To begin, lets start with a nice scoop of honesty
During my flight from London to Johannesburg, I thought a lot about how I would write this blog. I started to consider what issues I would talk about, how open I would be about my personal journey, etc etc. How I communicate to my family is entirely different from how I communicate to my friends. Also, how I engage with people I know is substantially different from how I interact with strangers. On my flight I was like, “Ahhhh I don’t know how to talk to all these people at once. If I try and regulate myself, my blog posts are going to be shitty, boring, lame, and dishonest wahh wahh wahh”.
So, I think I’m just going to let my posts form organically. I will not be using a family/friend/stranger filter. I’ll just communicate how I feel most comfortable. I want to really just shake off the anxiety I have about pleasing all the different people I am trying to talk to and just sort of say “Here I am, here is my blog, enjoy my internet presence. If you don’t like it, don’t read it, hugs and kisses”.
Also, I don’t want this blog to be weird and exploitative. Like, “Oh, look at these poor orphan children, look at all these pictures of me holding them blah blah blah”. I want it to be socially conscious, culturally competent and educational/informative. As an international social work student, I feel responsible to address real issues rather than just blog about my day and how much I miss my pets (which I DO, so so much). I plan to discuss sensitive stuff like racism, classism, ageism, sexism, you know – a lot of ‘isms’. Topics like rape, HIV/AIDS, sex, and substance abuse WILL come up and I WILL talk about them. If I didn't then this would all be a waste of time, energy, and internet space. And it wouldn't be truthful and honest.
Now that I got that out of the way - - - - -
An explanation
I am completing a 540-hour advanced field placement in South Africa during the Spring Semester of 2013 at Botshabelo Community Development Trust. Botshabelo Community Development Trust is situated outside of Magaliesburg, South Africa, where old farmland has been transformed into a village, housing and educating rural orphans and giving poor and displaced adults a home and a chance at a better life. Botshabelo is situated in the rural grasslands of Gauteng Province, South Africa, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) northwest of Johannesburg.
On Botshabelo’s website it states their goal as:
“To be a model African village, one that works together for sustainable and communal growth”
The school at Botshabelo educates 270 children up to the ninth grade. They house about 250 AIDS and economic orphans. Anyone can come live in the villages at Botshabelo that needs help. Also, they have a small clinic to provide treatment for AIDS patients.
My job, as a macro-level social worker, is to remove any current or potential barriers that prevent them from reaching their goals as a community. I realize that’s a really vague way to describe my role, but that’s all I know as of now. Social work is in itself sort of an ambiguous profession. You know, my hero social worker, Brene Brown, describes social work as:
“Leaning into the discomfort of ambiguity and uncertainty, and holding open an empathetic space so people can find their own way. In a word, it’s messy.” So, as I spend time here in South Africa, I’m gonna lean harddddd.
By the way - I’m in Johannesburg, but I am currently at a guesthouse resting before the people from Botshabelo pick me up tomorrow. I will update again tomorrow evening! Hopefully with pictures of Botshabelo.
So much love,
Christy
***Oh, and please excuse my cheesy background image. I just googled ‘South African flag elephant’. I don’t really know why. But, the flag elephant is only going to stay until I get an awesome picture of Botshabelo.
