Experiencing the instant life change...A day in the Operation Room

Orlence who had a contracture release to his neck 

Patients travel from far and wide to come get the health care they are so badly needing. These trips can take days and often a few months salary. They go through a screening process where it is decided what surgery they will have and then they get the all important surgery date.

I, as a hand therapist, work with all the plastic patients to ensure that the life changing surgery that they have is not a waste and they regain the function they had previously lost or in some cases never had. I see the patients the day before their surgery and the excitement and nervous butterflies are palpable in the room. During this time I take measurements and videos in order for us to track their progress and improvement from surgery and therapy. Normally after this pre-op (that's the technical name for it) I wave them off and only get to see them after their surgery.

This little joy is Elina who had a neck, axilla and elbow contracture release.

The actual operation has always interested me as I had seen the incredible changes in a person's spiritual, emotional and physical aspects just from an hour or two on a opertaiton table. We are lucky enough on this ship to be able to observe surgeries. Exactly a week ago I was in the OR with the talented Dr Tertius Venter (he is from SA). They were running late on one of the surgeries so I was lucky enough to observe 2 surgeries that day. The first surgery I observed was an axilla (armpit) contracture release. In order to release the contracture they make use of skin grafts. In this instance he used a split thickness skin graft which was taken from her thigh. If you are easily affected by blood I would not suggest you watch one of these surgeries as they take what looks like a cheese slicer and strip a piece of skin from the thigh. They then stretch it out with a special machine. The surgeons make it look so easy that I was ready to go up and offer my hand at it (I am well aware that it takes alot more skill than what it seemed). The sugery took just over half an hour and a woman who before wouldn't of been able to functionally used her arm because it was stuck to her side is now able to use her arm freely.

Dr Tertius Venter, our plastic surgeon straight from SA :) 

The next surgery I watched was extra special because I had done his pre-op. He was a really sweet man who was so excited for his surgery. He suffered from a condition called syndactly which can be a congenital condition (birth) or in his case was cause by a burn to his fingers  which when they healed got stuck together. He had previously had surgery to try correct this but the surgeons that did it bandaged his fingers together after the surgery. This is just an example of the healthcare that majority of our patients receive in Madagascar. This specific patient was nervous about the surgery and had every right to be with his previous experience. He was light in skin colour and was very aware of how his scarring looked and was desperate to get his hand looking and functioning as normal as possible. For his surgery they used the same method as the other surgery mentioned above but it was a bit different because it was his fingers. He had to cut the stretched skin and carefully place it over the places where he had cut. In the surgery before they used staples to attach the skin but here they used sutures to attach the skin inbetween the fingers and on the palm. Watching sutures is quite magical as they require such skill and precision, the surgeon just moves his tools and suddenly the skin is attached where it needs to be. Because of the burn he had also lost movement in his MCPJs (metacarpal phalangeal joints), basically his knuckles, so during the surgery Tertius stretched them out alot after cutting and releasing the fingers. This was quite gruesome to watch as he was able to get a full fist where before the man couldn't even bend down close to his palm. When the surgeon is done and has closed he now needs to splint the patient in the position he is aiming for. In this case he splinted his fingers into a fist using casting material. In some countries the Occupational Therapist/ Hand Therapist would be splinting in surgery but because of time constraints here and also the success of the casting a splint is only made after the second dressing change with most clients.

Me all scrubbed up to observe surgery

Watching these surgeries was so educational for me as I understood what had gone on in between the times I had seen the client. It also helped me realise the work that had gone into changing their lives and what a responsibility I had to make sure that I contiuned the process and gave the client the best chance they had of a functional life. The majority of the patients I have been seeing are burn contractures. One of my clients was burnt when he was 6 months old and only now at the age of 31years has he received the surgery he so badly needed. This can only happen by the donations from all of you and the amazing people on the ship that give up their time to come serve these people. I am so privledged to be here and to be receiving such amazing experience and working with the best surgeons in the world. There are only 3 weeks left but I hope to find the time to share with you more about my journey here. It is so hard to put into words the life change that occurs on this ship.

What it's like to live on the African Mercy

I was very apprehensive coming onto the ship because I have never lived in such close proximity with so many people. Before I came I heard that we would be placed in a birth (room) with between 6 and 10 people. Hearing that had me worried as all of those people would be women.

So I was placed in a 6 berth cabin which is about the size of my bedroom. This means that I live in VERY close contact to those around me. We sleep in bunk beds and are lucky to have cubicles with curtains on each one so that we have a little bit of privacy. I had such lovely welcome words on my door when I arrived. I sleep on the top bunk which can be quite interesting when you have to use the bathroom at night as there have been certain stories of people falling down the ladders. My roommate is such a sweetie. She is an older lady from Switzerland who doesn't speak much English but tries her hardest to always make sure that I am comfortable and ok. At night when I need the bathroom she will turn the light on if she hears me getting up.

My cupboard is a lot bigger than what I thought. I could of easily brought more clothes but they wouldn't be needed as I am in scrubs all week long. We also have shelves to put our books and other things on. Our cabin has its own bathroom with a shower and toilet. We even have space in our cabin for a shoe rack which saves alot of space.

Living with so many people definately has its pros and cons

Pros:

• Always someone to talk to at any time of the night
• Fashion consultant instead of a mirror
• New experiences e.g. people eating weird things
• Learning new languages
• Infinite possibilties of meeting new people because there are always people arriving and departing 

Cons:

• Hard to get alone time unless you leave the ship
• Sharing a bathroom with 5 other people does cause some challenges when you need to pee
• Misunderstandings that arise from living with people with different cultural backgrounds
• Everything is new and it takes a while to settle in

My beautiful room (top bunk)

P.S Since I started writing this blog I have moved into the cubicle next door (still in the same cabin). I have a really awesome bunk buddy whom provides me with CRAZY amounts of humor haha. 

Salama

Salama Friends and Family

I finally have a chance to sit down and write about the adventures I have had thus far. I thought that it would be hard to find things to write and talk about but so much has already happened in the few days that I have been here.

It was so special to spend my last day in SA with my cousin Lauren and her family in Pretoria. There is something about hanging out with family that is so relaxing and supportive. They really blessed me with love and quality time. The best part though was hanging out with little Zoom Zoom (Zoe) who is just a bundle of joy and fun.

The whole international flight thing really scared me as I had never travelled internationally alone before and I was scared that something would go wrong. Luckily everything went smoothly and I made it through in good time. When I arrived at the gate I got the greatest surprise of a girl wearing a Mercy Ships hat. I sat for awhile and wondered if it would be weird to go and introduce myself but then decided to just bite the bullet. I am so glad I did because through it I made my first 3 friends.

Marie-Claire was the one wearing the Mercy Ships hat. She is from Australia but originally from Puerto-Rico. Her role on the ships is an OR Nurse.

Marie-Claire

Next was Krista who is from Canada. She will be working as a PACU Nurse. I was extremely excited to hear that she was also staying for 3 months and was keen to go on adventures too.

Krista with her first taste of litchi

Lastly was Jan who had served before on Mercy Ships. She is a real hoot and you are sure to never have a dull moment with her around.

Jan 

Meeting these ladies defintely put my mind at ease because if this is what the rest of the Mercy Ships crew was like then I would be fine.

Safely arrived in Madagascar

I was luckily enough to have 3 seats to myself on the plane flight so I invited Claire (Marie-Claire) to come sit next to me. The next 3 hours flew by with us talking the whole way there. Upon arrival we were quite overwhelmed with the paperwork we were required to fill out but luckily we were met by Cathy who helped us through the process.


I thought I would be prepared for poverty because I have experienced it first hand in South Africa but it still hit me like a ton of bricks. The houses are all on top of each other with people flooding the streets. All the houses had a french influence to them but were so run down it was barely noticable. We were taken through small roads and eventually came to our guest house. The people in Madagascar are lovely and so hospitable.

The capital, Antananarivo

My room where I was sleeping reminded me of the place we went to in Pennington with our youth group (as you can see in the pictures).  Me and Krista were roomies. I spent most of the time outside watching the storm go crazy and then watching the most incredible sunset which I felt was a warm welcome to all of us.

Toilets 

The trip the next day to Tamatave was an experience to say the least. Two near head on collisions, toilets in the ground, roller-coaster type roads etc. You catch my drift.

Our bus for the 9 hour trip to Tamatave

Finally arriving at the ship was a flood of emotions. The excitement build up from the last few months and the long journey to get to it just made the waterworks flow (I was doing so well before that).

View upon arrival 

My welcome balloons from Michelle :)

So the ship is pretty huge. Took 2 tours and a few walks around to kind of know my way around it. I work on the dock which is nice because at least I still see sunlight. My team that I work with are amazing and it is just so incredible having God the centre of it all. We start every morning with a devotional time and then can pray for patients when we feel like we need to.

Mhairi

I have made an awesome scottish friend when I arrived. Her name is Mhairi. She had been travelling around Madagascar for the last month. Her job on the ship is a dentist. She is so much fun and has a love for adventure and is kind of like a local now.

Katy with the cast I made 

I have also been learning so much. I have an incredible co-worker Katy who has been teaching me so much. She is such a sweetheart and has so much experience behind her so I am really enjoying learning. She is a pro at casting so I made my first cast and this morning (2/12) I did my first cast on a patient. Was such a cool feeling :)

Another amazing thing about the ship is they employ day workers who are local people that are assigned a department to work with. They function as translators but have been learning how to do some of our treatments. We have an amazing guy called Marco that works with us. He is so talented and is so much fun to have around. He is also teaching me Malagasy which is going pretty well.

Marco with his drawing 

I am so sorry it has taken so long to post this (I have been doing a little bit every day since Monday). There are so many other things that have happened but there isn't enough time to tell all of them. Please feel free to contact me and we can chat about my time here :)

I am still looking for donations for my trip. If you would like to donate my banking details are:

I got litchis from the locals 

FNB

Account Holder Name: K H Wills

Account No.: 62445765045

Branch No.: 220426

Type of Account: Cheque Account

Please put reference: *MERCY SHIPS* 

Valema

Kaylee

38 days and counting....

So today is 38 days till my big adventure. I have been counting the days and updating everyone regularly, but only recently has it started to become a reality. When I found out on the 1st July it was so real, but having to wait so long has caused me to get caught up with work and other things. I have had so many people in the past few days ask how many days to go and ask me how I feel about it, that I got really emotional on Sunday afternoon.

When I say emotional it involves both good and bad emotions. I keep looking at posts by Mercy Ships and am so excited to be a part of the life change for many of the patients, while I am there. From the pictures I have seen the island of Madagascar is possibly one of the most beautiful islands to visit and somewhere that I have been wanting to travel to. I can't wait to go exploring and meet the local people when I have breaks. There is something about going to places where people have so little yet they are so content with what they have and still have so much joy. I look forward to this trip for how it is going to change my life. It is a little bit daunting going by myself without knowing a soul on the ship, but I am keen to “start afresh” meeting new people and enjoy getting to know them.

I don't know if you can call them bad emotions I think it is just my inner self having a mini freak out. My family is my everything and have been geographically close and there for me throughout my life; so it is going to be tough not being able to have them within easy reach. It will also be a good thing, as I will have to 100% fend for myself and I am sure I will grow because of it. I also started to think about all the friendships I have made this year and even though its only a short 3 months, you still miss out on peoples' lives. On the ship I do have access to WiFi internet, but because of my busy schedule I won't have much time to communicate with everyone back home. I do hope that I will be able to blog often, in order to update everyone on my time and the experiences I am having. 

This trip has come at the perfect time in my life and I truly believe God is involved in everything that has happened this far and will be with me throughout. He put Philippians 4 vs 13 on my heart at the moment which says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". Although I am a strong cookie and determined to make the most of this, this scripture will become even more real to me during this adventure.

I am still needing funding for my trip especially for my account on the ship. Should you be interested in sponsoring me please go onto my mercy ships account page http://mercyships-us.donorpages.com/crewmates/KayleeWills.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and please respond in the comments section should you want to chat to me or ask me any questions :) 

Kaylee Wills = PIN CUSHION

 Nervously waiting for my injections

So this is a long overdue post since I was a pin cushion nearly a month ago already. Yes thats right a pin cushion haha. My injections weren't nearly as bad as everyone had told me they would be but I definitely could have done without them. I still have to go back in the next 2 weeks for boosters so bring on more injections. But for those of you who tried to scare me, I was apparently the perfect patient and very relaxed. God had my back :)

A total of 5 HUGE injections

The aftermath (pin cushion arm)

Don't look if you hate injections haha

One of the the special donations I have had towards my trip has been one that has come indirectly from my granny. She passed away quite a few year ago now but had left my mom with some shares. My gran had a big heart for the poor and needy and would go out of her way to help them or lend a helping hand. My mom made the decision to sell these shares in order to give me money towards my trip. I think my gran would have wanted this and been very proud to see what I am doing with my life and especially because I am following the dreams god has placed in my heart. I think she would be even happier if I met a Jewish boy on the trip to marry (she was a huge lover of god's chosen people) haha.

I just want to extend a huge thank you to those of you that have already donated to my adventure. It has allowed me to pay for flights and have my immunisations done.

My US Dollar account on the ship is now open and accessible for secure donations in any currency: Simply click on my Fundraising Site address below to visit my personal fundraising page @ http://mercyships-us.donorpages.com/crewmates/KayleeWills to make a secure online donation.  The graphic on the RHS of the page indicates the amount still outstanding for my accommodation and meals on the ship. This is my account on the ship from where I pay my boarding from, the amount needed here is $1 500.

I am still needing funds in my South African account for things, such as medical aid and cellphone contract. The amount still needed in this account is R15 000. The account details for a contribution towards these costs are as follows:

FNB

Account Holder Name: K H Wills

Account No.: 62445765045

Branch No.: 220426

Type of Account: Cheque Account

Please put reference: *MERCY SHIPS* 

Stay tuned for the next installment of the blog which will hopefully be sooner than later. :)

Plane tickets booked...No turning back

I sat at the travel agent while my payment was being processed and it suddenly got very real to me (also cause that's the most amount of money I have ever spent in one sitting). I decided to only book my international flights through a travel agent and do the domestic flights myself as I get discount with Discovery and Kulula. It turned out that my domestic flights came to R922 and I had R972 in Discovery Miles so got my domestic flights for free, God is so good. 

I leave for my big adventure on the 27th November 2015 and will go spend the day and night with my amazing cousin Lauren and her fandamily. I decided to do this as to not take any chances with missing flights, sleeping in airports etc. My flight to Madagascar leaves the next day at 10:00 am and is only a 4 hour flight which is great for people like me who seem to get sick on every international flight. My whole trip will be just over 3 months in length and I will arrive back on South African shores on the 29th February 2016 (will only be back on the 1st March in Durban though)

I had an sms that came through the other day with a donation of R1500 into my account. I just want to say a huge thank you to this person and everyone else that has donated. I am truly so blessed to have so many people that believe in me.

I have been putting them off but next blog will be about the infamous injections...

Destination: Mercy Ships

So I have decided to start blogging again as I have been accepted to go onto an incredible adventure: MERCY SHIPS :) :) :)

My journey to Mercy Ships

I have always had the sense of adventure in me from a young age. This sense of adventure never left me and during my community service year last year, it was revived again with me working in the community and being away from home. I had the desire to travel somewhere new and help those in need, while gaining valuable life experience.

I started my new job at the beginning of this year and enjoyed the work, met amazing people and got such incredible experience. I still had this need inside of me to go on an adventure, but had no idea to where and to do what. I had been praying to God for a while about it and stumbled upon Mercy Ships while scrolling Facebook one day. The excitement that brewed up inside of me while looking through the photos and reading the success stories was immeasurable. While on holiday in PE my cousin was praying for me and confirmed that this was the right direction for me to go in. The whole process to applying for the ship took some time, as it required a full medical examination, in-depth application process, references and paperwork. It took me about a month to get it all together and at the end I started having doubts as to if I should go.  I submitted my application anyway and hoped for the best. A turning point in the whole process was when I sat down with my mom, sister in law and friend who drilled into me the desire that God had put inside of my heart and challenged me not to doubt it, as it is His plan and so I should not fear.

On the 1^st July I was officially accepted onto the ship - the joy that exploded upon hearing the news, was amazing. God is so good. I start my service on the 29^th November and finish on the 27^th February 2016.

What is Mercy Ships?

Mercy Ships is an American based organisation that has a ship “Africa Mercy” that has a fully equipped hospital on the ship that provides first-rate medical professionals, state-of-the-art medical and surgical facilities and health-care training to communities in West Africa, that lack those critical services. The ship is currently in Madagascar, which is where they will be for the next year and therefore where I will be placed. Please take a look at the following links for more information and to see some of the amazing pictures and stories that touched my heart.

Website: http://www.mercyships.org.za/home.html

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MercyShips?fref=ts

Instagram: mercyships

What will I be doing on the ship?

I have been accepted as the hand therapist during my stay on the Africa Mercy. This requires me to provide a specialist rehabilitation service for post-operative plastic surgery patients following burns, contracture release and correction of congenital deformities.

While on the ship I will be living in a multi-berth (6-10 beds) in a cabin which has no windows or a porthole.I will be sharing the space with other women working on the ship. Storage space is limited to a small closet and one small drawer. This is all going to be quite an adjustment as I am used to living on my own and having all the clothes that I need available. My parents were kind enough to buy me an early christmas present of a Kway duffel bag that they advised we used instead of a suitcase because it is easier to store away. 

My early Christmas present from my parents 

Mercy ships relies on a team of volunteer crew members who pay their own room and board, travel and personal expenses while serving. This allows the general Mercy Ships donations to be used for direct patient care, community development programs and other costs associated with its field service initiatives. 

I want to thank the following people who have donated or pledged to my adventure so far:

• Fawn and Nigel Jopson
• Christie and Steve Roberts
• Dave and Tracey Mclearie
• Craig Mannheim
• Tina Chetty
• Errol Wills 
• Gabi and Brad Wills
• Dan and Rachel Smither
• Lauren and Paul Henning
• Lorin Ash
• Coral and Alan Wills 
• Hayley and Ryan Braun

Please contact me on kaylzwilz@gmail.com if you would like to be involved in some way.

My next part of my journey is booking my flights and getting around 8 injections so watch this space to hear more...

Week 4...It is nearly over

The stress is starting to creep its way in with the end drawing near, how time has flown by.

There was a huge change from last week in the Wellness Group which is a group I run on a Monday for the older ladies in the community. The week before was disastrous with nothing going right and I was ready to give up but decided to push on and try something different this week. It started on Monday morning phoning to see who was coming and reminding them to bring their photos. There were a few that mentioned that they weren't interested in scrap booking so I had planned to do it with those that had brought photos. Well by the end of it everyone that didn't have a photo was planning their scrap booking page for the next week because they could see they were missing out. I think it was because the session was more activity based than a discussion. One of the key aspects of group formation is for the leader to build rapport and I really left that principle out for the first session so by bringing in an activity that allows me to learn more about them and help them do it really helped with forming relationships with each of the ladies. I was also surprised with how much they got into the activity, I had to upgrade a lot by giving them the decorative scissors and not so much assistance and they came up with some brilliant end products as you can see in the picture below. Unfortunately I only have one more session left with these lovely ladies but this is definitely a group the next team needs to carry on because they are the heart of the community and are needing more constructive things to spend their time on.

Khetiwe this week was a challenge because the lady who normally runs it was out on a home visit and there was only one child coming and it was for the Speech Therapists and not us OTs so we were confused as to why we were there. Nevertheless we decided to play some games with the child and screen and see what OT intervention could be done. This child has a very mild form of Cerebral Palsy so therefore was very functional but wasn't communicating, she had difficulty with gross motor, hand function and perception. We made up activities on the spot for treatment because we had no knowledge of the case and no time to plan so we did what OTs do best, on the spot therapy planning. We did an activity with sticking numbers one-by-one onto the mirror with water and then taking them off one-by-one again which worked on hand function, body awareness, sensory etc. The child responded so well to the activity and was motivated afterwards to be involved with other therapy activities placed in front of her. It was so encouraging because we haven't had much experience with children yet and we were able to have a 2-hour therapy session with the child and the Speech Therapists even got involved and added their bit to the activities. It just showed us what it is going to be like when we are qualified and how important it is to maximize the time that you have with a child because they are only seen once a month and you need to make that time count.

Friday was such an amazing day because we finally got around to painting a play area for the children. The majority of the children that attend the schools in the community are bused in and because of this they are left with nothing to do after school while they wait to be picked up. The group before us came up with the idea of painting on the tarred open area and turning it into a play area for the children for better use of their time after school. Play is defined as a transaction between the individual and the environment that is intrinsically motivated, internally controlled and free from many of the constraints of objective reality (Bundy, 1991, Another more simpler definition of play is it can be spontaneous or as part of a planned activity. Play can be defined as a physical or mental activity that has no purpose or objective outside of pure enjoyment or amusement (Definition of play, 2004). Play is a very important area in a child's life and has many benefits such as:
1. Better Behaviour- It gives the child a chance to blow off some steam and therefore will be less frustrated and perform better in the classroom.
2. Teamwork- Teaches children to play together by making them aware of other's feelings and their own which therefore teaches them skills that they can use later on in life.
3. Movement- Play that is physical will encourage children to become more active in their later life and therefore will lower their risks of getting heart disease and other illnesses.
4. Learning- It has been proven that children that are able to acheive and pass tests during play are more likely to do well in academic tests because they are learning fundamental concepts during play.
5. Fun- Play is a natural part of childhood and it is a chance for a child to explore their imagination and have fun with their friends.
and lots more.

One very exciting project that has been started in this block is a Facebook page. This was started to keep the residents informed of what projects we were running in the community and updates of any events or pictures that we want to share. The residents already have their own group where they discuss important issues happening in the community but this is closed to the community members. We have been very excited with the response we have gotten on our Facebook page with people liking and commenting. Here is the link to the page if you would like to view it-https://www.facebook.com/otinmariannridge. There is still a lot more that can be done with the Facebook page but it will be a handover for the next group.

So this is it....FINAL WEEK!!! This brings with it a lot of work and the tying up of loose ends. There is also lots of fun things happening this week like finishing the play area, assessing a child, hippotherapy, newspaper articles etc. So watch this space for a full report on my final week in the community.

History of Mariannridge

Here is a link to a site explaining the history of Mariannridge and some stories of the people involved in the community.

http://wiki.ulwazi.org/index.php5?title=Marianridge

Week 3...Not the greatest

So this week was a toughie. It was filled with letdowns and having the strikes happening at the schools meant that we couldn't do a lot of what was planned. But we just did what OTs do best, we made a plan on the spot.

The teachers have been on a go slow since the April holidays because they are wanting a wage increase and added to this the parents are wanting to strike because they have not received the term 1 reports because of the go slow. The teachers have been warned that they need to attend school for the whole day in order to get paid but the ones in Mariannridge have been at the police station during the day and the schools have been closed. These strikes have been going on for the whole week and it has caused them to close the schools for the childrens' safety even though their is no violence happening. This all has caused the children who are bused in and live in the community to come and sit around, waiting to see when the school will be open in order to get an education. This is a huge concern to my group and I because there is a big drug and alcohol problem in the community and they are needing something to spend all this extra time on. We have intervened with impromptu educational sessions with the smaller children with the use of play dough, stories, games outside etc. We need to look into a programme that we could run with the high school children that are sitting around because they are loosing out on important lessons. An idea that was put onto the Mariannridge residents forum was getting the parents to take over some of the lessons in order to ensure there is some continuation of their studies. This is something that will be spoken about this next week when we will identify a solution to this problem that has affected the community. For articles on the strikes please refer to the following articles:
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Dept-Poor-hardest-hit-by-teacher-strike-20130424
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Govt-shocked-disappointed-in-Sadtu-20130425
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Strike-and-be-disciplined-teachers-warned-20130423
And here is a video done on the Mariannridge Community about the strikes:

This wellness group I am running seems that it is also going to be a challenge. The grannies that attend have a tough life at home taking care of their families and their households so when they come and attend the wellness group they are just wanting to gossip and forget about their own lives, this is not constructive. I tried to run a reminiscent group reflecting on their lives and sharing their photos but nearly everyone forgot their photos or everyone spoke during the group. They had said in the book I am using for the group that it should be done in a big group but I think they will benefit more from smaller groups in order to focus their attention on what is happening in the activity in front of them. We will be testing out scrap booking with them in the next session.

One of the highlights of the week was going to Hippotherapy on the Tuesday.The American Hippotherapy Association, Inc., defines hippotherapy as a physical, occupational or speech therapy treatment strategy that utilizes equine movement. The word hippotherapy derives from the Greek word hippos, meaning horse. The term hippotherapy refers to the use of the movement of the horse as a treatment strategy by physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech/language pathologists to address impairments, functional limitations and disabilities in patients with neuromotor and sensory dysfunction. This treatment strategy is used as part of an integrated treatment program to achieve functional goals. This has been an interest of mine so I was extremely excited to attend. We worked with SARDA (South African Riding for the Disabled Association) www.sarda.co.za at their stables in Shongweni. We were inspired by the stories they told us of hippotherapy helping children communicate, calming them and improve their muscle tone. Here is a video explaining what Hippotherapy is and the benefits of it done by an organisation in America, a similar one was filmed while we were there which we star in so keep a look out for the SARDA promotional video.

The one thing that I love about Occupational Therapy is that you can have a really bad week but you will always find the positives and use them in order to improve the negatives, we look at a person's abilities rather than focusing on their disabilities. I look forward to this next week and know that it can only be better than the last week because we are looking forward and change will happen.

Autism=Intelligence

An amazing story of a girl who has Autism and the amazing progress she has made.

Week 2 in the community...."on the way up"

WOW what a week it has been, coming in from last week when we were so overwhelmed with everything happening and the things that we still needed to do, and now its the end of the week and we have found new ways to overwhelm ourselves. The thing about community is the more you start to understand the community, the more you find the needs and want to meet all of them. We have added a few new projects this week because we have found a need and its too big to just ignore. It has been great though because we have all found projects that we have a passion for and are coming up with great ideas. 

My new project is the wellness group that runs on a Monday from 10 till 1, it involves a group of older ladies that get together to perform Leisure activities but mainly gossip with each other. Meeting them on Monday was just such a great start to the week because they all welcomed us with open arms and there is so much love in that room. There is though a need for them to be involved in more planned activities with the aim to prevent the effects of old age e.g loss of memory, joint problems. So I have decided to base the group on Reminiscence Therapy which is defined by the American Psychological Association (APA) as 'the use of life histories-written, oral or both-to improve psychological well being." It is used to help maintain good mental health, boredom reduction, reducing stress, prepare for death, conversation, finding identity, maintaining and introducing new relationships, problem solving, and to teach/inform. These aims and principles will be melded with activities to make it fun and functional. For the first week we will be doing a scrap booking activity. They will be using a photo from "the good old days" and will each be required to explain why they chose that photo and the importance of it to them. They will then get creative and design a special page around this photo to put up in their houses. Other activities that will be introduced are knitting items for the community, cooking meals together which will focus on their senses, memories related to everyday objects etc. This is such an exciting project because these ladies are the heart of the community and have a huge influence on it. To target them and help them will in turn help the community because they are living with the families and have influence on those younger than them. 

One of the biggest breakthroughs this week was our meeting with the counselor  The group before had struggled the whole of their block to see him but we finally got through to him and were able to meet with him. During the meeting we discussed with him the projects that we were doing in the community and what the problems and drawbacks were that we had found. He showed lots of interest in what we were doing and identified with the problems that we had found. He then asked us to make a list for him of the things that we would like him to do for us because he was having a meeting with the big boss and wanted to bring up the list. He also organised a meeting with us on Monday when he will bring the people who could help us and discuss what the plan would be to move forward and better the community. All of this got us very excited because if he came through on all of the asks we would be able to do even more in the community. After the meeting however we discussed it with our supervisor and members of the previous group and they voiced some concerns of us being too excited and the possibility of him not delivering on all his promises. It took me back because I tend to be very optimistic and always think the best of people and believe that they will deliver on what they say, but getting this reality check was good for me because it made me realise that he might not deliver on everything and I shouldn't be disappointed if he does. I am still excited and hoping for the best but even if we get one thing that we asked for it would be great because we are also wanting to improve his relationship with the community members. 

One of my tasks that I had for this week was assessing both the Grade R classes at the creche which proved tougher than I thought. I designed an obstacle course to assess their gross motor abilities, they then moved onto a cut and colour activity and finally copied one part of the VMI. The children took a great liking to the obstacle course and all wanted to do it at the same time which was a problem for the one doing the course because they were being distracted by those wanting to do the course. This was solved by having the rest of the class waiting inside till they were called to come do the obstacle course. The other two parts of the assessment were done as a group which helped show the difference in the work speed. We noticed lots of delays in gross motor, fine motor and perception. One child was struggling with the activities because he was unable to see out of one of his eyes, his glasses had broken a long time ago and nothing had been done about it so he was struggling in school. It is so sad that a lack of information and finances could lead to this child been delayed in school because he is unable to see. Plans are being made to take him to Spec Savers for a free assessment and frames so that the assessment can be redone and see if there are any problems. 

All in all it has been a very productive week with lots of planning and foundation work that will hopefully start producing change from this next week. We are all so excited about the meeting with the counselor on Monday and are hoping he comes through with his promises. There are three short weeks left and so much still to do. I will leave you with this quote, I have found this in community, it isn't about you and your ego but rather about the bigger picture and wanting to make a change and using your talents to do so.

This is what gets us through each week...