I saw a baby come into the world today, in one of the clinics! It was a girl, and my first-ever experience of seeing a birth!! Hospitals in South Africa are much simpler than at home. There was the midwife and sister, as well as seven of us nursing students in the room with the mother and newborn. The baby wasn't suctioned, but was instead turned face-down on the bed, to drain any fluid in her lungs. They don't use the bulb suction here because it can break the baby's mucus membranes and create an outlet for bodily fluids from the mother to enter into the baby (specifically HIV/AIDS). The mother was indeed HIV positive, but the baby remained HIV free. Another means of transmission is through breast milk, but for many mothers they must breastfeed since there is no extra money for formula. The mothers are actually encouraged to breastfeed, even if they are positive for HIV, because the incidence of getting HIV from breastfeeding is only about a 7% chance, according to the sister, and breast milk provides the baby with all the critical nutrients and antibodies for it's immune system.

Of course I was the nursing student that had to step back because I almost fainted. Lisa Marie helped me to the bathroom and I was lying there with my feet elevated and wet cloths on my head - great. I saw the whole birth though (thank god), and it was about 15 minutes later that I started to feel lightheaded. I was just thinking how I actually witnessed the birth of a real, live baby, who took her first breaths in front of me, and was in her mother's arms for the first time. The whole event was emotional (as many things in South Africa have been), and I think it was the reflection on the experience that made me feel lightheaded.

We went to a mother & child clinic afterwards, where there were lines of mothers with their infants waiting (from 7:30am & it was then around 3:30pm) to get routine immunizations for their babies. A few of us watched a pair of twins receive their Vitamin A and various immunizations. The government provides money for these babies to get immunized, free of charge to the mothers. This is so great, because otherwise the majority (if not all) of the babies would never receive the necessary shots needed for their health, due to lack of money. However, if the government must provide meds for all babies, there is obviously a shortage that must go around and help everyone. Also, if we thought understaffing of nurses in America was bad, there were only 2 nurses to do routine check-ups and shots for about 300 babies per day. Insane. The nurse told us that they can't go home until all the people that arrived that day are helped, because the chance that these people will be able to get transportation at another time (for a different appointment) is slim to none.

Overall, life is good. The workload is picking up (lots of reading!), and there are opportunities to see things here that are so incredible. Hope everyone at home (& Australia-Jordan) is doing well! Miss you all.

Dr. Guma gave us all African names. He chose names based on each person's personality. Mine is Thandiswa (pronounced ton-dee-swaa). Translated into English, the meaning is something like one who brings happiness to others, or one who children feel better around. We are taking a cultural class here, to learn about the history and politics of South Africa. Currently in the news, the fight for power is between Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. Mbeki was formally asked to step down as a leader, since the country decided there cannot be two sources of power ruling over South Africa. Jacob Zuma will now rise to the top as the single leading authority, but before he can do that he must be a member of Parliament, which is a series of steps. I've been trying to read bits and pieces of news, but hopefully we will soon get a newspaper delivered to our house, so that should make matters easier.

Hello to all reading my blogs! I can't believe it's already almost the end of September...each day I find something new that I didn't notice from the day before. We have begun our visits to the area hospitals where we will be completing our "clinical internships" as they are called over here. The sites include the Themba Care HIV clinic for infants & children, the Christel House Elementary school where we will be doing school nursing & health education, the Bishop Lavis Maternity & Pediatric Hospital, and the Red Cross Children's Hospital. The past few days I have seen things that were incredibly shocking, immensly sad, and also intensly euphoric. To say the least, there has been a great deal of emotion with each visit! At the Red Cross Children's Hospital we visited the pediatric & neonatal burn unit. This was really tough. There were infants, toddlers, and young children with head and face, or worse - full body burns. The doctor explained to us that many of these accidents were caused by a hot water kettle falling on top of a child who pulled on the chord, or reached up and grabbed the handle. The majority of these burns occurred in the small township houses, where it wasn't uncommon for 3 or 4 children to be running around near a hot burner. Also, it is reality that there is often no supervision, because the parents or other adults have to work in order to survive - literally. On a more positive note, we saw the cutest pair of Siamese twins. This morning myself & a few others went to the Themba Care HIV clinic. I really loved it!! The 2 or 3 sisters (nurses) were in charge of 18 infants and young children, to which they happily assigned us duties to bathe, feed, diaper, get temperatures & weights, play with, & supervise the group. The kids would cry to be held; they were absolutely starving for attention. At one point I was holding an infant in one arm, and a toddler in another, and there were a few more tugging at my jeans and telling me something. The majority spoke English, so communicating with them wasn't the hard part. In fact, a couple of the older ones had quite an attitude! Nonetheless, they were all adorable. It was slightly different though, taking care of children you know have HIV/AIDS, or past TB, or scabies, etc. Each one had a long list of health issues, really requiring a lot of attention, compliance with meds, sufficient diet, and of course a lot of love and caring.

So I am finally somewhat caught up with my blogs. This past week the weather has been finicky, so our trip to Robbin Island was postponed until yesterday. Again, I went for a morning run around the Commons with a few other girls. We hopped on our bus to catch the ferry for Robbin Island, and found that something had blown with the engine - so 14 girls plus Lisa Marie got out of our bus and had to push it down the road until it started..only in South Africa haha. Well, anyway, we managed to get it up & running, & caught the ferry for a trip to where Nelson Mandela had been imprisoned. We had a dramatic tour guide who gave us every detail of the past history, and I got some amazing pictures - which I have yet to be able to put up online. STILL no internet at the house, so we have all learned to make do with what we have. So we all lucked out with the gorgeous weather & later stopped at the Waterfront when we got back, to have dinner in the seaport area - that was literally like a postcard view! It's a more touristy area at the Waterfront, but still amazing food for not that expensive. The seafood is really good here - I got a whole plate of seafood (muscles, calamari, shrimp, etc.) over angle hair pasta, for about 10 US dollars with tip included.

Here nurses are called sisters. Everything is very family oriented. The proper way to address an elder is to say "Molo tata" (if the person appears to be a male & about your father's age) or "Molo mama" (if about your mother's age). Molo means hello. After the church service (which was about 3-4 hours), there were some snacks they prepared for our group (ordinarily there are no snacks, and there is no bread or communion to share). After we left, we stopped for a short time at the Vangate Mall and ate lunch, and then began our township tour of Khayletisha, the crossroads, and Manenburg. Everywhere surrounding us were small shacks with dirt floors packed right next to each other, with men, women, & children barefooted and roaming around. Everyone turned to stare - we certainly stood out being white-skinned and wearing nice church clothing. Most places didn't even have 4 walls..there were old trucks turned into houses, with a fire in the middle to cook their meals. On the streets was garbage, people openly relieving themselves, and in some parts, outdoor grilling (which they call a "bry" here). We stopped to visit a maternity hospital, which resembled a jail to me. There were cement walls, with open rooms for multiple mothers birthing their babies - no privacy, no comfort, and all patients had to bring their own linens. There was one mother who had just given birth, all alone with her infant, with no family or husband nearby. It was certainly a change from in the States.

Sunday we departed from our house by 10am for a Sunday Baptist service at a church in the townships of Guguletu. The entire day was an incredibly emotional & moving experience. The parish was singing, dancing, clapping, & loud preaching. The women and children sat in wooden pews & the few men sat at the front of the church. Everyonel wore black & white, mostly frocks or long dresses, with the men in suits. The preacher made a speech about how we must have traveled to South Africa for some reason, & there must have been something in our hearts to make us come here. He blessed us, to keep us safe & welcome in South Africa, & said that God sent us here for some mission. Then Lisa-Marie was invited to make a speech, which explained our purpose here in South Africa to the parish, and asked everyone to welcome us in their community as equals.

Saturday Carrie-Ellen, Carolyn Baker, & myself went running again - 2 loops around the Commons. After, the entire group left for the wineries! We went to Durbanville & Stellenbosch vineyards -for tours, wine-tasting, and this incredible authentic African cuisine lunch at Moyo African Restaurant (which was part of the Spier Wine Estate). There was African singing and dancing (and drums). There were cheetahs in this area, and on the bus ride over we saw zeebras, antelope, ostrich, horses, and what I think were wildebeasts or really ugly cows haha. Each day has been such a different atmosphere than at home!