The majority of my time here in South Africa is spent at the
amazing St. Joseph’s Home For Chronically Ill Children. I have always adored
kids. From the day I decided to switch
from being pre-law and instead go into medicine to become a pediatrician, I
haven’t looked back. That’s one of the
reasons my internship at St. Joseph’s Home (SJH) is so great. SJH is a wonderful facility for those children
who have life-limiting and life-threatening illnesses. Each day that I am at
SJH, I encounter kind, considerate and friendly nurses and staff members. There are so many wonderful children here who
are just bubbling with excitement and filled to the brim with joy regardless of
their condition. It is honestly such a privilege to be surrounded by them.
JHU_Gauri who also works at my site, in her own blog mentioned some great and
also heartrending facts about the kids who live at the Home.
The delightful lobby of St. Joseph's Home
St. Joseph’s Home
is not only great in the care it provides for so many children, but also in
its pioneering of an innovative short-term block therapy program. Founded by
German nuns who did not believe in idle hands, SJH focuses not on the
disabilities that limit them, but instead, rather on improving the abilities
the children do have. A number of the children at the Home were in car accidents
and suffer from traumatic brain injuries. A few of these children have been
enrolled in the two-week block program in which they can receive speech,
occupational and physiotherapy. After the therapy program ends, the facility
sends rehab care workers to follow up on the progress of the children.
!An article about two adorable kids at SJH who were able to successfully progress to the next grade
For the last few weeks, I have had the
opportunity to shadow these therapists and never once have I found them to be
lacking in compassion nor patience with any child, no matter how limited the
child’s abilities were (they also certainly had the patience to answer the many
questions I asked). It is such a pleasure to see these children who’ve suffered
from a stroke or who have cerebral palsy, carry out the fun and creative tasks
the therapists set out for them. Although it is heartbreaking to know what
these children have been through, constantly seeing a smile on their faces never
fails to cheer me up. As I watch them
successfully complete each task, whether it is pronouncing a word or using their
affected hand to throw a ball, I cannot help but to feel inspired by their
tenacity to keep on improving.
An amazing child who is doing well at SJH
Since the block
program is only two weeks, the therapists can only do so much before the time
is up. Thus, the program requires that parents be an integral part of the
process and attend at least four sessions so that when the child is discharged,
the parent can continue the exercises. Unfortunately, although improvements are
made in the program, many of these children regress in someway after being
discharged. This is one of the few times I see the jovial therapists look
defeated. Many of these children come
from poverty stricken homes and their families face multiple issues. Many
parents have various responsibilities such as having to go to work or caring for their other children and so they cannot give their child the attention
he/she needs nor do many of them have the financial means to properly support their
disabled child.
St. Joseph's Home allowed us to do a home visit in order to
obtain a firsthand experience of the living situations of these children. In
both homes we visited, a common concern was the child’s progress in school. After
they are discharged, these children end up going to mainstream schools where there are forty kids to one teacher and so the teacher cannot give the
individualized attention the child needs.
Unfortunately, as a consequence, the child ends up falling behind.
Transferring the child to a special school can be a long and arduous process
and in the mean time the kids continue to have difficulties at their current
schools. It is saddening to know that so many of these children regress or fall
through the cracks after all the progress they had made at St. Joseph’s Home,
especially since with the right care they would have flourished. At the end of
my days at the Home, I always wish I could have been more helpful to those children
instead of just observing their plight, and I am constantly wondering how I
could have made more of an impact in their lives.
When I am taken away from those thoughts by doing
some adventurous activity with the other girls on the trip, like hiking Lion’s
Head (where I quickly found out I was not the world’s best hiker) or
paragliding, I am able to immerse myself in the beauty of Cape Town. Being
thousands of feet in the air and seeing all the beauty below, it is easy to
just be in awe of what seems like a perfect surface. However, my time at St. Joseph’s
Home has ensured that I will never forget the sad reality for so many children
that lies beneath it all.
!Amazing view from when I went paragliding
Chantal Clough
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