Our first visit to the creches of Munsieville

Dumela
(already picking up the local lingo)
Started our third day with a meeting with the fabulous Betty who is a never ending font of information and after great deliberation in GSK style with flip charts /objectives/ outcomes etc we hit the road to visit the creches of Munsieville which we have heard so much about over the last few months.
Split into pairs( those of you can work out there is also a group of three) off we followed Betty to the various destinations to be let loose on the 'Mamas"
I had obviously got the better deal working with Tim, we had two very open and honest hosts happy to show us around, very proud of their children.
One certainly came up as creme de la creme or 5 star.
Miranda's crech was the shining example of what you can do, and seeing the hard work and effort she and her ladies had put in made us very happy that we had the opportunity to speak with her and hear how passionate she was for her children in her care.
At the the end of the day meeting we realise just how lucky we had both been as the our other team members , Julia, Robert, Donna, Candy and Mary witnessed the less then appropriate creches where not only lack of funds but motivation and drive to improve seems to be the biggest barriers to make the necessary changes for the better.
This has only made us more determind to carry on and see what really are the root problems and how we can encourage things to change to support exactly what Project Hope, UK wants for the children of Munsieville, allowing them to grow into healthy, productive adults when they receive the right encouragement, mentoring and technical support. The next two days will be extremely busy as preparations are in full flow for the opening of the Childrens Embassy, watch this space on how it is coming along and the opening ceremony on Friday 2nd December.

Productive day for clinical team

Today the clinical team, Jeanette, Patti, Arif and I had a very productive day. We each had the opportunity to spend the morning with a nurse in the clinic. Jeanette experienced the TB/HIV/family planning area. Patti saw the child immunization area. Arif explored the primary care area as well as spending time with the administrative assistants and nursing assistant. I was with Danny in the chronic disease management area. The clinic was very crowded and we estimate about 200 patients are seen per day. We saw 30-40 patients in each area between 9:00 and 12:30. The clinic opens around 8:00 and the patients begin lining up outside to be seen around 6:30 am. There is no physician present on Wednesdays and the professional nurses (4 years training) function very similarly to nurse practitioners. They take a focused history, do a focused exam, diagnose, and dispense medications according to national guidelines. We were very impressed by their knowledge, dedication, and abilities. There is clearly a lack of space and resources . They have little time to spend with each patient, but do a great job with the time they have. We identified some areas for improvement, for example in efficient use of administrative staff and nursing assistants, infection control, and health promotion/patient education. We are excited about the relationships we formed today and look forward to learning from the nurses we met today, as well as hopefully making some useful suggestions.

A safe fire in Munsieville

Day 2
What a start 7am, meeting in the garden overlooking the most maginifcent scenery when LeRoy our arerobic instructor arrives.
No breaking in gently as there is obviously a need to build up our stamina now rather than later.
We all survived only to be told next class is same place, same time thursday morning
After our well earned breakfast we met Jo from the Pariffin Safety Association who came to speak to us about the safe use of household energy, followed by a practical demonstration ...more about that later.
Statitics he shared were frightening, 3600 shack fires this year so far, 280 deaths mostly vunerable under 5 year olds with countless horrfic injuries sustained.

He is a man passionate about getting his safety message across. Giving them the information needed , identifying the dangers and the changes needed to make their shacks safer places for all.
He realy made us think about this huge problem starting with the purchasing of cheap pariffin which may not be safe to start with, storing it in unsuitable pop bottles with no child safety lids and using stoves which are old and unsuitable for the task in hand.
We then got our first glimpse of the Munsieville shacks as we drove in as a convoy to the spot Joe was going to set up his dangerous pariffin appliances to show just how much fumes and smoke these can produce. Scarey stuff ,even a rat ran out and away through the crowd to escape.
We must have been a parculiar sight as slowly we were surrounded by the curious residents
( mostly dressed in the bright orange and blue uniforms of the Community Work Partnerships who are assigned to clean up the rubbish ( Garbage) which is visiable all around us).
It gave us the chance to chat with these good people and advertise the Health Fair this Friday.

We then travelled over to the Childrens Embassy which will also be formally opened on Friday and after a quick lunch the hard work began. Between us we finished off a little walled garden area and Robert and Adrian literally got dug in as they dug and prepared an area for a tree at the front of the academy. Sounds easy but the soil is not great with mostly stones and they have the blisters to prove it.
Seeing Munsievile up close today makes you think....how do people especially children survive in an environment quite alien to most of us on this assignment?
There is very little in the way of commidities , from where we stood we see a single water standpipe at the top of a hill by the side of the road, a few fruit and vegetable stalls on the corners and children with no shoes amusing themselves using the red coloured clay stones to draw a few pictures on the road yet, still lots of smiling faces interested in why we are here in their township.
Tomorrow we will be split into our assigned groups and I will be off to visit the actual creches and speak to the Mamas and see where Project Hope has made a difference and where we may be able to sow a few seeds of change which will help make life better for those we will eventually leave behind.

Arrival Day 1 & 2

Day 1, Arrival: On Monday evening a welcome dinner at the Sterkfontein
Heritage lodge provided introductions to
the arriving team and some of Munsieville’s most prominent citizens. The presence of all three councilors of
Munsieville demonstrated their support of The Thoughtful Path Program.
The evening program
was well led by Betty Nkoana and Paul Brooks and included community leaders and
other guests. Munsieville talent was on display! A contemporary African dance group demonstrated
their fitness level with an impressive choreographed dance program. Elaine Nkoana played a beautiful classical
piece on the flute.
On Tuesday, we started the day with a great lesson on paraffin
(kerosene) safety from Joe who is with the Paraffin Safety Association. Many Munsieville residents use paraffin as a
primary energy source. We were
introduced to members of the Community Work Program (CWP).
One team visited the Munsieville clinic and met with some of
the staff. We learned about the exciting
plans for the new addition which will be placed adjacent to the existing
structure in December.
Another team went into Munsieville where Joe did a
demonstration of how to build a fire that is more efficient, burns longer and
has less fumes. Learning about the fires
became more exciting when an uninvited guest ran through the group- a little
mouse! We went to the children’s
resource center and worked a bit on the foundation of the Heart Garden. Robert
actually got a few blisters from digging to prepare for a tree planting. This is rumored to be his first actual encounter with work.

Candy Bertini and Patti Penkunas

Departure

This is our final day in London before we are on our way to Munsieville South Africa. Last minute plans and details of our visit were discussed at our meet and greet last evening, while celebrating American Thanksgiving.
Today we meet for breakfast and last minute preparations before leaving for Heathrow. Our flight will leave for tonight for travel to Johannesburg, arriving Monday morning, were we will go as a group to the Heritage Lodge, just outside Munsieville proper.
We share the feelings of excitement and enthusiasm with the rest of the team for successful journey and outcomes!
It is hard to believe that the time has finally arrived.
We are ready, please stay tuned!!!
Patti Penkunas & Tim Wighton

Dumela!!
Patti Penkunas and Candy Bertini have arrived safely in UK on Friday morning, Nov 25,and are ting...We learned from Betty's good messaging that ting is Tswana for 'fine'  Weather looks great here and forecasts look good for Munsieville.  We are looking forward to meeting up with the group tomorrow and to meeting the good people of Munsieville.

Preparing for departure

My cousin, Jodi, made me a beautiful card with the following prayer . This sums up my wishes for all of us as we depart on our journey.

Travelers prayer

Direct my steps and provide me peace throughout this trip.
Let those I encounter on my trip
be blessed by my words and actions.
Let my hands be filled with your work
and may I be filled with your grace
and kind words for others.
May I be a light unto those around me
as I go away from home.