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...
Monday, August 31, 2015
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
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
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.
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:
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 1st 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 29th November and finish on the 27th
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.
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 |
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...
Sunday, May 5, 2013
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.
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.
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