The Last Kick Of A Dying Horse: #MariannridgeCom

I make reference to this metaphor as it best describes exactly how I feel. As I begin my last block at the community of Mariannridge, I feel like it’s the last bit of energy rush I’ve got just before I drop down dead. After having to endure such stress and academic institutionalization from the last 3 block (Psych, Paeds and Physical) this block has got to be the one to rekindle the fire within my gut, put the smile back on my face and be one to grant me the time to greet people with the real interest to find out HOW ARE YOU DOING TODAY?.

When I started my 4^th year in OT, I had prayed and hoped that the last block I get to do would be the community block. And guess what, that exactly what I got. And when I heard it was Mariannridge, I thought even better!! (Coloured community? shouldn’t be too bad I thought haha) I was excited at the idea that I’ll be working in the community towards the end of the year even though I wasn’t quite sure of what that entailed, I just knew that it was supposed to be fun, challenging, worthwhile and fulfilling. So I was ready!

Week 1 at the community has passed, totally different from the other blocks I tell you. Day 1 felt like uhm….so where do I begin here? Thank God we had a handover day a week before heading into the community; because that kind of helped with settling nerves and uncertainties about what needed to be done. But even so, GETTING STARTED wasn’t as smooth as I had hoped. None the less, it was a good first week.

Day 3- 10/09/2014 was the day where things seemed to be picking up. On this day two of the girls I work with in the community and I got to meet the Speech and language Pathologist that will be working alongside us in the community. We read hand-over projects again and delegated/allocated the community projects accordingly. Later on during that day our supervisor came into the community to help us get a better understanding of the community and TO guide us on possible projects that we can take on in the community. One of the projects that stood out for me was a graphic design project. The project entailed us and professional graphic designers instilling hope into the community through the use of murals and inspiring quotes on the buildings of the community. When she initially presented the idea, I was taken back a bit. Maybe because I felt that it was a big project to take on; or whatever it might have been. But when I actually put some thought into it, I realized that it’s actually such a fascinating concept, the more I thought about it the more I loved it. I’m interested to invest my energy into it and to see how far it can actually go.

Day4-11/09/2014 was perhaps the most interesting of the week; probably because I got to do something I wouldn’t have done out of free will. I got to attend a seminar about “Interdependency at the interface: state housing and people’s practices in Johannesburg.” presented at the DUT by Dr. Sarah Charlot. It was insightful because it was able to highlight positive and negative systems that have been placed to produce the relevant numbers of RDP house in JBH. But what I found most interesting was the states/governments lack of understanding when it comes to community contexts. While I can’t claim to be an expert in understanding community contextual influences, it became clear that the governments antipoverty strategy though RDP housing was actually producing adverse effects as it ultimately resulted in thick fledged townships or what Americans would refer to as Ghettos. When what they should be hoping for is producing communities. The government needs to understand that providing a basic human need of shelter does not result in empowerment, they need to understanding that such only provides a foundation for potential and understand that person empowerment is more sustainable in when attempting to improve living conditions and poverty in our country.

Just before I could realize, week 1 at Mariannridge community was over with not much done, if I may do say so myself. But at least I had the hope that the little that can be done will be done thoroughly because I have been giving a good foundation and good hand-over to be confident enough to work with the community. And remember, the last kick of dying horse can be the most powerful.