Community Life

“The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers & cities; but to know someone who thinks & feels with us, & who, though distant, is close to us in spirit, this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 Our first week back at University has brought with it a huge bag of emotions such as: responsibility, joy, anxiety, tension, fear, seriousness and loads more! The emotion which stands out most (to me personally) would be the uneasiness that change brings with it! During the holidays I had the privilege of seeing some of my ‘long lost’ school friends of whom many are done with their studies and are on the verge of entering the working world. It is hard to believe that life is passing by so quickly and that many of them have come so far as to having to enter the next phase of life. Where are the days of playing carefree in the sea or freely climbing trees all the way to the top from where we could see the entire neighbourhood? Time is outrunning all of us if we like it or not, so it is up to us to make the most of our current situation!:) Mine happens to be the final year of OT !!

 This week we had a look at what community work is all about as well as what our OT roll is in all of it. The module was well presented and has two very passionate lecturers running it which makes it just that little bit more interesting and exciting! Community also happens to be my first block which is made up of 6 consecutive weeks of community work.

 I really appreciated the fact that we paid our relevant communities a visit. We were given the opportunity to have a look around at what makes up the particular community that we will be working in. Mine is called kwaDabeka.

 

 

 I grew up in a little and fairly ‘plain’ town called Piet Retief, which was surrounded by informal settlements and townships very similar to kwaDabeka.  When having to compare kwaDabeka to the ones that I have seen before I would say that kwaDabeka is a notch better off in a lot of aspects.

 What stood out to me when we drove into the community, was how close to Westville, New Germany and Pinetown, kwaDabeka is! Another thing that surprised me was the number of face brick houses there were. I have been to places where most of the houses are made up of dense mud and corrugated iron. The traditional "rondavel" could not be seen anywhere which may be the influence of urban life. There were also not as many animals such as chickens and goats running around on the streets. The roads were well kept as I did not see one obstruction like a pothole.

The first thing that I noticed when I stepped on ‘kwaDabekan’ soil, was the warm “Sawbona”,“Yebos” or bright smiles we received from the inhabitants! I think that it is vitally important not to forget that we are assisting the community with our skills and knowledge which I call ‘blending in’. We can only do so by getting to know the people, their culture and the structure by which the community functions.

The first uncomfortable thing I felt was the incredible heat! There was no way of escaping it! That could have also been the reason as to why there were such few people to be seen! We were given the opportunity to walk along the road for a while. It was at a robot where I saw a familiar face coming up to me and greeting me by my first name! Xolani!...an old school friend. I had seen him on our campus before but I did not know that he was from the area. He told me that he was running a business up the street which he is very excited about!

Talking about businesses in the community, there are tons! They range from small things such as sweets to animals and car parts. What I also noticed was how many pubs there were in such a small circumference. I am assuming that a great deal of socialising goes on in there in the afternoons. The main form of transport that was evident were taxis.

We also go to meet the councillor, Bongani Gumede. He said that in the upcoming year their aim will be to equip young people with relevant skills, which in his opinion, is what South Africa needs to fight the poverty. It is good to have been introduced to Mr Gumede because I am sure that somewhere along the way of our community work, we will require his assistance in whatever we are planning to do.

In order to work successfully with the people in kwaDabeka and other communities, it is vitally important to get to know the people a little better. By this I mean spending time with the people, getting to know the communities culture, their beliefs, their strengths and weaknesses. This can only be done by spending sufficient time with them, which is what we are planning on doing today! I am really looking forward to mixing and mingling with the people! It is so important to learn how a community functions before one start with programmes and the likes.

Like Goethe said, “...to know someone who thinks & feels with us, & who, though distant, is close to us in spirit, this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden.”
We were also introduced to people such as Daniel (living with CP) and Joe (immigrant from US) who told us about their unique experiences in the communities as a disabled and as a total foreigner! This was highly interesting to hear about their perspectives and their thoughts and feeling about certain things. Daniels story touched me the most because as I was listening to him, it became pretty clear to me that his needs are very similar to yours and mine. They are a longing for love and recognition. This just showed me again that even though people are disabled, they still have a heart and a soul that needs to be looked after.

What a busy but informative week it was!