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Clicks and Smiles
Molweni, Hello! (Addressing many), in the Xhosa language, otherwise known as the language of clicks. Interestingly, their language has three distinct clicks, all using the tongue and roof of the mouth. The clicks are used to denote the letters "X", "Q" and "C". Anytime these letters appear in a word they make a clicking sound.
While I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to travel previously, this trip left an indelible impression on me. From the extreme poverty to the smiles on children's faces to the beautiful Wild Coast, South Africa is a country that shakes your very soul.
My journey began on May 30th, with expectations of wild animals and adventure as I traveled to my first experience in a third world country, a visit to the city of Umtata, South Africa. My first stop en route was Boston to meet up with my Uncle, who invited me on this trip. He was volunteering through the Heath Volunteer Overseas (HVO) and African Medical Mission at the Bedford Orthopedic hospital, in Umtata, South Africa. From Boston we flew to London, and then to Johannesburg, where we were able to fly directly into Umtata. After three airplanes and two days of traveling, we finally arrived in Umtata, but our luggage took another eight days. Thank goodness for hospital scrubs. The trip provided an opportunity to see how medicine is practiced in a developing country, to work as a volunteer and to do the research on my venture grant. I was awarded a grant, from Colorado College, to conduct a statistical analysis for Bedford Hospital. This grant help to finance a small portion of my trip.
Umtata is located on the Eastern Cape Province in the region know as the Transkei, in South Africa. The city is not very large and the area around the city is home to about 3 to 4 million people. Umtata is a city of immense poverty. The streets are lined with trash. The roads are filled with potholes. Cows, sheep, goats and dogs roam everywhere on the road. The locals refer to them as "Transkei stop lights". Umtata is referred to as the wild west of South Africa. It is a very dangerous and frightening place. It is not a very safe city and you have to be extremely careful walking around and you don't dare travel at night. Fortunately, we lived on the hospital compound and we were given respect for our support of their medical treatment.
The Bedford Orthopedic Hospital provided us with living quarters within the hospital compound. The Hospital is a 180-bed facility serving the populace of Transkei and is the only orthopedic care center for 3 to 4 million people. Many of the patients are unemployed and few have health insurance. From a busy outpatient clinic with than 20,000 patients visits each year over 2,800 patients are admitted for surgical procedures.
My schedule varied, two to three days a week I worked at the hospital helping with admissions, treating patients, scrubbing in observe surgeries, and conducting rounds with the doctors...learning what it is like to be an orthopedic surgeon. The rest of the week I worked at a clinic inside a township. A township is known as a very poor village where all of the houses are shanties. On some days I would help the missionary build and paint walls to support the local community projects. On weekends I had the opportunity to explore South Africa.
When time permitted, I helped gather records with the hospital administrative staff and completed my statistics paper for the hospital. They were very interested in the information and Dr. David Oloruntoba, a Nigeria surgeon; felt it benefited the hospital by providing noticeable trends in hospital care and treatment.
One of the most memorable experiences was working at the township called Itipini, when translated means "dump". Prior to being a village it was the town dump. It is an exceedingly poor area outside the city. Located directly inside the dump is a preschool, a medical clinic, kitchen with a water tap (the only source of fresh water) and a play area for the children. Upon arriving in Itipini, I was very intimidated. The streets were filled with trash, chickens, dogs, pigs and kids playing. It is located on a hill next to one of the dirtiest rivers I had ever seen. All the houses are put together with car parts, wood, trash, sticks with anything they can find. None of the houses have running water or electricity and many do not even have beds.
My job at the clinic included, bandaging wounds, giving immunizations injecting various medicines, counting pills and finding any way possible to help out the nurses. Jenny, who moved here 20 years ago from the US, ran the clinic. I don't think I have every met a more caring person.
On some days I went to the preschool to play soccer with the children and help out the teachers. This was an incredible experience, the children all called me "teacher" and they loved the attention. A few of them would always come up to me and give me a hug or just follow me around. They always had a smile on their face, which gave me a feeling of hope; hope that the next generation can help. Many of the children did not have any shoes and just a meager amount of clothing. For example, boys under the age of five wore skirts converted from shirts or blankets because the family didn't have any pants. What I came to admire about these children is they didn't have much but they were always happy and made the most with what they had every day, if even all they had to play with was garbage. Most of the children never bathed nor do they get three meals a day, but the smile was always there on their face everyday.
I will never forget a few children, especially Veala. Veala is about six years and is very intelligent. He displayed confidence when he spoke and was always the first to raise his hand to answer questions. Most of the kids do not understand English, but he knows the most. Each day when I was there, he would follow me around trying to find a way to help me or just wanting to play. Everyday I would pack a peanut butter sandwich and take a bite and give the rest to Veala to share. His dark brown eyes, reached out for attention and love. In the afternoon we would go play soccer or run around together, even though the communication wasn't good, sports and games proved to be a universal language and we somehow understood each other and found ways of getting by. Everyday Veala and the other kids would exchange words from Xhosa and English. One word, "nci-nci" or baby in English required the double clicking sound, which gave baby a soft soothing sound. Each day he would try to tell me something else. It was so sad to tell him good-bye. He was inspiring, as many of the kids are, and he will always have a place in my heart.
During my seven weeks, I felt a constant rush both from fear and the sense of adventure. For most of the trip I felt out of my comfort zone, it was very frightening at times but also very rewarding. I learned to keep a watchful eye of everything and everyone around me especially at night, and I always kept my money in my front pocket. I like to think of Africa as a place of extremes, you will see the most beautiful places as well as the most haunting. "TIA" (This Is Africa) is an acronym from the movie "Blood Diamond" and it became our symbolic way of describing South Africa. No movie or pictures can describe such an extreme country or how it affects you personally. The entire experience affected my very soul; I grew up little more and gained so much strength though this entire experience. You realize everything that you take for granted and how fortunate we are. This experience further ingrained in me the desire to pursue medicine. I will always remember the lives that touched me, the friends I've made, the memories and experiences that are imbedded in me. I can only hope that as time passes I do not forget and have an opportunity to return.
If you are interested in helping African Medical Mission please feel free to send me an email at hunter.olver-allen@coloradocollege.edu or contact the mission directly at http://www.ammsa.org.
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Hunter Oliver-Allen is a junior at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, CO. Hunter was recently given the opportunity to expand his volunteer work and conduct research and was awarded a $1,000 venture grant from Colorado College to support a trip to South Africa in the summer of 2007. Hunter joined the “Health Volunteer Organization”, to volunteer at the Bedford Hospital in Umtata, South Africa. To learn more about Hunter’s experience in South Africa, you may email him at hunter.oliver-allen@coloradocollege.edu. For more information on the Bedford Hospital and the African Medical Mission, please visit http:// www.ammsa.org.
