I have a swollen itchy arm from a pile of vaccines and a clearer picture of what the first 3 weeks in South Africa will be like.
From what I understand so far - I'll be working with a team of 12 in Cork, South Africa. A rural village made up of refugees from Mozambique. Our team leader who acts as our liason with the NGO Hands At Work (http://www.handsatwork.org/) just sent out this update with the first set of real details.
She writes:
The focus of this trip will be education, psycho-social support and teaching
HIV/AIDS awareness--educating on the stigma of AIDS and how it devastates a community. This program is called Better Choices
Home Base Care --HBC is supporting volunteers who have chosen to make a difference in their community by caring for the sick and dying. We will walk through the village and visit homes with the HBC workers who have some medical training from Hands at Work.--we may also add to this training by doing workshops
Young Mum's Program--we will be launching this program with a Hands At Work volunteer named Bosie who started this program in Masoyi a few years ago and is now ready to launch it in Cork--we will work with young Mum's 15-25 yrs old. teaching parenting skills and health assessment skills--also helping them build relationship with one another for continuous support--some of these mum's are very sick themselves and will need to make decisions on who will care for their children when they are no longer able to do.
Orphan and Vulnerable Care--called OVC--we support children who are raising themselves--they have been abandoned by their parents or their parents have passed away usually due to AIDS
Literacy--we will be using a phonemic awareness program designed here in North America --we will teach this program to volunteers who will use it in the preschool program as well as the after school homework program.--we will also demonstrate this program in the preschool.
This is what Hands at Work has asked of us so far-
the supply list so far
Tylenol, Motrin, Advil--pain relievers
Children's vitamins
Latex Gloves
hand sanitizer
gauze
medical tape
alcohol wipes
thermometers
antibiotic creams--burn creams
polysporin for eyes
anti fungal cream
Children's crayons,markers, scissors, glue--craft supplies for pre schoolers
children's toothbrushes
bar soap (small--hotel size)
baby powder
any small sample size items for women like--lipsticks, perfume, eyeshadow etc...
small prayer books or devotional books--inspirational bookmarks etc...
Lisa (the team leader) has been on a few project before. Sometimes they bring hockey bags full of supplies but they can also buy alot of this stuff over there. Obviously - the second choice is easier.
What I'd like to do, is host a fundraising/going away party. A very talented musician friend of mine (www.myspace.com/smithonsunday) has agreed to donate her bands time and the time of 3 other bands for a concert. I've got a tentative date (May 30th) and I'm still searching for the right venue. So keep it in mind kids... I'd love to see you all there. Details to follow.
