A typical day in Gabs

I woke up at 6:30am just like on any other work day, feeling tired and desperately wishing the snooze button could be hit one more time. It was already warming up outside preventing me from ever cooling down during the night after a 38 degree day before. Once I was ready for work and had grabbed breakfast, I was out the door by 7. It’s about a 10min walk to my combi stop which is right in front of the football stadium (when I say football, I mean soccer) where the Zebras play, the Botswana National Soccer team. My combi route is very popular so there are often a few that pass when full. Once I cram myself into one, the ride only lasts 10 to 15 minutes depending on traffic and how aggressive/crazy the driver is.

My day at the Hospice starts at 7:30, insanely early I thought at first, but you do get used to it (and really, what choice do I have). I greet my coworkers with ‘Dumela’ who stop to ask me how I am (each one using a different phrase in Setswana to throw me off --- this greatly amuses them as I struggle to come up with the correct response). There is a bit of down time at the beginning of the day as everyone is sorting out what needs to be done. I am often asked to do some typing or editing for any number of things (reports, proposals, resumes, and letters) but today I am going on home visits. I enjoy these days the most because I feel the most useful. I pile into the company minivan with the nurses and we head out to Old Naledi (the poorest part of the city – basically the slums). Driving through Old Naledi is an experience in itself. There are families who live in one-room shacks, there are kids running around with no clothes on, playing around old car parts or hot grills as mothers make their pap and fatcakes in their outdoor kitchen. I find it overwhelming, mostly because I don’t know what to feel when I see this. To say these people are poor is an understatement and yet, this is their way of life and they find ways to enjoy the small things.

Our first patient is a 36 year old man who is immobilized by an unexplained frozen hip, he is also suffering from other side effects from the ARV’s that are compromising his health on top of the HIV. Due to this mysterious symptom in his hip, he stays in bed most of the day and can only venture outside if someone is there to help him into a wheelchair. Once in his wheelchair, I do stretches and basic exercises with him to get his strength back trying to reach the goal of restoring basic function of his body. I help him move all his joints as best he can, as well as do strength testing, (like grip tests, flexion with resistance, etc.). I also try to make him smile by struggling with some Setswana, sometimes that helps patients just as much.

Throughout the morning, we make a few other stops, some are to recruit new patients if we have the space, others are funeral visits. I usually see about 2-4 patients on home visits who I help with ‘physio treatment’. We make it back to the Hospice in time for lunch. A variety of traditional foods is served each day for the patients and staff. The patients who come each day receive medical treatment, counselling, a social network and free, wholesome meals, for some, it’s their only meal. Lunch consists of pap (pounded maize which looks like mashed potatoes), dumplings, rice or noodles, a soup (used as a gravy), one or two of cooked spinach, beets, butternut squash, or coleslaw, and beef or chicken. Needless to say, I don’t have a big dinner when I get home at the end of the day. My afternoon is spent visiting with the patients and then planning new activities for them for the next day once they have gone home. I am currently working on putting together a library for them at the Hospice.

We ‘knock off’ at 4:30pm and I make my way to the combi stop to head home. This evening I am meeting up with the girls for dinner. The other volunteers in Gabs are Kate (from Toronto), Vanessa (from London, ON) and Iman (from Ottawa). Vanessa is my housemate and we often make dinner plans with the other girls to keep in touch. After dinner at Iman and Kate’s, we head home and watch a pirated DVD before going to bed. Since I’ve been in Bots, my bedtime is around 10pm, I don’t know if it’s the heat or the longer days at work but I am exhausted by this time. The next morning I get up and do it all over again with a few variations here and there.

On the weekends, I usually hit up a coffee shop (my only coffee of the week), and fit in grocery shopping as well. Other than that, the girls and I usually get together and do something. Last weekend we went to a concert of local jazz artists, and a friend of ours took us to see his pig farm in a village outside of Gabs.

Overall, this lifestyle is suiting me just fine.