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This week hasn't been the easiest week in the world and a lot of things have happened and changed at the dream centre.

Day 8 - 9/3/09
There is a lot of speculation flying around at the moment with regards to the finances of the Dream centre and a lot of the nurses are getting angry and frustrated. We heard on friday last week that there might be a strike today and when I woke up this morning there was a huge group of nurses protesting at the front of the building. As a group and with the advice of our regional we decided that we too would not work and for most of the morning we watched the strike/protest develop out of a window at our flat.
At first we weren't sure what was happening on the wards but, we asked one of the nurses who said that there is a staff nurse (the nurse in charge) and a ward nurse on each ward, which meant that the patients were still getting their medication and some level of care.

At the weekend me and the other 4 volunteers went to a Zulu village and experienced Zulu dancing. I'd seen this when I was in south africa in July, but it was done and explained in a different way and there weren't as many people watching, so it was much more personal.
We also took a short walk to a waterfall in the valley of 1000 hills and the gorge it had calved through the landscape was massive! I'm afraid you'll have to wait for pictures as the computer i'm using is not the fastest one in the world!!!
In the afternoon we went to an indian market, which sold lots of african crafts and after lunch, took a nice relaxing stroll down the beach, to the african street market. This is part what south africa is all about, walking along the beach, watching the sun go down and looking at the local craft. There were people along the beach who had made huge sand sculptures - I've only ever seen them on TV before and in the flesh they are much more impressive.

Hi everyone
Sorry for the long wait, but I decided it would be better if I told you about the whole week at once, rather than you having to check what I've been up to everyday!!

So here it goes:

Day 1 - Monday 2/3/09
I should probably begin by saying how huge the Dream Centre is, I never imagined it would be in such a big building.
We (the volunteers) are staying in a flat on the 1st floor, its not the most pleasant of places and there was a mouse in the hall to greet us when we arrived...
After unpacking, Nadine and Marlou gave us a tour of the wards and introduced us to the patients. It was quite a shock to see people so young looking so frail and I didn't really know where to look or what to say.