Here you go FINALLY!!
So I am placed at Nomzamo Place of Safety and there are about 15 kids I work with/for each day. There are two babies, both born from HIV+ mothers so are taking AntiRetroVirals (ARVs) until they are sure the status. One is 1 month and the other is 4 months. The 4 month old, Asina, is only 7lbs so she is in pretty tough shape. The toddlers (13) are all absolutely adorable and of course I have my favorites...Mzamo (boy)- 6months, Siabonga (boy)- 8months, and one of the older ones Yoliswa (girl)- 4yrs. They are all so sweet in their own way though! Im not allowed to post pictures of them because of the nature of their stays at Nomzamo (abuse, neglect, or abandonment).
I have been concerned until this week about the nature of my placement because the first two weeks consisted of me babysitting the children. In reality I believe I was in the trust-building stage, and still am, but I think it will benefit me in the long run to really know and care about the children I will hopefully be part of the programming for.
The nurse and the social worker at Nomzamo have taken a liking to me and my supervisor, Ethel, I think has big plans for me being there and is very sweet! Most of the workers have Xhosa as their first language, so that has been a continual barrier in getting to know them. Some speak better English than others and my language lessons have been quite minor...
In speaking with Tahira, my CCS supervisor, it looks like I will be in charge of a Community Organizing project through Nomzamo. Ethel has wanted the outer walls of Nomzamo to be painted with a Mural for some time now and has expressed that desire with Tahira in her decision to take on an intern. Tahira thinks it would be great to connect area schools, both in the townships and in the wealthier districts, to come together after building a theme and ideas and to paint the wall in tandem. Tahira suggested doing a big day of it and involving the art teachers at the wealthier schools and then using volunteers from NYU's Art Therapy program (coming in August) to complete the project with the township children. I haven't got all the details but it will be a lot of planning and visiting area schools, asking for donations, and trying to get media attention for the actual day! The only sad part will be that I will miss the actual day because that won't happen til mid-late August :( I think that will be a good learning experience for me in my studies as a Social Worker - how to give credit to the participants and not need that thanks/credit for the organizing aspect.
Okay more to come later, any advice etc would be greatly appreciated :)
peace & love,
Alyssa
sounds like a fine oraganizing plan your mom would be a good resource (even though her face is puffy). A theme "contest" might be fun with the non-art students at the schools or from staff families, some way of getting other entities involved. Is there a holiday or special time they celebrate Winnie Mandela's legacy??? Maybe the schools already do something you could tie in to. Anyway we're so pleased you've found a cause (maybe they'll hire you back to finish the job :-{)). love ya
ReplyDeletepops
Great news-nice to have a "cause" now. Mom would be a resource on the task. Maybe schools already do something for a "Winnie Mandela Day" or something and a contest of sorts cold be arranged or the families of Nomzamo could offer a theme that the art students might expand on. Anyway glad to see it turning into something special-they could hire you back to finish in Dececmber maybe :-{)). Love ya
ReplyDeleteMom & pops
Sounds like a fun project. We did a painting project like that at the Second Mile Center down in Detroit. We painted one wall a solid color and then had all the kids dip their hands in bright colored paint and put their hand prints on the wall so they would all be part of the project. It ultimately turned into chaos though, with kids having fun putting handprints on each other and getting paint everywhere. Good thing we had them in old men's shirts! Can't wait to hear more about it.
ReplyDeleteAmy