Lending a helping hand

So today was an exciting day. The psychology 3 students are given the opportunity to work in a few community based projects. Some involve going to the local mental institution and spending some time with the patients. The project I'm working on is called Masibambane which is Xhosa for working together and supporting each other. In this project we get into pairs and each pair 'adopts' a child with a disability. The disabilities range from cerebral palsy or autism and others with other physical or mental disabilities.

Now for the exciting part. Today my partner and I were allocated our child. His name is Ntombizanele, he was born with club feet and while they are slowly coming right he still needs a lot of help. Our role will be to continue building strength in his feet and legs through recreational activities and help to develop his social and communicative skills. This step in the project has made what we are doing very real.

This is going to be a challenge, but what makes me so excited is that it will hopefully teach me so much about working with children and will most definitely teach me something about myself. It is not going to be easy and will require patience and understanding.

I will keep you updated about anything cool that may happen.