I like icecream.

I think my favorite flavor is moose tracks, but icecream actually has nothing to do with this blog post.

Classes are wrapping up. Everyone has assignments, tests, essays, etc. going on this week. I do too. And I still somehow manage to find the time to write this entry… can we say procrastination?

While many of you were celebrating Memorial Day with various parades, picnics, and other patriotic family festivities, Africa was celebrating Africa Day! South Africa is unfortunately not among the many countries that observe it as a public holiday, but Rhodes celebrated Africa Day by inviting the former president, Thabo Mbeki, to lecture students and staff. It (obviously) drew a large crowd, and even though I arrived an hour before he was scheduled to speak, I didn’t get a seat in the main theatre! Nonetheless, I am really glad I went. The main theme of his speech was to empower the future leaders of South Africa to own up to being a part of the African continent! The influence of South Africa in the rest of Africa is enormous, and he challenged the students to be leaders in the country that, in many ways, leads the whole continent.

I have had a few unique healthcare opportunities over the last weeks. I went to a developmental clinic in the township a few weeks ago with a team of occupational therapists, a speech therapist, a physiotherapist, and a dietician from the hospital. The clinic assesses and treats children with developmental delays including Down’s syndrome, autism, meningitis, and some who suffer from cognitive delays due to neglect and malnutrition. Last week, I went with some of the therapists to the preschool for children with developmental delays, and we helped out with their music class. Those children are just precious!
Yesterday, I went on occupational therapy home visits and we visited patients who needed fitting for wheelchairs. The wheelchair situation in South Africa is frustrating, because the government-provided wheelchairs are backordered for months, and even years. The Rotary foundation has therefore stepped up and donated wheelchairs. The problem is that the rotary wheelchairs are poor quality and made in China, so they don’t fit right, they break quickly and the spare parts are thousands of miles away. All of this makes for a very difficult challenge for the occupational therapists who work with these patients. After spending a few months in different places in the hospital, I have learned that the government often fails to provide the necessary means for quality care. This is often very frustrating for the doctors, nurses, and therapists who do not have the proper resources available to care for the patients in the best way.

I haven’t done much traveling lately, hence the lack of pictures, but it has been really nice to chill with friends around Grahamstown. I also have a few trips coming up in June, and so it is nice to have some down time. Honestly, the time has passed so quickly! I have about six weeks until I board the plane in July. That time is going to fly.

I hope summer is going well back home! Please keep me posted on your lives. I love long emails and skype dates!!!

Love From South Africa,
Lindapants