This project takes place in the Red Cross War Memorial Children's
Hospital in South Africa. The Red Cross is the only dedicated
Children's Hospital in sub-Saharan Africa. Children of all ages from a few months to 12 years old attend the
Hospital for specialised treatment.
Internationally it is regarded as the 'one-stop shop' for excellence in
child health care and treatment.
The Children’s Hospital is affiliated to
the University of Cape Town and is a leading teaching and research
institution. The first liver and heart transplants on children in South
Africa were performed in this hospital, as well as other groundbreaking
achievements.
Established in 1956, the Hospital has
become a major centre for paediatric medicine and surgery in Africa. The
Red Cross treats up to 300,000 children each year, from South
Africa and beyond its borders.
The Red Cross Children's Hospital is the centre at which
undergraduate and postgraduate medical students receive their core
training in paediatric disciplines. Specialist paediatric nurses and
allied paediatric health care providers, such as physiotherapists, child
psychologists, speech and occupational therapists are also trained here.
The Hospital is equally active in preventative health
care, and plays a critical role in educating community health workers,
thereby facilitating the exportation of models of good practice to the
community. Several services are provided, including education of children,
parents and community health care workers in, for example, HIV, Aids,
family planning and contraception, rehydration and nutrition.
The Hospital
has also established and maintains three significant national information
database resources, viz.
The Poisons Information Service
The Childcare Information Centre
The Childhood Accident Prevention Foundation of South
Africa (CAPFSA)
The new medical emergency entrance was completed in June
2001. The new specialist outpatients wing was built in phases and
completed in June 2001. The Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital’s
new specialist outpatients and medical emergency facilities is a lasting
symbol of community generosity and fundraising success. The staff
education building was completed in 1998 and includes the Johnson and
Johnson Hall for functions and lecture rooms for the training of nursing
staff.
The “Ikhaya la Rotary” (Home of Rotary) section was
completed in 1998, specifically to provide accommodation for out-of-town
parents whose children are being treated at the Hospital. The Ikhaya has
rooms of all sizes, ranging from double rooms to rooms with 6 bunks … and
all 63 beds are often in use! The rooms are comfortable in the hopes of
alleviating just a little some of the stress of having a child in hospital
The Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital performs
many operations on children, e.g. Conjoined twin separations, liver and
kidney transplants, to name a few. The theatres are busy 7 days a week, 24
hours a day.
This placement is not suitable for medical
undergraduates or graduates unless you are prepared to accept the
limitations of the project.
Children need every bit
of love and attention they can get. The Matron and staff of the hospital are
very excited about having volunteers there to help because, according to the
Matron, “the kids love having volunteers from overseas around because they’ll be
new faces who can tell them new stories about their own country”. Even something
as simple as entertaining the children with stories lifts their morale and helps
the healing process.
As the staff at the hospital have mentioned many times,
having the volunteers give the children some extra love and care is wonderful …
but the extra hands are very welcome as well.
Some of the work at the
hospital at times can be overwhelming as some of the children suffer from
AIDS/HIV, which is even more reason why the children need love and attention.
Your main tasks and
responsibilities will be to visit the children, hand out toys, play and interact
with them, and give them lots of comfort and love. You may also assist with
general non-medical support, e.g., accompanying a patient to another department,
collecting folders and fetching food, etc, or assisting the pharmacy area or
clinics where patients wait for their medication (which can often be for long
periods of time).
You may also assist in various out-patients departments as
administrative support, or assist in the fund-raising shop where your duties
would be to sort out and sell a range of donated goods, such as household
equipment, clothing and books, that cannot be used in the wards.
Your hours may vary insofar as they will be subject to shift rotas. Therefore,
you may sometimes work evenings or nights, sometimes over weekends, etc., but
your time off on other days instead.
A Brief Description of Typical Work Duties our Volunteers Perform:
During the morning you'll generally be in
the toys room to pack your toy trolley. Your supervisor at the hospital will
inform you which ward you'll be in for the day. They will also inform you of any
wards that are out of bounds due to infection diseases. Once you have determined
which ward you are going to, you will be able to stock your trolley with the
appropriate toys.
You'll then join the ambulant patients in
the play room where you'll distribute the toys. After that, you can give
individualised attention to specific children. This is where volunteers
are so valuable to both the Hospital and the patients - the personal care and
attention. And you'll find that the children crave the attention and fun you can
give them. This session will usually last for most of
the morning and afterwards you will be expected clear up and return the toys
back to appropriate place.
Sometimes the Hospital will hold concerts
and events to entertain the children. Children love these performances and you
will play an important role by escorting the young patients to these events.
Parents Accommodation
"Just wanted to drop a quick note at the end of my
placement at the Red Cross to say thank you for all the organising that you put
into it. It far surpassed my expectations and I was able to gain hands on
experience in all areas of the hospital. The staff were very friendly and
accommodating, and I was given access to stuff I just wouldn't have managed in
the UK. My host family too have been quite incredible, treating me like their
own son, which has no doubt augmented the experience." Andy Hamilton, Medical Work Experience placement, August 2003
RECOMMENDED COMBINATION! Care for Children with Autism and Special Needs
Why not think about combining this placement
with a month caring for children with
Autism. This is a very worthwhile and satisfying placement where you can
also make a tremendous difference. The Autism Centre desperately needs the help
of our volunteers and you will be made very welcome.
Adding this element would be an excellent addition to your time
in the City, not to mention an excellent entry on your CV!
You can also help in other centres where you'll work with children with Special
Needs, children with Mental and Physical Impairment, or with children from
disadvantaged homes.
To read more about combining your placement at
the Red Cross with working on this very worthy project, please click here
COMMENTS FROM
TRAVELLERS LOCAL CO-ORDINATOR ELEANOR ABOUT THE RED CROSS HOSPITAL:
"Last
week I visited Cindy at the hospital in the ward (special permission from the
ladies in charge). The wards are beautifully decorated – murals everywhere,
pictures, mobiles and bright attractive curtains. Everything possible is done
to take away that sombre depressing look hospitals usually have. There seemed
to be nearly as many volunteers – all wearing special aprons to show who they
are – as nurses!
The
children in that ward were mostly small babies, and were being cuddled and
comforted. Many of the mothers were sitting with their children – but of course
some have to go to work, so the volunteers take over. There had been a large
number of gastro-enteritis patients recently – seems to have been a serious
tummy bug in Cape Town affecting children in townships and the hospital had been
caring for lots of them. There were also lots of other little babies with
various syndromes and illnesses – malnutrition, foetal alcohol syndrome and so
on. Volunteers only get told briefly about the medical conditions of the
children – their job is to hug, comfort, play and try to take their little
patients’ minds off how ill they are. Cindy was finding it very interesting to
work there.
Cindy has
made a number of friends at the hospital. Her weekend with the group of Dutch
volunteers to !Khwa ttu - The San Culture Education Centre – was very
interesting. They visited a traditional village where they learnt about the
life of the San people and could go on walks or drives to view antelope and wild
life. The talk on the San language with its fascinating clicks was something
new and unusual. Yesterday I took Cindy and Hannah (Travellers volunteer at
Observatory Junior School) for coffee and cake. We chatted about Cape Town,
transport, languages and customs of different people. They all seem to be
finding living in Cape Town a wonderful experience."
Accommodation and Living in Cape Town
In a bohemian part of Cape Town, along the
east coast of the city near Woodstock, is a set of very
lovely lodges! The Lodge Observatory is a series of 5 houses
in Observatory, a famous Alternative Suburb in Cape Town.
Apart from other
Travellers volunteers, this hostel mainly attracts many intern students. The
Lodge is managed by Nelly and her daughter Charmaine. They are very friendly and
will always help you where needed. They can answer any questions or can een help
when you need some TLC because you feel a bit homesick!
The Main Lodge is the centre of all
the lodges and is a meeting point for everyone. You can discuss your day in the
living room, have a nice chat out on the terrace, go for a swim, watch a movie,
etc.
There are two 4-person dorms, one
3-person dorm and one double room. This lodge has a living room, two bathrooms
and a well-equipped kitchen. The back of the house has a nice covered terrace,
as well as a braai area (South African barbecue) and a swimming pool.
In the back of the garden there is a
little place called the Garden Lodge. This is basically the chill-out room with
several comfortable sofas, satellite television, VCR and HiFi system. Great for
relaxing or for parties.
The Main Lodge
also has storage facilities for surfboards etc. and space to
store your luggage if you wish to travel around the country
and leave your things somewhere safe.
Food: You
will be given a food allowance to buy your own food from the big supermarket up
the road. Each house is equipped with a kitchen with a fridge, stove, oven and
microwave, and all the necessities to cook a good meal.
Travel:
You have the
option to arrange your own flights or we can assist you with your flight
arrangements. If you would like us to do this for you, we will liaise with
you regarding available flights and dates to suit you. All arrangements
for your flight bookings/payments will be fulfilled by Murray Rogers
Travel Ltd., ATOL No. 6856. (Read more about Murray Rogers Travel Ltd.) Where possible, we
arrange for two or more people to travel on the same flight and we will
let you have the names and telephone numbers of other volunteers on your
flight, so that you can chat to each other or even meet up before leaving
for your placement.
Where possible,
all flights we arrange for you have changeable return tickets because many
of our volunteers choose to extend their stay once they are in their
destination country. Changeable return tickets enable you to do so, within
the limits of your visa and the level of your air ticket, of course. If
you choose to book your own flights, you should endeavour to get a
changeable ticket. We meet you at the airport regardless of whether you
make your own travel arrangements or not.
Aerial view of Cape Town
You will fly directly into Cape Town where you'll be met by our Cape
Town Manager, who will take you to your work and introduce you to
everyone.
VISAS:. In countries
where visas or immigration documents are required, we'll send you all the
necessary forms and information and make the process very easy for you.
We can also
arrange your flight dates to give you additional time at the end of your
project for travelling around and sightseeing - this is a fascinating and
wondrous country!
PRICES
To see the Prices of this project and all
our other projects in South Africa, please
click here
Prices
include
Food & accommodation while on your project,
unless otherwise stated,
2 T-shirts, if required
for your project
All support and backup
during your programme
Meeting you at the
nearest airport, where appropriate, but exclude international travel.
.
+44 01903 502595
