reporting in order to ascertain whether the programme is having an effect and maybe sometime soon I will come across a measurement tool to assess happiness.