Learning New Things Everyday

Where Ghandi started out...AMAZING
All the nursing majors and Philip-our driver

Me and Kels!
Lions!
Allison and I!
Allison, me and Kelsey!

the whole group at the Birds of Prey Sanctuary
me with Drea!!!!
The dinner group :-)
waiting for dinner!
on the way back from the movie!
Tea time with nursing majors!!!!

Alright, finally a little time to write J. Where to start…I suppose I’ll start in chronological order.

Thursday- We had our first clinical. It was extremely intense. Teresa, Bri, and I went to Ethembeni Hospice in a township called Mpophomeni. We started the day by getting briefed by the registered nurse that works at the hospice center. She told us that it was a non-government organization. It takes 100,000 rand a month to fund it. I believe that is somewhere around 14,000 dollars. It was so different than a hospice in America. Not only was it dirty, but also the women that take care of the patients are not registered nurses. However, everyone affiliated with this organization was AMAZING. So sweet and helpful. We were able to go on home visits with members of the church (a church helps run the hospice). The home visits broke my heart and changed my perspective. (all in the course of about two hours) First, driving through the community was heartbreaking to me. There was trash that just littered and lined the streets. Goats roaming the roads along with roosters and cats. Some of the homes were just four walls and dirt floor and a make shift roof. All of the people we visited had AIDS. One of them had TB and one of them had diabetes. However, most of them contained a joy that I have never seen in my entire life. Almost like they knew something we didn’t. The children were so precious. They were so well behaved, and just smiled and giggled at you! The church people visited the same four people every other week and brought them food. It was amazing to see the relationships they had built. Almost like a little glimpse of how the Church is supposed to work. After home visits, the pastor of the church that ran Ethembeni, and all of the workers and volunteers had a party. The party was for a couple that was retiring from serving with Ethembeni. The Zulu women sang and danced for them. It was amazing. I loved getting to see the impact they made. The entire party was translated from English to Zulu and vice versa. Amazing. The love they had for each other was so genuine. There was no bitterness towards those more privileged, and there was no disgust towards those less privileged. All biases seemed to be put aside, and the group just worshipped together and loved on each other. They also welcomed us with open arms. They wanted to include us in the entire celebration. It was an extremely eye-opening clinical day for sure. Tomorrow (Tuesday) Bri, Teresa, and I return to Ethembeni. However tomorrow will be hospice visits. Please pray for guidance and that God will open our hearts to the people.

Friday- Friday we had chapel and the rest of the day I did homework. For dinner a few of us went down the road to a restaurant called Keg and Hedgehog. We got American(ish) food and watched Rugby! SO fun! Then we returned and did more homework J.

Saturday- we all went on an excursion to Pietermaritzburg. In the morning we went to the Birds of Prey sanctuary where we were able to see a show and walk around seeing different types of birds of prey. Fun fact: South Africa has 81 different birds of prey…US has 31 or 32. Amazing! After that, we went to a lion reserve. We were not allowed to drive into the reserve because last week a bus drove in and was attacked. So we stayed outside J. Gorgeous but vicious animals! Then we went to get an amazing view of all of Pietermaritzburg from the top of a hill! Loved it! Finally, we ended at the mall where Reg treated us all to something to drink and a slice of cake! Best cheesecake EVER! The night consisted of LOTS of homework for me J However a bunch of nursing majors went running, then at night we all did an ab workout in a huge conference room on the big screen…so fun!

Sunday-We had the option of going to three different churches. I went to a church called North Hills. The interesting thing was that it does not have a pastor. It is run by a board of elders that take turns preaching. The people LOVE each other. It is such a great picture of genuine community. Grandparents, children, and grandchildren all attend there. It is a very family oriented church. They welcomed us with open arms as well! One of the girls invited us for a picnic next Sunday after church! So sweet! Once again, the rest of the day was filled with LOTS of homework! OH! I almost forgot…I was sleeping after church on Sunday….I heard noises so I woke up. THERE WERE TWO MONKEYS IN MY ROOM! We had left a window open that had netting on it so monkeys cant enter, but they got in anyways! I screamed! One left with an apple. The other jumped to the window and started to leave. Then it looked at me, jumped down and grabbed a banana (typical), and jumped up and crawled out. I was still screaming! Then they ate sitting right outside my window! How rude!

The best way to describe what I’m feeling now is overwhelmed. School keeps getting more and more. We just found out that our teaching projects we worked so hard on don’t apply to the communities here. (long story). In addition, I’m exhausted and have been feeling sick for a few days. Once again, I just continue to pray for strength every day from Him. I would ask that you pray for my health and my spirit…to be renewed and reenergized. Tomorrow for clinical I am going to need to be well rested. Please pray for clinical tomorrow! Also, please pray that God will reveal my purpose in all of this to me. Love you all so much! Miss you bunches!

Love,

Jeanna