Ngiyafunda

I am learning.

My job at 1000 Hills Community Helpers has no definition. It is an amorphous thing that takes form as it needs to.

For the first month of work at 1000 HCH in Inchanga I found this lack of job definition incredibly daunting. I previously have thrived best with specific goals to accomplish. Such a life or work style is not the nature of 1000 Hills (actually, I’m pretty sure it isn’t the style of Africa in general). Everything is about going with the flow, baby.

And so, I go.

So, this undefined work has led me to experience in many fields, most of which I would never have expected to partake in.

On Thursdays I spend most of the day in the dispensary with Jimmy, the pharmacist. After 3 weeks I have gotten a strong handle on filling prescriptions. It was a shining moment for me when Karen, a nursing sister and daughter of Dawn (1000 HCH’s founder), told me I was a pharmaceutical star.

In addition to the pharmaceutical field, I also partake in the Baby Clinic on Tuesdays as an aid to Sister Dlamini (the head nursing sister at 1000 HCH). On Tuesdays 40+ babies under a year of age come for their weekly check-up. I weigh them, take temperatures, and ask about their medical histories. In addition to my lack of medical experience there also exists a pretty severe language barrier. I can say only six Zulu phrases and one of them is “Does your baby have diarrhea?”

After the babies leave sometimes I teach computer skills to the young adults who spend time at the Community Center. Many Zulu people who cannot find jobs spend time at the clinic, taking classes and reading in the library. It has been a really awesome experience spending time with Zulu people close to my age. I think we have learned a lot about each other and our different cultural backgrounds.

I have also done a brief stint as a pseudo-EMT. And by EMT, I mean that I ride in an ambulance. I could no sooner claim to have any skills as an EMT than I could claim to be a doctor. But, it has been an awesome experience going to different houses in the valley with De, the ambulance driver and Nosihle, the actual EMT. I have met some incredible people just sitting in the back of that ambulance.

And finally, the best 45 minutes of my day is the beginning. I spend the first hour with the 4 to 6 year olds singing and just loving them. The love definitely goes both ways.

The demands of my role at 1000 HCH are not few. Truly they do require me to be a jack of all trades. Flexibility at its finest. I am grateful for the challenge. How often do you get to experience such job diversity as a 23 year old. And even better and more importantly, I feel so fortunate to daily be exposed to such a vast array of talented, intelligent people who I can learn from.