Becca has just begun her journey to bcoming the best version of herself

So I know that it has been awhile since I have written a blog post. It is so hard to believe that I have been back in the US for a month now. Adjusting back to life in the US has definitely had its ups and downs, which I was definitely expecting. It has been so great to see all my family and friends and to talk with them about the wonderful time I had in South Africa. It is also just difficult sharing everything that happened to me while I was in South Africa. So much happened in the three and a half months I was there, it is hard to just pick a place to start sharing my experiences, and even harder to share the new beliefs and values that I now believe in. That this is because of difficulty of not being able to fully express just how my time in South Africa has changed me as a person, which I think is the most important part about my time in South Africa. I think that people do realize that I have changed but I don’t think they realize just in what ways I have changed. And the only way they are really going to see that change is time.

It is also extremely difficult to feel that kind of satisfaction that I got from working in South Africa compared to working here in the US.  I have been volunteering at a hospital close to me, hoping it would help me readjust, but it is just makes me miss working at Tafelsig Clinic even more. I miss the fast-paced working place Tafelsig, where I was really looking at the health of the patient on all facets of their life, whereas volunteering at the hospital, it is very business-like and just about finding what is wrong and getting them out. There is just a lack of compassion in the hospital compared to Tafelsig, and I really miss that compassion.  

I also miss living at the house and seeing everyone. My house is a little bit too quiet now a days, which I am not used to after living with everyone for so long. I also miss the spontaneous way that we live while in South Africa, always making last minute plans and just going with the flow. It doesn’t always work like that here in the US just because people already have their plans set of what they are going to do. I definitely took that way of living for granted while I was there and I do miss it a lot.

Not to say that everything has been awful since returning to the US. I was definitely happy to see my family again, especially my sister who I missed a lot and I was glad to find out she was doing great. I also missed my friends, so seeing them again was so great. I am also looking forward to the future because my time in South Africa has made me realize that I do want to see more of the world and explore places because the world is filled with amazing people, and I want to meet as many as I can. Even though my time in South Africa is over, I know that it is only the beginning of my journey to be the best version of myself that I can possibly be. I will never forget my time in Cape Town and I know I will carry all that I have learned from my time there. So thank you Cape Town, it has truly been amazing.  

Becca finding similarities between South Africa and the United States

Even though I have been here for three months or so, the similarities in the problems that South Africa and the United States face are just frightening. With the xenophobic attacks that have been occurring in Durban and Johannesburg, I can’t help but to draw similarities to the topic of illegal immigrants in the US. And what is incredibly shocking was that people believe that foreigners are taking all the jobs from citizens and everything. But that is just not true. And at least most of the people that I have talked to are not just jumping on the bandwagon or anything. In fact most people here really respect their foreign neighbors and everything. But still the violence that I have heard about is just so heartbreaking so horrible. The pictures that I have seen on CNN on an attack in Alexandra, a township outside of Johannesburg, are just horrible. 

 But I wish that people in the US would not be so blind to follow that same bandwagon about foreigners in our country. Like all the myths about undocumented immigrants not paying taxes and using all of our social welfare programs are absolute nonsense. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, illegal immigrants pay taxes but don’t use those services that could actually benefit them so they actually give money to the government. And let’s look at the jobs these people usually have. They are the ones that are doing jobs that are usually working jobs that are paying below minimum wage. Yet there is so much hatred because people believe “facts” that are just not true.  Yet people still spread these lies around. And these lies can lead to violence. It is what appears to be happening here in South Africa so how do we prevent these lies from spreading around in the US.

Becca recognizing the power of student protest

So we are finally back from our trip from Johannesburg. It was a really great trip. And even though I am not much of a museum person, I really liked the ones that we went to in Johannesburg. I think the one I really like was the Hector Peitersen Museum in Soweto. It talked about the Soweto uprising in 1976 when students marched in protest of schools teaching classes in Africans. After the police opened fire killing students, it led to mass protest across the country. I think the most interesting part of all of this is that kids started all this. I think that in this day in age, kids and students are taught that only the adult have the power and the authority and know what is truly best for students. And while that may be the case most of the time, the fact is that students have more power than they realize. We have the power to spark real changes in our society, and this has been proved multiple times, not just in South Africa but in the United States as well. I remember before leaving the US I read that students were protesting because the school board was considering changing the history curriculum to only talk about positive aspects of American history. And when the students protested, the school board listened and didn’t change the curriculum.  When we feel like there is something wrong, whether it be related to our education or any other major social issue, we have the ability to voice our grievances. And from what the track has been showing, people really listen and even engage once kids and students are willing to organize and protest, fighting for what they believe is right.   

Outside the Hector Peitersen Memorial

Becca found excursion helped all she had learned in the classroom to click

Going to Johannesburg and experiencing a different part of Cape Town was really interesting and a great experience. I am not really a museum person but I did enjoy all of the museums that I went to while in Johannesburg. The things we have been learning in Vincent’s class like the Soweto uprising and the Sharpeville Massacre just really came to life and just finally clicked when we went to the museums in saw all the photographs. It was like something just clicked, especially with the Soweto uprisings. I mean they were just kids protesting for a better education and they were shot at by police. I think the Hector Peiterson Museum, because it really does show how much power students, people like me have. They sparked a reaction to the apartheid system across the nation, so even though I really don’t care for politics and everything like that, it was nice to know that when it does come to a being heard, I do have the power to be heard despite being young. 

I also really liked the Nelson Mandela exhibit at the Apartheid Museum. It was really cool seeing pictures of his life that I had read about in “The Long Walk to Freedom”. I also really liked how they had quotes of his about things like courage, loyalty, and other qualities and aspects of life. I thought the quotes were really inspiring and the lay out of the exhibit was really well done. 

The thing that blew my mind about the apartheid was the media coverage about the events like the uprisings and just the violence that people really experienced when it came to the living under the apartheid system. And just the people that I met how experiencing the apartheid and everything. Like Alice from the Sharpeville Memorial was just the sweetest lady ever. The struggle caused her to lose so many family members, including her husband and two of her kids. Yet I found it so strong and inspiring to see her talking about the massacre and how it helped shift the fight in their favor.

What I also liked about excursion was I really got to learn about other problems South Africa faces that I am just not exposed to here in Cape Town. When we went to the Boys and Girls Club in Soweto, I really got to learn about the short-comings in the school systems here. I was cataloguing the kid’s report cards and some of them are not doing so well in school. Some are passing with less than 50% and yet they move onto the next grade. To me that is crazy. Not only that but I met this one little girl there who was partially deaf and she wasn’t attending school. The people at the Boys and Girls Club were trying to get here into a deaf school but they couldn’t find documentation to prove that she was a South African citizen so she just doesn’t go to school or anything. That is just so sad and the whole concept would terrify me. Not being about to effectively communicate with anyone would be so frustrating, and I could tell she was getting frustrated when we were playing with her and everything. It was an eye-opening experience. 

Overall, I really enjoyed travelling to Johannesburg. Just seeing everything and being able to travel to Soweto and Sharpeville really just made everything that we have been learning in the classroom click. And even though Johannesburg was a pretty cool city, to be perfectly honest it feels so good to be back in Cape Town. 

Becca thinking about personal responsibility

After watching “The Light Through the Shadow” video in class and having a long discussion about it, it really got me thinking about taking personal responsibility for our actions. The way that I see it, the main thing about most problems in our society, whether it be racism, sexism, or any other institutionalized problem is that people are not willing to take responsibility for the actions of these institutions. Many people, both in the United States and South Africa, are not willing to look at the institutions that they have established with a critical eye and see that there is a problem that needs to be addressed. In South Africa during the State of the Nation address here a couple of weeks ago, where the rights of the people to access information was denied because of the government decided to jam the cell phones. And later on when people asking Zuma about this and other accusations against him and the ANC, he outright laughed at these comments. But South Africa is not the only one here who have major problems with institutions in our society. The United States has had years of problems associated with racism, whether it is violence involving shootings between police officers and people of color, or whether it is women still not being paid the same as a man for the same position. There are so many institutionalized problems so deeply rooted in both of these nations and everyone has to take responsibility to fix these problems.

While I do say this, I also fear that some people will use the excuse of “society” as a way to not take personal responsibility for their own individual action. I am not really sure how people in general can fix these problems when people won’t take responsibilities for their own personal actions. I see this constantly in the clinic, where many of the patients at the clinic are known as “defaulters”. Defaulters are people who do not take their medication properly and don’t come in to pick up their medications on a monthly basis. And yet they come to the clinic complaining of either being in pain or headaches, come to find out later that if they had just taken their medication none of these problems would be occurring. So I am extremely weary of people trying to fix and change institutionalized powers if they can’t responsibility for their own personal actions. I think once people learn and accept the responsibility and consequences that go along with their own actions, maybe then people can work at fixing institutionalized problems in our society.     

Becca on appreicating community and feeling fully accepted

During the homestay weekend, I only got a taste of how important the word community is here in Cape Town.  But it isn’t just in Ocean View where I have seen this huge sense of community in so many other facets while living here in Cape Town. At the clinic, there have been a couple of patients who have died, not because they were sick or anything, but just due to the violence that is very present in the townships here. There was this one patient that was very kind to all the staff at Tafelsig and even made food for the staff every once in a while and unfortunately she was murdered. Most of the staff was so upset when they found out that she died, even a couple of the nurses that I personally work with were crying. It surprises me that even though there is so much violence in the townships instead of people just protecting themselves separating themselves from people, they come together. They offer each other support and kindness during the ups and the downs in everyone’s life, really showing what a true community is.

I guess I didn’t fully realize this until I returned to Ocean View again. It was really nice returning there and just being able to hang out and play with all the kids. They were just so willing to come up to me, so eager to either play with me or have them read them a story.  It seems whether I am working in the clinic or helping out in Ocean View, everyone is so open to welcoming me in their community and I know that has not always been the case when it comes to people in the United States. Back home, it comes to some of the groups that I have interacted with in the past, I have to act a particular way, but I was never able to fully be myself because I knew that I was going to be judged. But here, I can totally be myself without any fear of being judge too harshly for just being me. It is a really nice change to actually feel accepted.  

Ashlyn, Jillian, Julia, Becca, Chantel, Taylor L, Taylor P, Caitlin and kids from Ocean View

Becca's many reasons to be amazed

It is amazing that even after being here for almost two and a half months, I am still exploring so much about Cape Town. From the amazing worlds under the ocean with amazing kelp forests and creatures around every corner, Cape Town offer just an amazing amount of natural beauty that I never would have imagined could have existed. But there is also all the townships which is nothing but sand and minimal greenery with these people in all these communities struggling to live in this chaotic city on a day to day basis, even after all this time here in Cape Town the two contrasts are still startling to me. In the clinic, things are going pretty well, but even in the clinic you see the despair that people have. Most of the people there just want to have people acknowledge them and for someone to listen, especially when it concerns some illness that they have. But with so many people to take care of in the clinic, especially on the non-appointment/ emergency side where everyone is dealing with some illness in some shape and form. It is hard to keep myself in a happy and chipper mood with all the patients when so many of them are cranky and complaining that things are not going their way.  Take today for example, one of the doctors was sick so there were not any doctors, just nurse practitioners like Sister Castle to attend to the patients. And when the patients heard about this, so many people started complaining and whining even though Sister Castle is very knowledgeable and helpful when it comes to any medical problem one can have. But all the staff are so amazing at talking to all the patients and making sure that they are given the attention that they are needed, so even though the clinic doesn’t have the best resources, the really do maximize what resources they do have and use it very wisely.    

Becca's having fun

So sorry this is late, but I have been doing so many fun activities lately I haven’t really had a lot of time to sit at the computer. Now that I have really established a routine while here in Cape Town, it has been so much easier scheduling all the new and exciting activities that I don’t have the opportunity to do at home. And trust me after hearing about the long snowy winter that my family has been having back at home, I have been spending so much time outdoors. I have hiked up Table Mountain, and trust me after four hours of hiking, it was so worth it. The top of Table Mountain was absolutely gorgeous, and being able to see so much a Cape Town in just one shot, well I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Not only that, but I have been spending plenty of time by the water, one of my absolute favorite things to do. I have been getting certified for scuba diving and on my first ocean dive I saw a seal and he decided to swim around us, almost trying to play with us for a couple of minutes. It was SOOOOOO cool, it was taking all of my willpower not to squeal with delight underwater. Not only have I seen seals, but I have seen great white sharks while cage diving. I will say those things are BIG. A couple of them hit the cage I was in, which was slightly terrifying and at the moment it was really cool and exciting. I guess my adventurous side is starting to come out not only with the cage diving, but I also tried sandboarding. Granted I was not the most graceful person going down on the board, but I didn’t fall too much so I consider that a very successful day in my book. It has been so great to spend so much time outdoors with so many great people.    

Becca noticing stark differences between healthcare in the US and SA

So things are happening so quickly here while in South Africa it is crazy that it is March already. I have been learning so much at Tafelsig and really starting to see the difference between not only how healthcare works between our two countries, but also about different priorities people have between people in the United States and South Africa. Take this week for example, someone died in the community and this woman was known for being so kind to all the sisters in the clinic and multiple people like Sister Castle and Sister Stoops were crying because this woman who cooked food for all the staff at the clinic was now gone. It was so sad and also so amazing so see the sense of community at a clinic. That kind of compassion that the sisters have with the patients here just does not really exist in America because people spend so much time avoiding the hospital and trying to get out as possible.  Even though at Tafelsig they serve a large number of people every day with a limited amount of resources, they seem to spend a great deal of their time developing a genuine relationship with the patients, which I think is amazing and needs to be happening more between doctors and patients in the United States.

           

Working at the clinic has really allowed me to see some very stark differences in the healthcare systems between the United States and South Africa. And I am not talking about the obvious in terms of availability of resources, but just the attitude that people display while at work. When I volunteer at the hospital back home, I have noticed that a lot of the nurses are very grumpy and really don’t want to be at work. While here, all the staff have their full attention on the patients that they see. It is just really different and it seems a lot of the time healthcare in the US is all about money and not about taking care of the patient. And coming to this realization has definitely been a hard pill to swallow, especially since I want to work in the healthcare field. Will my values really clash with the way the US healthcare system is set up? I guess I won’t find out until I head back home.