Expect the unexpected

Well who would have thought that I would have had to undergo surgery in the weeks before my 1st semester exams. Definitely not something I had factored in to my timetable - or my budget for that matter. The fact that after 4 days of suffering in a fair amount of pain, saw me visit a doctor, get passed onto a surgeon, directed to the hospital across the way and an hour or so later on a gurney into the operating theatre gave me great faith in the ability of the healing profession to make a difference in the lives of those who are suffering. The non medical staff along the way also seemed to be able to empathise with my painful appendix predicament. Two hours later and I was making lame jokes with the recovery room staff who were checking if I was still of sane mind and healthy body.

No appendix to take home in a bottle - that burst on the way out, but the scars to prove it and a bit more pressure on the exam timetable.

Reading and Writing as a student

It is always interesting to read new authors and to try and understand a fresh perspective on human development and social problems. There just seems to be SO much. At every turn of a page there are multiple references to articles, books reports and compilations. The internet makes it so accessible and easy to get hold of and then comes the sifting through what is important and relevant and trying to understand my own stamina for reading for hours at a time. As I once said to a Grade 12 student - "stick to the curriculum!" That has become an important reminder for me too - I want to get to grips with the primary texts of Carl Rogers and Paulo Freire, but there just doesn't seem to be the time to be able to currently read all these great authors. But at least I am able to read those that are passionate about their work such as Janet Tolan and Prof. Schenck.

The writing after such reading is difficult, given the myriad of ideas and concepts that are presented so lucidly. I have to accept that these are ways of understanding the world and the people that live in it and that this theory serves as a guide in the way that I am being taught to be a helper.

Walking....and Talking

I am always on the lookout for good ways to take care of 3 important areas in my life, physical health, emotional well-being and being social. Yesterday I was able to take care of all 3 with a magnificent 4 hour hike on the most amazing mountain in the southern hemisphere - Table Mountain. The heat of the day was quite extreme but sunstroke was prevented with generous smearings of sunscreen that soon dripped into the eyes and plenty of water that was taken with us. After ascending the millions of steps and managing to enquire as to the wellbeing of my walking mates between huffs and puffs, vistas of the surrounding sea and city opened up. I had been meaning to do this walk for 4 years and finally got to do it and don't know to this day what has kept me. The sounds of the city still reached us 1000m above sea level and the noon day gun reverberated around the cliffs when it sounded some kilometres away. The smell of the earth and plants was different to the city streets. Grumpiness did set in when seemingly close to the end there was still a bit of uphill to get over. Handled with care and some important "I" statements the group moved on towards the car where great praise was given for the inventor of the ubiquitous red can with the ribbon logo that sells so well across the world.

Yes, there was some talking but mostly walking.

To volunteer... or not...

I started off over a year ago at an amazing group home and haven't looked back. It is the warmest, most open community that I have experienced in a long time and although under resourced and at times understaffed there are great gardens to take a walk through and work rooms to visit where lavender bags and paper are made. Some of the food comes straight from the garden to the table and major celebrations and memorials are held outdoors under the African sky.

I attend the weekly Representative Group meeting where residents talk about happenings in their houses and organise outings and dictate letters to other organisations as well as prepare for self advocacy meetings with other organisations and in exhibitions of their work in public places.

The welcome and acceptance for the time that I spend there makes it so worthwhile to return every week.

Analysing Items

This term doesn't refer to items of clothing or dreams but rather the compulsory subject of "Basic Questionnaire Design" and item analysis. I have never had the most logical of minds and try as I might this aspect of my studies is almost getting the better of me. Even the concept of "reverse scoring" is hard for me to comprehend - I have always had a forward orientation, so to try and imagine why a statement needs to be looked at differently statistically from what it appears to be grammatically is very new to me. I think it might be time to phone a friend to answer that million rand question, but then again, it may well be time to hone a different side of the brain!

At least the questionnaire has been answered and all those hours of pondering
phrases and statements has borne fruit.

What do you do?

What do you do when walking out at night and see very unusual things that may endanger lives, but being outnumbered you walk on and think of ways that could have made a difference.....

I offered up a prayer, hoped for the best and looked around in the morning to see if life had carried on for that person. Satisfied in my heart that any intervention at that point may have turned things upside down and that my safety was at stake at that point.

My training so far has not included this kind of crisis, but equipped with the tools of observation and understanding of what the other person may be going through makes me think that all may not be lost.