May 2013
22 posts
4/19/2013 Limpopo ANC Parliament Member
When flying back from Polokwane in Limpopo province, I was waiting to board the plane and a lovely gentleman was in line next to me. We struck up a conversation and he told me that he is a 19 year member of the South African parliament, a member of the African National Congress, and a representative from Limpopo province. His name is Nelson Diale and he was on his way to Cape Town for budget...
5/19/2013 Beautiful Handiwork by a Beautiful...
The UJ doctoral nursing student who took me to Limpopo province, soon-to-be Dr. Reda Jacobs, was kind enough to have me in her home in Polokwane. Her mom and dad live with them and her mother - a school teacher of many years, was an absolute delight! She is not only beautiful - but also very talented. She crochets the most beautiful works and uses glass beads to adorn the beautiful stitchery. I...
5/18/2013 Meeting with Maria - a Traditional...
While in Limpopo, I had the opportunity to meet with a Traditional Healer, Maria, and discuss her work. She has a master’s degree in education but is not longer teaching. She had the calling from her ancestor’s about 10 years ago. She now heals those who need her healing services. People come to see her for aches, pains, general worries, and for some, because they feel they have had a...
5/17/2013 Eastern Limpopo Province
The daughter of one of UJ’s nursing doctoral students, Le-Marie, was kind enough to act as my tour guide and driver so that I was able to see some of the countryside. We went to one small village in the eastern portion of Limpopo — not too far from Kruger National Park. It is very hilly there — beautiful landscape with tons of pine trees. In fact, they have a mill there. We spent...
5/16/2013 Trip to Limpopo Province
I was invited to travel to Limpopo province and it was just a wonderful experience. Limpopo is one of 9 South African provinces and you can see where it is on the map below (I am living in Gauteng province — pronounced “how-ting”). We visited one small town and experienced a bit of rural South African life. Above are pictures of housing in the town of Nobody — which has a...
5/10/2013 Annual Post-Doctoral Forum
Each year the UJ Department of Nursing hosts a post-doctoral forum where issues related to the development of nursing science are discussed. Nurse research scientists from across South Africa, as well as doctoral nursing students, were invited to attend. I had the privilege and honor of keynoting the forum, “Model Generation: The Appreciative Value in Nursing.” Notable nurse...
5/9/2013 UJ's 20th Annual Research Day
Today was UJ’s Annual Research Day which was hosted by the Department of Nursing. It was held at the Bunting Road campus — a wonderful venue with a beautiful auditorium and terrific food. Approximately 100 students and faculty attended from UJ and other universities in South Africa, as well as the Dean of the faculty of Health Sciences, and faculty from select departments at UJ. I had...
5/8/2013 14th Annual State of the World's...
was just released and it doesn’t look that great for many industrialized countries across the globe … UNLESS they have most care delivered by well-educated midwives. More intervention does not equate to better perinatal care. Where midwives provide the bulk of care to women who are low-risk (which is the majority of women) — and where those births respect the sanctity of the...
5/5/2013 International Day of the Midwife
What a terrific day to celebrate midwives across the globe. Midwives make the world a better place….one baby at a time….
April 2013
29 posts
4/29/2013 Midwifery in a Private Hospital in...
Life St. Mary’s Women’s Clinic is a hospital owned and operated by Life Health Care in Springs, Gauteng and I was fortunate to spend time there today. I have been to public hospitals in South Africa, as well as a midwifery run birth centre, and wanted to see a private hospital and how midwifery is practiced in this setting.
The hospital has 21 maternity beds, 2 theatres, a...
4/27/2013 Lunch at Casalinga Restaurant in Joburg
Three wonderful UJ colleagues today took me to a fabulous restaurant called Casalinga Italian Ristorante in Muldersdrift, Gauteng. Owned by Jenny and Peter de Luca, it is a rustic Italian restaurant on a farm near Johannesburg. Jenny is the daughter of PGA golfer Gary Player (known as the “Black Knight”) – himself a South African - who now lives in Florida, I believe. The food was phenomenal and...
4/27/2013 Freedom Day in South Africa
is every April 27th and is a national holiday. It was designated a national holiday in 1994 and is in recognition of the first elections held post-apartheid. The national elections since 4/27/94 were not based on race.
Source: http://skyrocketnews.blogspot.com/2012/04/freedom-day-south-africa-are-we-really.html
4/26/2013 Infant Cup Feeding and Baby Friendly...
The Department of Health in South Africa has mandated that all maternity hospitals be Baby Friendly by 2015. Where mothers cannot breastfeed, cup feeding breast milk (or formula) is encouraged. This involves swaddling the infant, holding the infant upright while supporting the head/neck, and holding the small half-filled cup of expressed breast milk (or formula) to the baby’s bottom lip, and...
4/25/2013 Advanced Midwifery Class at UJ
Today I sat in on an advanced midwifery class taught by Prof Anna Nolte — she is a well-published midwifery scientist who co-authored Myles Midwifery - Africa Edition. The students are learning from the best! There were about 20 students in the class. Case-based teaching is used and the content is very similar to what we cover in our graduate midwifery classes in the USA. The biggest...
“In South Africa there is a great Afrikaan name for grandmother -...”
4/24/2013 What a nice evening...
with a UJ staff member and her daughter, Deidre and the grandchildren. Had tea with them and the opportunity to learn more about school’s the children attend and healthcare for those with private medical aid.
4/21/2013 What a Baby! ..... cutest thing...
One of the domestic workers at the B&B, Nomusa, had her 6th baby less than 2 months ago and is back to work. The baby was with her this weekend but unfortunately the baby was fussy and sick. So I babysat and loved up the little spud for a while today. His name is Banele (which means “enough”). I guess after 6 children, enough is enough! Above is baby Banele and his papa, Cesar.
4/21/2013 UJ Society Members
have fundraising activities and one was staging a wedding in March. Society members reside in the dorms and plan varied activities for fun and to support a worthy cause. In February, they dressed up for a wedding — the students looked terrific and sure seemed to be having fun. Above are pictures of the wedding party heading off to festivities.
4/20/2013 Change of seasons
in South Africa. Fall rains are here with heavy downfall last night and when it rains the snails are out. The pic above shows a snail — and they are big! Much cooler here with falling leaves though many plants still in bloom.
