I’ve found it much more difficult to journal and blog on this trip. I feel the responsibility to record these experiences, but definitely not the desire. I’ve decided it’s because my motive for being here is different on this trip. My first trip definitely became one of self discovery in both my personal and professional life. This trip I have so many different hats to wear, it’s sometimes difficult to process anything for myself, which is totally fine - my purpose here it to provide a learning opportunity for my students, and it is definitely not about me. I do feel the pressure to not only provide child life learning experiences, but to help them learn about themselves and the world around them. I’ve had to remind myself that the best way to allow that to happen is by exposing them to the new and challenging opportunities, and allow the learning process to naturally occur. While my natural tendency is then to tell them what fruit that experience should produce in their lives, I realize that the most meaningful changes come through self-discovery, not through someone telling you what to do. The challenge comes with creating the safe and supportive environment with exposure to the right experiences in order for them to come to meaningful conclusions on their own. I guess that’s what this teaching thing is all about, though. 

The students continue to excel at their work at the hospital and the “home for physically disabled children.” I wish that I could write more about their experiences there, but I am sensitive to protecting the stories of those with whom we are working. I will tell you that on Tuesday we were able to meet with the creative therapies team at Red Cross. They are a team of massage, art, music and movement therapists. They do great work at that hospital and are working every day to support the psychosocial needs of the kids at the hospital. During our visit, the pain nurse mentioned that a mother had stopped her to talk about about one of our students. She shared that this student had provided play for her daughter at bedside. During this play experience, the mother saw her child smile for the first time since she had been hospitalized. In fact, they named the doll the girl had made “Smile” to commemorate the child’s break through moment. It was in this moment that the mother said she was able to see the daughter she knew, and not the sick, scared girl who had taken her place in the hospital. It was a very powerful moment for that student to see the positive impact she had made on a child through the power of play. We aren’t always able to see the outcome of the interactions we have with children, but in this moment we were able to celebrate with this family and our child life students. 

Along with all the hard work at the hospital, we had plenty of time for fun this week as well. 

On Tuesday afternoon, Caroline and I headed to Kirstenbosh Botanical Gardens with some of the girls. It’s one of my favorite spots in Cape Town. I just love the beautiful scenery and it has some great photo ops. The wind and the cold made our outing even more of an adventure. 

Teaching Caroline to master the jumping shot. 

Thursday, we headed back down to the Waterfront after work to head to Robben Island for our tour. Unfortunately, as we were sitting waiting for the ferry, they canceled our trip due to winds. We were very disappointed, but we will reschedule our tour for another day. 

Caroline and I were able to stay down at the Waterfront to meet up with our friend Martha and her family for dinner. Martha was a child life specialist at Children’s Mercy with us and moved to South Africa last summer for her husband’s work. It was so great to see her and to hear how well she is adjusting to her life in South Africa. I know the move was not an easy decision for her, and I’m so proud of the way she has embraced this adventure for her and her family. 

Friday and Saturday was the big “safari.” Excitement was definitely in the air as we gathered early Friday morning to make the four hour drive to our game reserve. The drive along the Garden Route was beautiful and once we got out of Cape Town, the weather became beautiful as well. We were able to go on a night game drive when we got to the reserve. It was definitely the most emotion filled ride I’d ever been on. 

One of many game drive pictures. 

We divided into two groups. Caroline and I traveled with three of the students and headed out to find all of our favorite African animals. Our vehicle was most excited about the giraffes, the elephants, and the lions. What we didn’t realize was that the most entertaining animal, and the one we would spend the most time with that evening, would be the ostrich. 

As we crested one of the hills, we saw what looked like a woman in a black dress doing the can-can. Our ranger informed us that it was a male ostrich doing his mating dance. It was quite entertaining. But the fun didn’t end then. All of a sudden we saw him catch the eye of a cute little female ostrich. He took off after her, and our ranger sped down the hill after them. We weren’t really sure what to expect when it came to the mating ritual of ostriches, but we sure saw it all. The male ostrich soon took his position and was happily doing his thing. When all of a sudden, out of no where, another male ostrich came running and totally bulldozed the two boofing ostriches. Birds and feathers were flying. The blind sided and now enraged male ostrich jumped to his feet and took off chasing after another male ostrich - the hilarious part was that it was the wrong guy. He was totally chasing after an innocent bystander. That poor ostrich took off running.  He had a look of fear and total confusion in his eye. I was picturing him looking over his shoulder yelling, “It wasn’t me. You’ve got the wrong guy. For real, let’s just calm down and talk this out.” But there’s no use reasoning with an angry, horny ostrich. It was during this chase and perceived conversation that the ostrich being pursued totally wiped out. He was running down a hill and just totally bit it! Face planting right into the ground. The guy had to have a bloody beak for sure. He jumped back up and kept on running, but I’m not really sure what happened because at this point I was doubled over with tears running down my face. It was hilarious. Even our guide was shaking with laughter. I can’t even make it through this story without laughing. It was live animal bloopers at it best. Best moment of the safari by far. Caroline loved it so much, she wants to buy a painting of an ostrich in an ascot. Not sure what the ascot has to do with it, but it seems appropriate nonetheless. 

Our fearless driver safely returned all the
members of our vehicle back to camp. 

There must have been something in the water this weekend, or perhaps it was just the added estrogen in the air from a group of 14 women on safari. Either way, it felt like I was trapped in an episode of Animal Planet does the dirty. We were “blessed” to encounter the mating rituals of giraffes and a number of other wild species before the day was done. 

We ended our evening being chased by a female lion. No joke. It was super scary - one of our passengers may have even relieved herself during the pursuit. We obviously got away and were later told that since these lions had been rescued from a hunting reserve they weren’t used to running long distances and don’t kill to eat - they just kill for fun. But my memory of the event is a huge lion sprinting after our jeep and her giant head flying toward us with her mouth wide open. 

The rest of our stay at the game reserve was definitely enjoyable, but a little less dramatic. 

We are back to Cape Town  now and gearing up for our final week in Sough Africa. I can’t believe how quickly it’s gone. We still have plenty of items on our list of things to do, so it will definitely be a busy week. Hoping we can find the balance between cramming it all in and giving ourselves the opportunity to slow down and really allow this experience to make a lasting and sustainable impact. 

For all of you questing whether I'm doing any work on this trip,
here I am grading journals. :)