Dignity

We were able to observe in the high care unit this morning. Our first contact was a head nurse, and he was great. He gave us a pretty good briefing about what goes on in the ward and what was going on momentarily. HCU was only an eight bed unit, so it was quite small. It was pretty slow as well, so we took a tea break; one of our first since being in Cape Town. What a change from Durban! When we came back from our tea break, rounds were happening with some sixth year students (med school is only six years here) and a Belgian doctor, Dr. Allard. We spent a lot of time speaking with him. He was amazingly intelligent, being the keynote speaker for quite a few worldwide trauma surgery conferences, as we found out. It was a really great day at the hospital even though it was slightly slow. Soon after we got home, we received a surprise visit from Marion and Avril. It was nice to see them and we had a lovely little chat. My mommas are so cute (:

Something struck me yesterday when we were taking the taxi back home from dropping our rental off. There was a billboard on the side of the freeway that was in the townships that was advertizing moving out the townships, and said something along the lines of moving from township to dignity. I was left in shock thinking about what that was really saying about these people in utmost poverty.

I feel like dignity is something everyone strives for. Even those in poverty in the United States strive to keep their dignity in any way that they can. There’s something so different about poverty in a third world country. And this sign almost symbolized how stripped of dignity this particular population was. There’s something about the amount of desperation that’s exhibited that I have never witnessed anywhere else, all that is strived for is utmost and bare necessities. In the States I feel like even impoverished populations still want superficial possessions because that’s what everyone in the States wants. Here, it’s not about superficial items or having the newest thing, it’s about pure survival. It’s such a boggling and heavy topic to ponder about, myself coming from such a rich place in the world and not quite able to wrap my mind around the idea of sheer need, and the absolute struggle to sustain life. It’s something I will never know the true feeling of, and I am blessed for that. But at the same time, I feel such deep sorrow for what I witness and leave behind here for my plush life back home.