'Appreciating Not Knowing'...featuring Frank Kronenberg

 

A big thank you to Frank for unlocking a whole new world of OT for us!

The day before the talk

 

"Ach maaan!...another mandatory lecture to attend" is what shot through my mind when we received the email notifying us about the public lecture that was to take place with the title, 'Engaging with SA's Divided, Wounded, Violent Human Condition'...how many have pulled this topic apart, dissected it, patched it back together and STILL have found no solution to the problem! Are the philosophers, the great writers and freedom fighters of the nation not tired of it by now?...oh, and what on earth has the topic got to do with OT?  

I am truly embarrassed for having had such pessimistic thoughts about this topic, which will hopefully change with time...as Frank said, “...for an OT, challenges and obstacles, should not mean never, but rather not yet.”

 The day of the talk

He was worn out from his trip and a little intimidated by his surroundings, just like any other individual would be, who has just been flown into the city two hours prior, to delivering yet another talk on his well thought through topic, which engulfs his very being.

What won my attention over within minutes, was the warm, sincere and positive manner with which Frank touched on this controversial topic, a topic (let's admit it) that is so very close to every South African citizen’s heart.

 "South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in diversity" rolls off ones lips quite easily but when having to put it into practice, the difficulty thereof comes to the fore...”look, you can not put me, an educated young female on the same level as the beggar on my street corner! I mean, I am contributing way more towards society than what he is right!?” It is exactly this ‘white coat thinking’ or the ‘me, myself and I mentality’ which stands in our way today. We need to start seeing the treasure every individual carries with them, thanks to their unique makeup. We are as much a human as the beggar is. Believe it or not, but his story counts just as much as mine and yours! We ALL have this strong inner need and desire to give meaning and purpose to our lives, making our story worth while telling, which is mainly done through human occupation. This is precisely where the importance of our job comes in you see! Is that not exciting! We should strive to make individuals “dance to the music of possibility”.

“Whilst seemingly waging war against itself, the planet humanity struggles on to keep what makes us human alive.” Due to a series of unfortunate events, the people in our country are divided. This may well be due to the wounds from the past that run deeper in our veins than we can imagine. It very often does not take a lot for these wounds to be torn open again which very often results in violence. Divided....wounded....violence....divided....wounded...violence...a vicious cycle is created and many ask themselves where to from here?  

Frank quite openly admitted that we should appreciate not knowing where this is all going. All we know is that, “humans cannot do without each other” and that life is not just black and white, literally and figuratively speaking.

The beauty of OT is seeing how much the simple things in life can mean to people that have experienced life on another level. It is truly amazing to witness, how your “OT instruments” can fulfil the life and impact an individual’s life story, in such a way, that a beautiful harmony comes together!

I am just a student that has just started off her journey through life and that is learning about how to make use of the “OT instruments”. Frank's talk has helped me see a greater depth to what I am actually here for. I have friends that have everything well planned out and know in which direction OT or life is taking them...well I am not ashamed to admit that I have NO idea where I am going with OT...all I know is that I care.

I wasn’t the smartest kid in class (am still not, but getting by), didn’t have a rich daddy whose company I could one day take over...I was just ME, wanting to work with people. I started studying for the sake of studying or doing something which is how I got onto history and tourism...better said a tour guide on the Shongololo Express which runs from the Cape, right through Africa to Cairo. But OT got hold of me before I could even make it to the train station and that is where I have found my home now...well at least I think so. "Home has to do with - where you feel that what you do matters". Don’t know how I got into the course, don’t know how I made it through anatomy and Zulu, don’t know how I managed to get along with some of the supervisors and clients, don’t know where OT is taking me....

...but like Frank would say, “appreciate not knowing”.

 

Life happens...even to little people

Their lives in this crazy world have only just begun and for some reason unknown to us, these little people are stuck in their beds surrounded by rails higher then they can jump! It is like the wheel of life is out of sync and turning the wrong way round...it just seems SO unfair! Little people are supposed to find their balance on their feet, take their first steps and explore the world with their innocent eyes...but I guess that is not how everyone’s life story goes.

When I first packed my bags and set out into this frosty old world on my very own, I quickly discovered that life happens...and there is nothing that one can do at the point of “the primary traumatic impact” as our clinical science lecturers would say. It just happens without an explanation without much hesitation, faster than we can blink. For these little people it was a congenital disease, birth defect, a chronic virus or even maternal denial that exacerbated the condition which chained them to their hospital beds. What we can however do as OT’s (as a matter of fact it is our job) is to treat the “secondary causes” of a traumatic, life changing condition through the use of activities!:)  

I have barely set foot into the paediatrics ward to notify the little people about our group when one young, eager eye catches a glimpse of me and pipes up, “Eskoleni!!!” and another joins in, “Aunty Eskoleni Namhlanje!”...and that is all it takes for the little people to win over my heart....

The aim of the paediatrics group at King George Hospital is to enhance or sustain the little peoples fine and gross motor function through social play and activities.

During the month of April everything revolved around Easter, which is why everything we did involved Easter bunnies and eggs...quite a cute theme actually!

Believe you me, structuring a paediatrics group is not as easy as it may sound as things constantly change which means a great deal of flexibility is needed! The little people did not converse much with one another which is why we tried to incorporate social interaction by playing warm up games where they had to say their names when they caught the ball and applied principles such as making them share tools. The first task was listening to some interesting facts about bunnies which was used for educational purposes. Their focus however was fixated largely on the task which was making their very own bunny ear headgear. The oldest member and most talkative member got a great amount of attention during the activity from the others who all copied him. This group benefited the individual members as they learnt lessons and skills from one another plus the activities maintained their fine motor skills by participating in table top activities such as cutting, pasting and colouring. Their gross motor functioning was maintained by ball games, playing catches and musical status. A sense of unison in the group was achieved by wearing their bunny ears and acting like bunnies.  

It was my role as the therapist to lead the group, making sure that they perform the steps of the task as well as leaving enough space for play and creativity. The group should be an important stepping stone for the little people to get a taste of what school is all about. Their skills should be improved or maintained so that when the time is right and they are ready to enter school they will have acquired sufficient knowledge and skill to cope with at school. Another important factor to consider when planning a group like this is taking the little peoples mind off their illnesses. Every child deserved a childhood worth remembering!

 

Group Work within a class full of leaders....is that possible!?

 I have never considered myself a leader because I have always been in academically strong classes with individuals that take over tasks but never to the extend that anybodies input was undermined or suppressed. Every one has a different approach to life which I rate makes life beautiful! What I however felt as soon as I became part of the OT class of 2014 was that an icy breeze of competition pierced the class atmosphere. As it so often happens, birds of a feather flock together and due to our busy schedule we seldom got to converse with the different members in our class!...we did get to see one another’s true colours through the randomly selected group tasks which were assigned to us.

The group project at King George was such a task! We were only three members but oh my goodness, we couldn’t be more different!!!!...three very different personalities, approaches, beliefs and aims collided especially during the time that the group project for the hospital had to be worked on.

 We were given the instructions for the project five or so weeks before it had to be presented. Without further ado, one member immediately took on the role of the leader , another became the coordinator and the third a mutual contributor. The members communicated well, made the effort to attend the meetings planned out and gathered information according to their individual tasks set out by the leader. The one member however took the attributions received from the other members and reformulated them instead of briefing the individuals on how to give it a more professional taste. This resulted in feelings of inadequacy amongst and the members and they would think again before saying or doing anything for the project. We should have been more open about our thoughts and more honest about our feelings by talking about the issue together with all the members instead of just brushing it off which may have contributed toward more efficient group work. On the day of the project presentation one person presented majority of the project which somewhat defeated the object of group work in my eyes. I just hope and pray that the underlying factor of doing it was not an issue of the marks...

I learned a great deal of professionalism from the group as I have a very Laissez – faire yet driven approach. I enjoy learning from others, but also believe in giving others a chance to voice their opinions, taking them seriously...there is ALWAYS room for creativity.

 

Reaching a common goal together with 'different' group memebrs

 

Life is full of different people that are driven by personal goals in order to reach their bigger goal. This we should remember and respect whenever we encounter people on our walk through life. It is vitally important to respect the working approach and the beliefs of others even though they are different to your own.

As future health practitioners it is certain that we will have many encounters with OT's, physios, doctors, speechies, audiologists, nurses, social workers, psychologists etc. from all walks of life, who will have different perspectives on life and on the work we do. We will have to learn to respect them as we need to work together in order to make a difference in peoples lives...we all know that we can not do it alone!...we should rise above our differences and rather work together in making a positive difference in other peoples lives.