Jillian learning much about social work

The original social worker at Sarah Fox returned from maternity leave last week and I’ve already learned so much from her. I liked the previous social worker also, but I wasn’t given as many opportunities as I am now. I’ve been able to observe more counseling sessions and I have more independence to talk to the children and families. Last week, I went to Child Welfare to talk to another social worker about one of the patients at Sarah Fox. I really enjoyed that beacuase I was able to learn about another organization and learn more about child protection. My internship has been such an amazing learning experience, but it’s also been difficult to see so many children suffering because of neglect. Many of the children end up returning to the hospital once they’ve left due to malnutrition because they aren’t being properly cared for. It’s frustrating to see children neglected, but a lot of the time it’s because the parents aren’t educated enough. I experienced this firsthand when I attended one of the parent support groups at Sarah Fox. At the support group, the Sarah Fox staff educates the parents as best as they can on health, nutrition, and social services. I was surprised to see how uneducated the parents were and how important it is to speak in very simple language and keep things basic. When educating them on nutrition, many of them didn’t know what foods have protein or what foods were healthy in the demonstration. Sarah Fox is a great resource to educate families, but there are still so many people who aren’t getting a good education. This makes me question what South Africa is doing to help and why there doesn’t seem to be any improvement. My experience in Cape Town has been beautiful, but my eyes have been opened to the many struggles people face here and that only makes me want to help more.