Music to My Ears

After going through the first week of life and classes here in Pietermaritzburg, there are already so many thoughts and incredible experiences to share. I am currently taking four classes, Community Health Nursing, Ethics (which is my senior seminar class), Nursing Research, and History and Culture of South Africa…as well as an Introductory Zulu course, which doesn’t count for any credit, but is just for our own personal benefit in order to understand and speak basic Zulu to the people here. Everything is pretty relaxed, and there are even two “tea time” breaks throughout the day, which is a wonderful time to get everyone together, drink tea (or juice in my case), take a break from class, and share in sweet fellowship. They feed us very well here at each meal, a little too well actually, which is why I have started taking up running as a hobby. I much prefer other forms of cardio, but running is what’s available, so I’m adjusting.

Tea Time!

Also on the topic of hobbies, music has been a big part of my week. I have been blessed enough to take the APU guitar captive, which has been brought along for chapel times and is technically available to anyone who might want to use it. Being able to play the guitar almost every day has blessed me so much, and even though having piano would be wonderful as well, once again I’ll take what’s available. Although I’ve always known it, I’m realizing all over again how much I adore music…it truly touches my soul. We even had one night when, while preparing for chapel, there were about six people crammed into my room, with different people switching off playing guitar and everyone singing different harmony parts for various worship songs. It was fabulous. There was also a group of us who sang all throughout our bus ride today, because there was no radio, so we made our own music! We’re learning Zulu songs as well, which I love so much! I just hope and pray that music continues to be a significant part of this trip as the weeks go on.

However, some of the “music to my ears” experienced this week was of a different nature completely. It was actually in the form of one word: cured. I started working at a community health center this Thursday, and I was placed in the TB clinic. It was a great start to my clinical experience, and I was able to learn a lot throughout the day, but there was one moment in particular which really touched me. As I learned from the nurse and worked along side her, we saw patient after patient, some waiting for results from TB screening, some starting their treatment, some part way through their treatment, and some finishing their treatment, and it was actually a patient being “discharged” from the program who opened my eyes to something very important. As the nurse was filling out his final papers, she got to the end and there was a section that had about five different boxes, and one of them needed to be filled regarding the effectiveness of the treatment. The box she checked off said “Cured.” As simple as that. This caught me off guard. Cured? Really? I couldn’t help but smiling and feeling this incredible sense of joy as I realized, although there is incredible disparity in this world, horrible sickness, and often times seemingly more bad than good, there are things which can be cured. There is healing. There is effective treatment. There is hope, and although ultimately it rests in the Lord and not in modern medicine, this experience made me realize how excited I am to be a part of providing that hope, not only though medicine, but through sharing the source of true Hope with those I serve.

Besides the start of clinical, there were actually other very exciting things that took place this weekend. Most weekends have some sort of “excursion” planned out, and today was pretty action packed! First, we all went to a Birds of Prey reserve where we were able to see all sorts of incredible birds and watch a show that taught us about the diverse population of birds here and their way of life. Next we went to a lion park, and although we didn’t actually get to drive into the enclosure where they were, we got to go right up to the fence and get a good look at them…they are gorgeous animals. And I got to pet one! We then went up to one of the highest points near where we’ve living and got to look out on the whole city. Next we went to the train station where in 1893 Gandhi was evicted from a first class compartment of a train. There is a monument in the train station that states, “This incident changed the course of his life. He took up the fight for racial oppression. His active non-violence started from that date.” This was quite a special visit, and I actually didn’t know about any of this before today, so I was very pleased to learn more about Gandhi and the inspiration for his work. The beauty and incredible history of this place continue to amaze me.

Up close and personal!

Quite possibly the ugliest bird I have ever seen in my entire life.

My wonderful roommate Teresa!

Well, that about sums up the significant incidences and topics of the week. Much more to come as the weeks go by I’m sure, but for now thank you so much for your support! And know that I love and appreciate you all so much, and you are in my thoughts and prayers!