In January I went on 4 clinic visits. This is a rather unusually large amount of clinic visits in one month, considering that visiting clinics involve a lot of driving over roads with incredible potholes, driving a double cab 4X4 on roads that have no names, to destinations that I have never seen before and can only be described by vague landmarks that are not easy to spot, to arrive at a place where none of the patients speak English and speak very angry Zulu words to me (which I cannot understand) because they have been waiting for a very long time to see a Physiotherapist, and are not very happy to find an English-speaking Occupational Therapist who cannot help them with their aches and pains AND cannot prescribe medication... it is a rather tiring affair. Thankfully in January I was accompanied to every clinic by either the Zulu-speaking Physiotherapist or a Zulu-speaking Social Worker (now a friend of mine, she's lovely!), or both of them, a treat! I was able to get by, most of the time with a smile on my face :)
One thing that makes the clinic trips really enjoyable is the beautiful scenery. I was able to enjoy the views properly when a driver dropped us off to one of the clinics. Unfortunately it turned out that the clinic had been told the wrong day, and there were no patients for us but we still had to wait from 10am until 3pm for the driver to fetch us!! BUT the beautiful scenery made it worth it... almost ;)
Here are some of the videos I took with my little camera on the way to the clinic near Bambanana: **sorry about the videos freezing for the first few seconds, I have no idea why that happened!
The Road out of Ingwavuma: (filled with potholes, but accompanied by magnificent views over the edge of the mountain)
On the way to a Clinic: (note the changes in scenery, the variety in housing - from huts made of mud and stick to brick houses, the farmyard animals roaming free, and the truck making more potholes).
Bambanana: (This is a well-known intersection, where there is a petrol station and a shop or two, with some stalls selling fruit and live chickens etc outside. It is about 45 minutes from Ingwavuma. Amongst other things, the shops sells chips (french fries), and I usually have to stop there for my fellow passengers to buy chips for lunch.)
Clinic visits for Occupational Therapists/Physiotherapists from Mosvold Hospital generally involve a short exercise group that is targeted at patients with Osteoarthritis, and then the time to see some individual patients that need OT or Physio. At an average clinic, there will be about 12 people in the exercise group and maybe 8 individual patients, probably 2 or 3 with arthritis or back problems, 2 or 3 with babies with developmental delay, perhaps one or two with other injuries who are looking for Disability Grants, and perhaps a child who needs a school assessment. Sometimes a clinic visit only takes about 2 hours (with probably an hour's drive to and from the clinic), but when there are many patients and a longer distance to travel it can take the entire day, arriving back at the hospital after 6pm.
The exercise group goes like this: (blue=me, green=group of patients)
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Sanibonani! *in a super enthusiastic voice*
(Hello - pural)
Yebo, sawunbona Dokotela. *in a bored/angry voice*
(Hello doctor)
Sigh, I'm not a doctor.
Ninjani? *slightly less enthusiastic*
(How are you - plural)
Siyaphila. Unjani? *still bored/angry*
(We are fine, how are you?)
Ngiyaphila nam.
(I am fine.)
NginguChristy. NginguDokotela ukubezeka. *in a stilted manner*
(My way of trying to say my name is
Christy, I am an OT [doctor of disability;
yes I'm trying to introduc the word here!].
This is all probably very bad Zulu grammar... Oh well.)
Ngiyafunda ukukhuluma isiZulu...kancane
(I am learning to speak Zulu...slowly)
**The patients love to laugh at me when I say this sentence! :)
Siyajima manje!
(We are exercising now!)
After this, my Zulu vocabulary runs rather thin, and I resort to charades to carry out the exercise group. Fortunately many of the patients have attended groups before, so we can work it out together. The group then involves a number of stretches that are similar to what I used to do in my mini-hockey club in primary school when we would stretch before a practice. Despite the fact that these "exercises" are really not very energetic, the people in the group become very tired by the end of the session. Many of them are overweight and don't seem to do much exercise.
After the stretches, the group walks briskly around in a circle singing a song. THANKFULLY I already knew this Zulu song from my choir days, so I can join in enthusiastically with the gogos; walking around in a circle and singing, with all the rest of them huffing and puffing, and me just enjoying the experience :)
After the group, I sign every person's clinic card, ("iKhadi wasiklinik") to show that they have attended the group, and proceed to find out which individual patients need my help. Usually they have long explanations of what it wrong with them, and I stare at them with a blank look on my face as they talk very quickly about what they are struggling with. After a while, they seem to figure out that I have no idea what is going on, and I look at their clinic card to see what is written there. If I need further help (at the moment this is usually the case), I go looking for the Social Worker or someone else to translate for me. Thankfully the Social Worker is very helpful and often finished before I am, so she kindly translates for me. Otherwise, I rely on the limited vocabulary I do have, and some more charades, and get by in the end!
One of the lovely things about clinic visits, is that they are usually fairly predictable. I can see that my clinic-friendly Zulu is already improving, and by the end of February I expect that I will be confidently leading the puffing Gogos in a circle, singing "Siyahamba kukanyeni kweNkosi" (spelling? "We are walking in the light of God" is the English version of the song), and enjoying the privilege of connecting with a group of people that otherwise I would never have the opportunity to meet!
Isn't it beautiful?
As usual, the cows decided to make us wait for a bit.
This lady was kind enough to chase away the cows for us :)
My January clinic buddies! :) [social worker and physio]
The clinic is in the background.
See these large flying ants?
There was a LARGE pile of them at the clinic. Apparently this happens after the rain.
We waited for 5 hours. I read a book. They snoozed ;)
In a little wooden stall there was a long-drop toilet.
I might have had to use it... Yes. I crouched, I promise.
On another day, Ndumo clinic has a lovely building!
And that is the hospital's trusty double-cab that I drive to clinics.
Typical view inside a clinic. Note the many people waiting, and the TV with a blurry image playing a TV programme in a language they don't understand while they wait for hours to be seen.
The exercise group at Ndumo clinic! :)
The patients wait for us outside the clinic. At this particular clinic we are lucky enough to have a shelter. At other clinics we do the group under a tree.
View on the drive back: people often use bright umbrellas to shade themselves from the sun. Also handy when the summer rain comes.
We often see school children walking home. It is not unusual for them to walk over 10km to and from school.
Astounds me every time.
