Diary of an OT

Occupational Therapy student blogging my fun, stressful, amazing, eye-opening, career-filled thoughts (South Africa)

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The end of our community journey...

When we entered the KwaDabeka community 6 weeks ago I kept wondering what the community block had in store for me. More importantly I kept wondering what KwaDabeka had in store for me. What would the community members be like, what roles would I play and how was I supposed to provide intervention to an entire community. How were 6 students going to make a change to this community?

But as we walked out the doors of the clinic and slowly drove out the community yesterday, I realised that all my questions at the beginning of the block have been answered in some way. The community members are divided in that some are extremely motivated to make positive changes within the community whilst others remain stuck in their family history of substance abuse, poverty, unemployment and abuse. But nomatter who they are, they appreciate us coming to assist them even though we are outsiders to the community. I played numerous roles whilst on this block, including OT, TDT member, teacher, advocater and learner. And somehow along the lines of making small changes in our few projects, us 6 students made a change to this community.   

We had some guidance on how to work in the community and how to address issues, without which we would probably have been very lost. It was quite easy for us to get caught up in the apathy and negativity which decreased our motivation. We had projects that just seemed to be going nowhere, which frustrated our already burnt-out minds. All we could do was dive in and give it our best shot. It is true what they say, the best way to learn is to learn from your mistakes.

I overcame many challenges that I never before had the courage to, like phoning directors of prestigious organisations to set up workshops, educating teachers who have worked in schools for many years on learning disabilities and intervention that they can implement, treating children with conditions I never did before. These were just a few of the moments that helped me grow in this block.

And so, walking out of KwaDabeka, I saw the community with different eyes. I saw it as a place with lots of potential for growth. I saw the few people who were determined to try and change their lives and make a difference. I saw it as a place that I would one day like to return to.

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Strikes

The more I want this year to end, the more we are faced with challenges preventing the year from ending. By challenges I mean strikes! It’s become a norm for our university to strike atleast once or twice a year but this year has exceeded expectations. Campus was closed for a week last month due to strikes and just when we thought that was the end of it, a national strike began this week. The national strike is done by students in all campuses across South Africa as they are unhappy with the increase in tertiary education fees as of 2016. For this reason students across South Africa have risen in solidarity to protest. I’m all for freedom of speech but when you’re an exhausted student in your final year of university life all you want is for university to end.

When the strikes occur the campus is forced to cancel all academic activity. This prevents us from not only attending lectures on campus but also from attending practicals off campus. We therefore end up missing out on appointments made with patients or people within the community, which consequently portrays a bad work ethic. It may not be our fault but the people we make appointments with may not realize this. 

This has been frustrating over the course of this block as there are numerous projects to complete within the community yet they have to be postponed or cancelled altogether due to a lack of time. With campus holidays and school holidays in between we’ve had even less time to work on such projects. It’s not the inability to complete projects that frustrates me but the inability to complete promises made. This is a key point learnt from community fieldwork, never make promises. The community tends to depend on people like us, who make numerous promises to make the community a better place. When we’re unable to fulfill these promises it breaks the trust and rapport established with the community members. Instead of making promises that are difficult to fulfill it’s better to give them the possibility but reiterate that the goal may not be achieved. This has been a difficult aspect for me to learn as personally when I make promises I feel obliged to keep it.

In a way the strikes have been good for me as they have taught me this valuable lesson. Especially going into community service, as much as I’d like to make a difference to the world, I need to always remember that making a difference to one patient IS making a difference in the world.

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A rock in the Community

On my way to the community this morning I was listening to the radio when I heard some terrible news, a 12 year old boy had been gang raped by his 3 fellow students, in a local township. The boy’s mother reported that the raping had severely traumatised her son and they were considering the psychological impact that the incident had on the child. The boy refused to return to school, or even leave his home. What disgusted me more was finding out that the 3 rapists were released on bail with conditions, such as moving out of their residential area as the victim resides in the same area, as well as having no contact with the victim at school. I felt extremely upset at hearing this as firstly, the rapists were released on bail when they deserved to be punished severely and secondly, they were given conditions for their release but the court has no guarantee as to whether they will abide to these conditions. Clearly they’re not thinking about that poor victim and the damage he now has to live with for the rest of his life.   

Later in the day whilst we were doing home visits in the community, we walked towards my patient’s home. On our way we passed a small group of men playing cards outside one of the homes. As my speech therapy friend and I walked passed, they began whistling and shouting out at us. They spoke in Zulu so I could not understand what they were saying but fortunately the speech therapy student is a Zulu speaker so she was able to translate for me. She said the men had been shouting out that they thought we were “hot” and they “wanted us”, amongst other things. They even offered to pay us Labola. I did not appreciate their remarks as instead of feeling flattered I felt disgusted. I was a visitor in their community, entering with the purpose of assisting their very own community members and instead of displaying gratitude towards us we were looked at as women they wanted. 

This incident made me realise why rape is such a frequent incident that occurs in townships and communities such as KwaDabeka. There could be numerous contributing factors to this, such as substance abuse, lack of morals and values, family history of abuse, lack of education, etc. There is no excuse to justify their behaviour and the behaviour of boys and men like them but it’s a dilemma that needs to be addressed continuously. We’ve also heard of more ghastly stories about rape in this community, a new trend being the rapings of disabled children. We cannot live in a world where rape is considered a norm because that would be a world not worth living in. It was heartbreaking to realise how easily young boys can be influenced into committing crimes such as rape, as they grow up surrounded by men who display that sort of behaviour.

So what does a rock have to do with this? According to the Kawa model, rocks are considered to be impediments to the community’s state of harmony. Rape is therefore considered a rock. One question left on my mind is, What can we do to break down this rock?

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World Cerebral Palsy Day

World Cerebral Palsy Day is held on the first Wednesday of every October, that makes today a special day. World CP day was initiated by the CP Alliance and United CP organizations in 2012. The aim is to raise awareness about cerebral palsy, globally. Cerebral Palsy is described by loss or impairment of motor function and is actually caused by brain injury during a baby's development in the womb. An individual with CP will likely show signs of physical impairment as it affects muscles and a person’s ability to control them. CP can be classified according to the level of severity, the topographical distribution and based on motor function. In layman’s terms, CP is classified according to the signs and symptoms displayed by the patient.

There is no cure for CP but intervention is available to improve the quality of life for the person with Cerebral Palsy. Occupational therapy is a vital intervention component for individuals with CP because it “teaches a child how to develop and maintain a daily routine – which contributes to independence and quality of life” (MyChild, n.d). Therefore OT students are exposed to the CP topic from third year. The reason I’ve taken a particular interest in World Cerebral Palsy Day today is because I currently have a patient who is diagnosed with CP. He is a 21 year old black male who lives in the community within which I am completing my practicals. To be honest, although I’ve interacted with many individuals with CP over my 4 years of OT, this is the first time that I have a CP patient for my personal intervention. I was fearful of what to expect seeing as this wasn’t only my first CP patient but he’s also 20 years old and a male. To add to that he comes from an underprivileged and under-resourced community which I thought may limit my intervention. 

On meeting the patient, to my surprise I did not feel afraid of his severe disability, neither was I startled by his unusual behaviour. Intsead I immediately felt a sense of responsibility towards him, especially since he has been living with this disorder for the past 21 years and has never received any form of intervention. His mother is his primary caregiver and she looks extremely burnt out. I did not promise to give her the world but whatever little intervention I’m able to provide for this family, I know it will ease the burden and make a significant difference to their lives. My fears have been replaced with newfound amazement at the Cerebral Palsy disability.

For more information on CP visit http://cerebralpalsy.org/about-cerebral-palsy/treatment/therapy/occupational-therapy/

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A new beginning

Once again the campus was faced with strikes, something that frequently takes over our campus. Our fieldwork at Clermont/ Kwadabeka had to therefore be suspended for two weeks. It was a little challenging to pick up from where we left off after two weeks as we felt like we were beginning the block all over again. Nevertheless, we got right back into the groove of things this week. It’s been a total of one week in the community and already I have established my perception of the block. There are moments when I enjoy this block the most, such as not having to do frequent write ups for the supervisors and not having midterms and finals to do, but to my surprise there are also moments when I don’t enjoy the block as much as I hoped I would. The negative aspect of this community block, for me, is how unstructured it is and that the block is mainly comprised of admin and advocating for others as well as charitable work. In physical block for example, a patient is assessed and treated immediately so that you begin seeing signs of progress early in intervention and you understand your duty as an OT. Whereas in community we have not begun providing intervention to individual patients as yet and all we’re trying to do is follow up on the many projects that were handed over to us. But we are slowly learning how to make ourselves known and to promote the services that we have to offer and have to constantly remind ourselves that we are making a difference at the end of the day, whether big or small.

One incidence from this week that made me realize this, is when we completed screening the Grade R learners at a local primary school in the community. On entering the school, the first thing I noticed was how different the school was compared to the lavish schools that I’m used to seeing in my own community. I live in a community known to be of a high socio-economic region where many of the children attend private schools. Where my primary school had large buildings with airconditioning, the best playgrounds and fully equipped classrooms, this primary school has buildings which are falling at the seams, sand and uneven terrain as well as classrooms which lack tables and chairs for the learners. This however does not stop the learners from obtaining the best education that they can possibly achieve, which was heartwarming to note. They may not have the luxurious schools that people in the upper class communities do yet they are still able to learn and acquire the same knowledge.

It felt somewhat pleasing to offer our services and time to the children who so desperately need it. They don’t have the means to be able to afford assessments and their teachers do not have the knowledge on how to assess whether a child has a learning difficulty and how to manage it. However a beginning point for the teachers was being able to identify some students in the class who they believed had a more difficult time in school than the other students. They then referred these children to us for a more comprehensive assessment. It struck my heart to see these children with bright smiles on their faces, oblivious to their learning disabilities. But knowing that I was there to identify their problems and make a change so that they can have a better future was a big positive moment for me in the community block.

Working with children in schools is something new and exciting for me. I hope to use the experience that I have during this block to learn, grow and make a difference in the lives of many other children.

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Entry into KwaDabeka

"Community is the best block" everyone said. I disagreed. Community block for me was unstructured, unsafe and exhausting. Well atleast I thought so. We entered the KwaDabeka community with bright shiny eyes and nervous laughs, whilst clutching onto our belongings incase someone decided to make a move at us. Coming into a new block that we have no experience in is a little overwhelming and challenging. On our way to the clinic I kept wondering where do we begin?

We were given handovers from the previous groups of students, listing all the projects that were started and the progress of each project. There were approximately 30 projects that we had to continue...how in the world were we to work on 30 projects??? On top of that we now had to work with 3 speech therapy students as community block promotes a more multidisciplinary team approach. Little did we know that by the end of the day we'd already begin enjoying community.  We got to know how the clinic runs as well as the OT who runs the clinic. We also made friends with the speech therapy students and figured out what their role in treatment is. We decided to take a walk around the community as one of our tasks was identifying positives and negatives of the community. Whilst walking we came across an outdoor gym. It was amazing to see such an invention in the middle of a community. The gym provides a means of constructive use of leisure time as it's not only fun but also promotes good health for adults and children. Whilst exploring the gym we met a member of the community who was interested to know what a bunch of well-dressed young girls were doing in a community like this. After explaining our role to him he warned us that it was not safe for us to be wandering the community so he offered to walk us back to the clinic. I was surprised to meet someone like him, who was so considerate.

When you work in the community, you become a part of the community and you have to teach yourself to look at the bigger picture. Community block doesn’t have the structure that we get used to in hospital settings, where OTs are readily available to assist with our every need and where a timetable with patients names are drawn up for us from day one. On community you learn to become an independent practitioner, having people with expectations of you and hope in you, rather than having academic supervisors watching your every move.

Life just got real.

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"Knowledge is Power, Community is Strength..." Lance Armstrong

When I first learnt that we would be doing a community block as part of our practicals I could not understand what was meant by the term “community”. This past week has taught me a great deal about the numerous definitions and explanations of what a community could possibly be explained as. During this community orientation week we learnt not only about the communities we would be working in but also about the “community” we call our class as we attended all lectures with the speech pathology and audiology students. Getting to know them was fun as well as important in learning to work within a multidisciplinary team.

We first visited the respective communities we would be working in whilst on prac. Marianridge, the community I was placed in, is a small community with residents who are predominantly coloured. On arriving there the first thing my friends and I noticed was a sign which read “No Grass Here”, which made us laugh seeing as this community is known for their drug usage. I was unsure of whether to be afraid of the residents here or not, as we did have many preconceived ideas of how safe the community might or might not be. As we were shown around I realized that it was not as bad as we had expected. The place seemed relatively safe for us students, who are not seen as threats but rather help for the members of the community. We toured several parts of the community where we’d be working in, including a small clinic and the primary and high schools. We were surprised to learn that most of the students at the high school are disinterested in school and tend to leave at whichever time suits them. Due to high unemployment rates there were also numerous adults walking around the community without a purpose. I now understand that as OT’s we have many roles to fulfill in making this community a prospering one. The icing on the cake was finding out that I’d be going to Kwadabeka for my practical instead.

We then visited a community which I frequently pass by but have never fully taken notice of. I was always told that Warwick Junction is a dangerous part of Durban but little did I know, we’d be touring it one day. Passing by Warwick Junction, you only notice the few stalls that are on the sidewalks of Warwick Avenue, but when you actually walk through these markets you realize there’s more than meets the eye. In the tour there are 9 main sights to see. These include the bead market, where the most beautiful beaded jewellery are handcrafted by women; the Victoria street market, which hosts a variety of Indian shops. The music bridge is a bridge that leads across the main road and where cultural music is loudly played, hence the name. There we found beautiful paintings on the large pillars, contrasting from the dirt and creepiness of the stalls below it. The most terrifying of all was the herb market, where the workers use herbs and dead animals to make “natural” medicines, also known as muthi. I was completely freaked out to see dead monkey’s and snake skins hanging at the entrance of every stall. I also frequently see pamphlets claiming that these medicines and the ‘sangomas’ who prescribe them are legitimate and can cure all types of illnesses or problems. The bovine head cooking market was also quite the experience, as we witnessed people eating meat straight from cows heads.

But besides the parts of the tour that sent shivers down my spine, there was a lot that I did enjoy. I enjoyed touring a part of my city which I never dreamt of touring and seeing the way these people work to earn a living for their families. They also contribute a great deal to our country as they produce and sell their own vegetables, cultural artifacts, clothes, etc which helps to boost the economy as well as provide jobs for many. The tour as well as the visit to the community has prepared me better for my community block. It’s vital to learn the ways of a community before going into one, especially one as cultural as the African people. With all said and done I’m actually glad that we got to experience this community block orientation.

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The Final Stretch

When I look back at this semester, I realize that I've grown not only as an individual but also as an Occupational Therapy student. At the beginning of each semester I think to myself what in the world am I still doing in this field and why did I ever decide to study OT. I have all this doubt in my mind, pessimistic to whether I can pass the semester. But then the semester comes to an end and I end up feeling a sort of sadness. I think to myself, another great year has ended.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not thinking that just yet. We only just finished our fieldwork and lectures, we still have exams to get through. But getting through fieldwork is like conquering a mountain, the joy you feel when you open that mark sheet and see that you've passed... All in all this semester wasn't as bad as I expected. Everyone always says physical fieldwork is way better than psychosocial but to be honest I quite enjoyed the challenge of psych block...as well as the fact that it was clean and there was minimal contact between my clients and I. At the beginning of the psych block I kept wondering how do you actually treat someone with a psychological disorder. Once the brain is damaged it can never be repaired so what sense does treating it make. But I've found the answer, I found little bits of the answer in my every week sessions. Those few hours I spent with my client's made a difference to them, even if it was only for a few hours.

I feel I am now confident enough to take on the challenge of our 4th and final year. There were those times when I wanted to scream and cry and pull my hair out but with the friends I have and the supervisor I had, I was supported to get through the semester. A supervisor either makes you or breaks you as a student and I had a wonderful supervisor who helped me to recognise and learn from my mistakes. I was always too afraid to step out of my comfort zone, being a shy person towards strangers I never challenged myself to do things such as contact family members to obtain collateral information. But this block I did just that as well as planned an entire outing (see previous blog about outing).

Although a little part of me is sad that this has come to an end it's also a relief. Just exams to get through...pray for me!

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An outing to remember

Planning an outing for a group of people with various forms of mental disabilities is both difficult and stressful. There are many aspects that you have to take into consideration, such as the venue, costs involved, accessibility, safety, etc. The group initially brainstormed ideas of venues and when we all settled on uShaka, the planning immediately began. On the day of the outing we had a total of 19 service users who attended the outing with us. Before we left for uShaka we ensured that everyone had gone to the bathroom and was prepared for the day ahead. We explained the behaviour that was expected of them whilst at the outing. We then divided them into subgroups, among the six of us students. This made it easier for us to keep watch over them whilst at the outing as each student was only responsible for 3 or 4 clients. When we got to uShaka we were led into the aquarium by a tour guide. She stopped at each tank and educated the service users about the various sea creatures. It was quite amusing to see the service users nod their heads in understanding with what the tour guide was saying when most of them most probably did not understand anything. After the aquarium we were taken to see penguins. At this point the service users began losing interest and getting tired. Most of their attention spans is that of a child’s, you have to therefore keep them occupied with things that catch their attention. We then decided to have a rest while we waited for the dolphin show to start. An hour later we led the service users to the dolphin show, which was their favourite part of the day. They displayed true excitement when they saw the dolphins, as seen in their sudden change in behaviour and attention. They began clapping and dancing along with everyone else.  The day was adventurous as well as extremely fun for everyone who was present. It was also an eye opener for me to see the way the service users behaved outside of the institution which some of them are forced to stay in and do not receive many opportunities to leave the institution even if it’s just for the day. Surprisingly they behaved better than expected and followed all rules given to them. Seeing their faces at the end of the day, there was pure joy in their expressions. Fieldwork is one of the hardest aspects of studying OT but days like this makes it worth the effort. It was the perfect ending to yet another semester of fieldwork.   

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OT practice is informed by...

There are many things that inform a therapist's practice. Some examples of things that influence my practice as an OT student include personal experience, peer education, textbooks, the internet and various articles. Researching articles that are beneficial to my practice, I came across two interesting ones. The first one is a South African study titled 'The prevalence of burnout amongst therapists working in private physical rehabilitation centres in South Africa: a descriptive study.' The study focused on researching the number of therapists who experience burnout as well as the reasons that therapists experience burnout. Burnout is a common problem that all or most therapists experience. Some of the causes that the study highlights include emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and decreased personal accomplishment. Not having children, poor coping skills, overwhelming workload and poor working environment were also included. This study informs my practice as even though I am only a student, I still experience burnout whilst completing my practicals. The last client that I had to work with had a severe attention and hyperactivity problem and therefore required my constant attention. This exhausted me as I did not have sufficient time to focus on my other clients. The second was an American study titled 'Putting the Occupation back in Occupational Therapy: A survey of Occupational Therapy Practitioners use of gardening as an intervention.' The study examined how and why OTs across practice areas use gardening as an intervention. Some of the benefits that were highlighted included reduced stress on the autonomic nervous system, improved attention and physical capacity, a greater sense of self-satisfaction, diminished aggressive behaviour and improved positive social interaction. This article informs my practice as gardening is an activity frequently used by my friends and I during physical and psychosocial prac. It's a simple, flop-proof activity that all female clients enjoy, as well as some males. These studies were therefore informative to my practice.

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World Federation of Occupational Therapists

The World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) is the official representative of occupational therapists around the world. They promote international cooperation among OT associations and occupational therapists. They also advance the practice and standards of OT. In 2006 the WFOT published a paper regarding their position on human rights in relation to human occupation and participation. According to WFOT, "occupations refer to everyday activities that people do as individuals, families and with communities to occupy time and bring meaning and purpose to life. Occupations include things people need to, want to and are expected to do". Seven rights / principles were established regarding humans and their occupations in this paper. This included the right to participate in a range of occupations and be supported in it, as well as the right to choose the occupation for yourself. Numerous factors can inhibit or abuse this such as economic, social or physical barriers, including poverty, disease and man-made disaster. The OTs job is therefore to support the person experiencing the limitations and to facilitate them in being able to engage in the occupation of their choice. By working together with other members of a multidisciplinary team as well as the patient/ client and members involved, the OT will be able to overcome barriers and limitations to function in occupations. It is the OTs responsibility to identify the injustices and limit their impact experienced by the individual, as well as raising awareness and working in collaboration with individuals, organisations, societies and communities to promote participation of meaningful occupation. Cultural beliefs play a major role in deciding on an occupation for most individuals, therefore it is also the OTs role to consider and address the issue of cultural sensitivity. This article was informative and is a good read for any OT or OT student as it highlights the importance of occupational therapy and the roles OTs play in a client's life. For more information on the article visit www.wfot.org

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Research Day

OT is a four year degree and includes honours. To attain your honours you have to do research, which is basically doing thorough research on a topic related to OT in some way, which can then benefit individuals in the future. Research is a scary thing as it is time consuming as well as being ethically correct. There's so many aspects to consider when undertaking research. You begin research in 3rd year, which is what we're currently doing, among all the other hard work. Research Day is a special day held in the university for the 4th year OT students to present their research findings. The lecturers, 3rd and 4th year OT students, parents and adjudicators attend. The event is formal and terrifying. As 3rd year students we had to host the event for the 4th years, which meant we got to watch all the presentations. Each group is composed of 4 students. Each student had a turn to present a part of their findings. At the beginning of the day, walking into the senate chambers at the university, I felt nervous. It's funny because we weren't the ones presenting and yet all the girls in my class felt the same way I did. We began hyperventilating at the thought that this will be us next year...well, hopefully. The 4th year students were all dressed up, each group dressed in a particular uniform. It looked sophisticated along with their presentations. Each presentation was outstanding. You could see that a lot of hard work had been put into it and that their research could one day help people. Their research topics were all so different and yet all were amazing. Sitting there, watching them present, I realised that if I want to qualify at the end of next year I need to put my best efforts into this. Fortunately I have an amazing research group and it's up to each one of us to play our parts and be fair. Having this amazing group also makes the work easier and more enjoyable. By the end of the day it was not only the 4th year students who were releived but we were as well. We managed to pull of a successful research day and everyone was having a good time. The adjudicators selected a winning group who did deserve the honour. While we waited for the adjudicators to make their decision one of my classmates kept the audience entertained by asking them for feedback about research day. The parents congratulated their kids, the students expressed their tiredness and relief and the lecturers sat with smiles on their faces. That's when I realised I might just survive.

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By Erin Hanson, an artistic poet

This picture speaks a thousand words

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Knowledge begins with experience...

You can learn about a disorder from a textbook but getting information from people with first-hand knowledge is far more beneficial. Unfortunately most of these people are not prepared to come forward and share their stories. There is however a handful of brave people who wish to educate others using their personal experiences. We were very fortunate to be graced with the presence of 3 guest speakers who each shared their personal experience with a disorder, including Autism, Down's Syndrome and Anorexia.

The first guest speaker spoke about being a mother of a daughter with Down's Syndrome. When people think of patients with mental disorders they think useless and no hope. This however has been proven wrong by a number of people living with Down's Syndrome, including the guest speaker's daughter. She may not have been an achiever in school but that did not mean that she could not achieve in another aspect of her life. Hence, she became an outstanding swimmer. She has participated in numerous competitions and has won many awards, including the title of best swimmer of the year in the disabled category. Although she’s shorter than the average girl her age, she is absolutely beautiful and her personality shines through in every picture of her that we saw.

The next speaker brought tears to our eyes. She was a woman who shared her personal experience of living with anorexia. It was more amazing that she was not just any random woman but she is the mother of one of the OT students, which makes her story not only personal to her but to the rest of us as well. Most girls believe that to be perfect is to have a perfect body and a perfect body is generally described as being thin. Anorexia is therefore one of the most common disorders among young females. The speaker spoke about the incidence in her life that led her to choosing the anorexic lifestyle. Her father always expected her to be perfect, which is pressure that a lot of students receive from their parents. At the end of her talk one of the students asked her if she likes the way her body looks now. To our surprise she said no, she still feels imperfect and yet to us her body looked incredible.

The last speaker was a mother of a boy with autism. She was extremely inspirational in the way she spoke to us as the only experience and knowledge of mental disorders that she has is based on her son's experiences and yet she sounded like a qualified professional. Most parents of disabled children tend to protect their child by functioning for them therefore promoting dependence.  This specific mother was different in that she promoted complete independence in her son's life. She encouraged him to use the areas of his brain and function that he could use, which is what we OT's strive for at the end of the day.

These speakers were all inspirational and gave us a good understanding of the above mental disorders from a very realistic point of view. Their stories touched our hearts and brought tears to our eyes. When we deal with clients with these types of disorders we now know not only what they're going through but also what their loved ones might be experiencing. 

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1) Our beautiful decor done for the disco 

2) The delicious cupcakes we received

3) The makeup table was any woman's dream

4) Imagination Costumes lent us amazing bling outfits for the day

5) Me and my Team :)

[everythingot]

September 5th...not just any day

Attending an Islamic school, I was never exposed to what the 5th of September truly means. Not that Islamic schools don't care about the significance of the day, but we were never allowed to wear casual clothes to school, hence the day was forgotten. Since studying OT the 5th of September now holds significant value for me. It's not just any day, it's Casual Day! Casual Day is a day of awareness celebrated for people with disabilities. There was once a time when people with all forms of disabilities were frowned upon and rejected, for reasons such as: people believed they were possessed, bewitched, etc. Today we can proudly say that we've come a long way since then. People are now more aware of the various types of disabilities and are more educated on such matters. Today we proudly celebrate this day as Casual Day. My fellow students who are at the same prac venue as I am, and I, initially had a difficult time thinking of ideas of what we could do with the service users of our venue to celebrate this special day. But once the ideas started they just kept flowing. Since this year's theme was 'Bring out the Bling' we decided to have a disco themed event, with makeup, bling, food, music and dancing. And everything had to be blue ofcourse. We decided to try getting people to sponsor us in everything that we needed and to our luck we found the most amazing people. We had 3 women who volunteered to put makeup for everyone at the venue. We had a costume hiring shop lend us a whole lot of bling costumes and accessories. We had a woman donate us 50 cupcakes. We had a supermarket donate food, a man take pictures and videos and even got someone to lend us lights and a bubble machine. As if this wasn't enough, a friend of mine who lives at the campus residence even managed to raise R400! This day could not have been better and it was all thanks to generous people with big hearts. We started off the day setting up the venue. Then we had to get the service users all blinged out. Lastly we had great food to eat while everyone socialized and lots of dancing included. It was amazing to see the way the service users, who sometimes seem depressed or quiet, suddenly come alive. We made a difference to their lives for that day and that's what counts the most as at the end of the day Casual Day is their day. During the day we had various visitors such as one of our lecturers, a group of students from another prac venue and even the head of our OT department. They were thrilled to see the party we put on and the students even joined us in the games we played. An incident that sticks out to me is one of the volunteers began crying during the party. She left the venue soon after. After inquiring about what happened to her we discovered that she simply felt overwhelmed by the place and the service users. At first this disturbed me but then I realised that not everyone sees disabled people the way I or my fellow peers do. Only the professionals working in the health field or the friends and family members of disabled people feel the way we feel, which is a very small number. If I attended an event like this one before I began studying OT I might have felt the same way the volunteer felt. It's only because I'm so used to the experience now that I take it for granted. This is something that I feel family members of disabled people should realise. Yes, you hate it when someone stares at your child because they have a disability and yes, you feel the need to protect your child from negative thoughts and prejudices that 'normal' people have but you can't fight with every person who feels that way. Remember not everyone's used to being around someone with a disability. Personally when I was a kid I used to stare at people with disabilities too and wonder why they acted so different from me. Now I have reached a stage in my life where I sometimes look at 'normal' people and marvel at why they act so different from me. Casual Day was definitely a wonderful day to remember!