So following being separated for the week whilst on placement, the group was bought back together on Friday night for the weekend all staying together at the Hospice guesthouse. It wasn’t just Tallulah, Alex and myself that were delighted to see Sophie B and Jess return ‘home’ but Vicky and Maureen who look after us at the guesthouse welcomed them back with open arms also.
Sophie and Jess are really enjoying their placement at Calm Africa, they are working closely with Jolly Mercy school, getting to know the children there and doing lots of teaching. They have also visited families in the community that are supported by Calm and who provide foster placements – an aspect both Jess and Sophie B have been impressed with. They have been doing care plan assessments for children that board at the school, looking at education, health, religious views, family history and the best ways to support them – which is great assessment experience. They have met an incredible woman who was matoke picker (green bananas!) and looked after 15 children in the community unpaid. Calm Africa chose her to become one of their unique foster carers, she now fosters 7 children who attend the school. They have found the lack of resources difficult, as when being asked to teach lessons such as art and music the resources available being so limited has forced them to be quite creative in their thinking. The language barrier has also been a challenge when conducting assessments, although the children do speak English, when discussing more complex issues it could be difficult. They have had a lot of fun with the children as well, teaching them games such as whats the time Mr Wolf (slightly adapted to whats the time Mrs Lion!) and duck duck goose creating lots of fun and laughter. They do not currently have access to internet very frequently – hence this update on their behalf.
Friday night we had a lovely dinner cooked by Vicky at the guesthouse, she joined us to eat so she could catch up with the weeks events. Following our meal we all went for a few drinks with some friends we have made at Hospice who are also from the UK. On Saturday we hired a driver to take us to the equator – rather a long journey but worth it for the photo opportunity! The ride back was slightly hairy, being pulled over by the police once, the reasons for which were rather unclear and then having a little bump with another car – we all got home safely in the end. That evening we had a lovely team meal, treating ourselves to something a little different to the rice and peas served daily at Hospice, and the variations of egg served at Calm – it was such a treat!
Sunday we caught up with work and emails using the wifi in a local cafe before Sophie B and Jess left us for another week, goodbyes are sad but welcome backs will soon come round next weekend.
On Placement | In Uganda & Peru 