deconstructionofworkforpayot

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We become so consumed with the desire to make it work. To hit glasses with the Motsepes. To get those degrees. To fly high. I get it we're a great, and driven generation. That's perfect!! We're entrepreneurs. We're business minded. We're go getters. And hey I love that! Makes me fortunate to be part of this generation. But Somehow, I feel like we invest so much effort, energy and time on monetary matters and forget our well beings. We want to afford things. We want our children to grow in better houses, to go to the best schools, to wear the best apparel, to have better lives. But by that are we not indirectly implying that great lives are led through materialistic possessions?! Don't get me wrong🤷🏽‍♀️. There's nothing wrong with wishing all of these for our kids. We owe it to them anyways. But What are we doing about and with ourselves? Our mental health? Our peace? Our minds? Are we growing in the process? Is our minds in good states? Are our principles refined and fitting to raise children? Are our thoughts really equipped for us to survive in a world that we wake up each day to afford its things? Are we not gonna be the happy-sad generation? A generation that affords Lamborghinis but don't afford peace within themselves? A generation that has gained its land but lack the humanity and accountability that goes with sustaining and maintaining it? A generation with lots and lots of wealth but have sleepless nights? Still. I'm saying, wanting to get rich is perfect. Wanting to afford noble positions is awesome. But is our mental states ready for those riches? Now let's put money aside, what else are we striving to achieve? Are we striving to achieve accountability? Are we striving to achieve unconditional love, love that stems from within us and not the one we only expect from others? Do we want to achieve kindness? Good hearts? Peaceful homes? Mature selves? Healed hearts, minds and souls? WHAT ELSE BESIDES MONEY AND MONETARY RICHES ARE WE STRIVING FOR???

#IldaAnOT

#MaturingSelf

#CommunitysInterest@Heart

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A COMMUNITY BIRTHED OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST (OT) ACTIVIST

Call me unrealistic! Say I am too ambitious! Call me Elizabeth Cady Stanton!! Call me all sorts of names. I am not ashamed to say I am an ACTIVIST. I am a FEMINIST. I am an OT. A feminist OT activist awakened by the beauty of this community fieldwork block. I am a feminist. Being a feminist does not mean I hate men; it does not mean I don’t and won't date men (if that’s my preference) but simply an advocate for women. I am for women to be allowed the right to choices and be allowed to be sexual beings. To be allowed the right to freedom of expression. From following my blog, you have realised that, right? Right. My being a feminist means I am against any forms of social, mental, physical acts that may bring harm to her, that may bring her down, that may allow her a second to doubt herself as a being. It means I'm an advocate for her living her life and doing her, in essence. I am against the system of norming oppression of women. I am against gendered views. I am for smashing the cycle of submission ideologies preached to young women. I am against what and who is against women. In fact, I am still amazed as to why being a woman is not a Human Right.

I’m certain you now think I was born like this (laughing behind the mask); this block has shaped me. My supervisor has. Life’s inevitable changes have shaped me.

This was not just a community block to me but an emphasis on identifying with a group of people and exposure to real-life issues that impact the overall health and well-being of the people I serve. It has been a privilege to examine the impact of the social determinants of health within the community, looking at development as both a political and professional practise (Shaw, 2006). Understanding the two have yielded in successful acts of resistance, I must say. Although these were mediated between different structures prior implementation, we were allowed to act in ‘little bit’ defiance, and that’s the beauty of this module! We are allowed to redefine community. To ‘smash’ community structures that are not beneficial to its members.  It allowed me to be part of the community.

Retrieved from google, 16 April 2021]. This image emphasizes the redefining of community that I realized in the duration of the block, how my joining hands and working together with other individuals from different structures positively impacted my intervention, professional and personal growth. In this block, I learned that community can create unity and togetherness (as per the above image). However, with the willingness to get dirty, unlearn certain behaviors, confront injustices, go beyond our scope of practice as occupation-based therapists, and redefine our OT terminology in terms of its application (Leclair, 2010). It meant looking at a person holistically and provide person-based therapy.

In one of my sessions, I used imagery, which enabled the client to absorb knowledge and prepared her for her first step in the healing process. Two jars were half-filled with clean water, one jar was diluted with juice. She was asked to pick flowers that she found attractive, different sizes of stones and soil. The response of confusion written on her face was enough to convince me that the session would be a success. All these components symbolized occurrences in her life. The undiluted jar of water is what her life is supposed to be like. Peaceful. Painless. Lively. Refreshing. Calming. The diluted water jar symbolized happiness. The flowers included her promotion at work, her relationship with her partner, her health, and her purpose. She was then asked to take one stone representing sadness and put it inside the undiluted jar; she unsurprisingly picked the biggest. She added sand, flowers, and the rest of the stones. The clean, pure, undiluted water lost its value; it became dark, dirty, and unattractive, although with flowers inside. I then added the juice to what I called “the jar of her life,” it made no difference. The water was still unattractive and, this time, disgusting.

That’s the description of her life and how she felt unworthy even with elements that should make her happy.  The therapist then asked her to drink the water, which the client refused to do- relating to how she expects people to be happy around her and access her in her state. She was later asked to remove all the components she had put inside the jar, at first reluctant but had no choice. She couldn’t remove the sand, and there it was!! The picture I wanted to paint!! There are things in life that we cannot undo, cannot change, cannot live away from but can survive.

[Retrieved from google, 16 April 2021] Sometimes, it's about staying in the mess as the image above suggests but refusing consumption by it. This block taught me that life is not as simple as we look at it; life is real. Life as an OT is emotionally demanding. We have to act strong during therapy, convincing our clients that things will work out while we ourselves are going through the same mess and conflicts. And coming from this block, I am certain I have grown. I am certain the world out there will benefit from the fruits of this more kind-hearted, more observant, more sociable Ilda who has the community's interest at heart. Going into community service is a more open-minded person, becoming more and more of a professional who works together with the people and for the people. Sounds political, hey? I know; I'm an activist (Smiles).

I am an ACTIVIST OT who has been shaped to think outside of confinements. To act outside of the do’s and do not’s of society.

references 

 [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwhenmercyfoundme.com%2F2015%2F04%2F13%2Fstop-saying-youre-sorry-thoughts-on-true-community%2F&psig=AOvVaw0dL1IPUZZ2JNo1upAb8gI9&ust=1618748688511000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAMQjB1qFwoTCOiK76WzhfACFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

[Image]. Retrieved from https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0b/44/a8/0b44a85bb54d4df54536b681c384e8f1.jpg

Leclair, L. (2010). Re-Examining Concepts of Occupation and Occupation-Based Models: Occupational Therapy and Community Development. Canadian Journal Of Occupational Therapy, 77(1), 15-21. doi: 10.2182/cjot.2010.77.1.3

Shaw, M. (2006). Community development and the politics of community. Community Development Journal, 43(1), 24-36. doi: 10.1093/cdj/bsl035

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How sustainable developmental goals have been implemented in my fieldwork community?

What can a place like Kenville benefit from sustainable developmental goals? How can they gain? Is it even possible to implement these at a community-based level?

Google (2021)

This image of a very old house with people living in it and having no problem with the linkage, the rust, because they still have a roof is the same type of ignorance we aim to do away with at Kenville. Issues of racism, colourism, gender inequality, injustices should not be ignored because it’s not directly affecting us.

The sustainable developmental goals (SDGs) were developed in 2012 to address all countries' ongoing political, environmental, economic, and social issues. These emerged after the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) failure and differed since it considered all countries and not just the developing ones. However, having been criticized since implementation for clashing with other goals, (Nilsson et al., 2016), since one SDG's success depends on the other. Hence, in my fieldwork community, I looked at how to address these considering their interdependence; for example, gender equality would affect one’s general health and well-being. Men would be looked after by the women while neglecting their own needs life. The following will unpack some of the goals I will implement during my fieldwork.

Goal 3: Good health and wellbeing

This goal aims to promote mental and physical health and well-being, ensuring that mortality rate from diseases like HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, pneumonia, etc, in all age groups remains very low and health care is accessible for everyone living within a country. This has been implemented at Kenville community since we offer refugees with or without permits health services and offer treatment for adults and their children. This is part of our belief as Occupational Therapists to look at a person as a person and not identify them according to race, gender, social class and standing. Good health and wellbeing include the ability to have a say in your own health, be it male or female. This is why my huge focus is on females who lack privilege and understanding of how to use their strength and power. These autonomous decisions include having choices over their own bodies regarding when they would like to have babies, keeping the baby or not, methods of contraception they want to use.

As a huge part of health promotion and wellbeing emphasis, re-educating the security guards at the clinic to ensure that people comply by wearing masks at all times and appropriately, continually sanitize and maintaining a safe sitting and standing distance of 1.5 metre has yielded fruits as it increased the level of compliance from our patients. We also consider the pandemic and have talked our clients through understanding mental health (Minas et al., 2015), a taboo in most of our African communities, which is so rich in ancestral practices and ignorance.

Not neglecting that the SDGs are interrelated, since in this case this goal may be affected by many others including poverty, hunger, non-equitable and poor education and access to affordable and sustainable energy. Therefore, have looked at how we can enhance our community members lives, eradicating poverty and ensuring equitable education. The projects we took the schools, the vegetable garden and KITE project are a few that we aimed to assist community members address barriers to good health and wellbeing. By good health we are not looking at the absence of disease or impairment, but we are more concerned with the person as a whole with or without impairment. We have vouched to treat our patients giving them quality care (Akachi et al., 2016) that is affordable and easily accessible through availability at the clinic.

Goal 5: gender equality

this was derived from the 3rd goal in MDGs which addressed gender equality and empowering women. Although in SDGs it seems attainable and doable it does have a couple of loopholes in terms of unclear reference about funding that will ensure that the goal is met hence creating uneasiness of how different it will be from MDGs in terms of successfulness. Hence, in our community block we have tried by all means possible to close the gaps and actually provide financial means and educate on how to use skills and talent to generate an income. We have included two financially needy women to be part of our trading experience initiative. This ensures that there is equality amongst the two sexes (male and female) and decrease the need financial dependence.

Although we have not completely met its targets, we plan to close the gaps by advocating for our women in the community who are sexually exploited by men we respect, men in power and leadership positions. We have a broader aim to teach young girls leadership skills to impart knowledge and belief in themselves, empowering them for the future.

Goal 10: reduced inequality

Reduced inequality refers to inequality in the workplace, leadership platforms, driven by gender, age, class, race, ethnicity, abilities, and social norms of inferiority. We have used the pestle analysis at the community and saw how the community is built of different classes of people and have tried to have the community members treat the individual as a person and not look at them through the spectacles of skin colour. Muhammad Ali once said (refer to picture below) but from the community, we realized it is not hate against different skin colour, but against same skin colour, just different origin and place of birth.

Google (2021)

this therefore affects the following goal which looks at justice and peace. Other individuals fear for their lives and end up depriving themselves of health services, even asking questions on the cues because of fear of how their accent will put them in trouble.

Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

No concrete steps have been included in this goal on how women would be included in governmental structures under the "peace and governance" priority (Goetz & Jenkins, 2016). Hence, in our community, we have looked at how we can equip them to stand up for themselves and push themselves into the system to practice justice and fairness. We have included a maternal health group that aims to look at the systems' injustices, from home, to local to provincial to national structures.

We have looked at how we can ensure that we have strong institutions beneficial to the community hence we have established and carried over projects involving creches and schools to strengthen our basic institutions.

Goal 17: partnership for the goals

In this goal we have looked at how we can strengthen the establishments we have come up with. How to strengthen the maternal health group by establishing support networks, allowing individuals to build rapport to be each other’s support network. In this we believe in what Malcolm X (in the picture below) said.

we are trying to build a support structure that will not be shaken nor moved by any eternal force.

The community has benefited thus far and still will because there is a plan. And the plan is to do community.

 Reference

1.    (2021). [Image]. Retrieved 9 April 2021, from https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.quotemaster.org%2FRacism&psig=AOvVaw1fZnCBAafojSrphGahTVTQ&ust=1618081770330000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA0QjhxqFwoTCIiUg4bv8e8CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

2.    Akachi, Y., Tarp, F., Kelley, E., Addison, T., & Kruk, M. (2016). Measuring quality-of-care in the context of sustainable development goal 3: a call for papers. Bulletin Of The World Health Organization, 94(3), 160-160A. https://doi.org/10.2471/blt.16.170605

3.    Goetz, A., & Jenkins, R. (2016). Gender, security, and governance: the case of Sustainable Development Goal 16. Gender & Development, 24(1), 127-137. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2016.1144412

4.    https://www.azquotes.com/quote/811613?ref=togetherness

5.    https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.shutterstock.com%2Fimage-photo%2Fvery-old-worn-out-house-small-1402775477&psig=AOvVaw3dswF5ZJeLpkk_-cvM1mCf&ust=1618083813237000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCMjAuIv28e8CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAh

6.    Minas, H., Tsutsumi, A., Izutsu, T., Goetzke, K., & Thornicroft, G. (2015). Comprehensive SDG goal and targets for non-communicable diseases and mental health. International Journal Of Mental Health Systems, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-015-0003-0

7.    Nilsson, M., Griggs, D., & Visbeck, M. (2016). Policy: Map the interactions between Sustainable Development Goals. Nature, 534(7607), 320-322. https://doi.org/10.1038/534320a

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My positionality: Why should my child unlearn the same things I did?

Is it ignorant or fear of change that every generation has to fall trap into the same oppressing system? from our great grandmothers, who we identify as heroes of the society, our mothers, the cornerstones? Are we really going to be that generation that carries the silence of oppression passing it on to our children? Fortunately, I became a mum at what I call an ‘awakening age’ and aspired to be a different mum since then. I’m not saying other mums out there are not enough or that my mum is bad, but I have seen so many unlearned practices from her life.

Growing up in a ‘broken family’ without a father and having uncles play the father figure role had me yearning to covet the rights women have neglected for years and derange the patriarchal system. I mean, I identified my mother as mum and dad, although I hate calling her dad. Yes, she took on both roles, trying so much to not have me feel the gap of his absence. Trust me, I don’t hate my dad and never did, even when he was still alive. I hate the choices he made of neglecting me, not that I want to pin his actions with unjust things happening in my life, but somehow his behavioural choices were distorted. Growing up with my mum had me realize that I had to do better than the woman dad left in my mum who could not fully be my role model. I identify myself not as a strong woman but as resilient. One who has been down several times and still woke up.

I’ve seen how my male cousins were treated better than anyone else, how they would be part of family gatherings and have a say while we were only involved for refreshments. I don’t hate my upbringing, maybe had I had a different one, I wouldn’t have learnt. But who am I kidding? This patriarchal system doesn’t only affect us within our families; it’s a societal norm. Crazy right? But we can’t shy from the reality that this social system is used by males to control females (Yifei, 2011). I grew up angry at how I had no voice, how everything was dictated to me, how the behavioural choices imposed on me by society were to their benefits and not what I want but, in the name of teaching and grooming me to become a submissive wife.

It’s sad how I have witnessed this in my community, where these ‘happily’ married women were victims of gender-based violence and had no one to run to. It's frustrating how some of these women in marriages taught submission raised children who were victims of domestic violence and how everybody else knew, but none took a step to intervene. This has led me to not give childish advice to my clients in terms of marriage and relationships. It has redefined how I relate to people regarding their religion, gender identity, spirituality, etc.

Funny how as we grow, we’re encouraged to not think of anything else besides marriage. Don’t get me wrong, I respect such a communion, especially when it's consensual. But what angers me is how we cannot choose who we want to marry, how, and when. We actually not even asked if we want to get married. But does it matter? We’re merely a land that should be fertile to these undeserving males we call men in our societies. What kind of men would do such to a woman? What kind of mothers would allow this to their daughters?

The yoke we carry of thinking about your family names whenever we have to do something, I’m not saying drag your family on the mud. But why must it always be women who should take that responsibility? When I fell pregnant, I was such an outcast. Mind you this is my body. Funny how I had no feelings, their main concern was how what I’ve ‘done’ ruined the family’s reputation. I felt like such a possession. Or am I? you know when everyone can say something about you?

I had gone against religious ethics, and dogma. I had become such a sinner that deserved to be in hell, well no one saw me as a woman, not even as a person. I remember how I was oppressed for actions I could not undo. For a child I could not abort. For a child I loved at the very moment I realized I have conceived.

Google (2021) this image shows how accepting to say nothing is actually a choice favoring the opposition.

Hence, I learned how much I could not have my child go through the same treatment. I fought to break the silence and to take a stand for myself and wellbeing. I had to find my identity, in a place that seemed like a war zone I was tired of being deprived of my thinking, and entitlement to my behavioural choices and decisions.

Social constructs that made other women so proud of being numb, satisfied with mediocre, revoked feelings of strength and preparedness for war in me. I had to fight for the many women coming after me, before me, my mother, my daughter but mostly myself. I had to fight and still fighting the logic of being okay with not questioning, being okay with acceptance in the name of ethnicity, language, geographical location, family status, religion, race, gender and even culture. I’m still fighting the idea of how in a romantic heterosexual relationship the man has to be taller than the girl, darker than the female, be more educated and earn more money than the female. I’m still fighting the “okayness” with polygamy but stereotypes with polyandry. The okayness with men having many sexual partners and the labelling over women who do the same. The okayness of men using the services of sex workers and how sex workers are immoral. I’m fighting the okayness of a brother sleeping for 10+ hours and sisters waking up at dawn, preparing food for the entire family menders.

Positionality is a term used to explain how a person sees life, sees the world and position themselves in a situation, political and or social context (Darwin Holmes, 2020). Although ones understanding of life is everchanging, it is also important to recognize and understand how the change affects people around us.

Google (2021) the emphasis is on acknowledging that as people we learn and change, hence ones positionality is dynamic.

 My positionality has been impacted upon by personal experiences with regards to gender, from the idea of what gender is, and how as soon as a child is born there is confinement of who and how they should behave and think. Such experiences have taught me to see a person as a person without labels, so what if treat a transgender? So, what if I treat a sex worker? Why should my ideas control my therapy? Its of very importance that I look at the person holistically and consider their positionality’s in everything. At the end of the day, I should be concerned with how the client’s occupations have been affected and what can be done to assist not analysing the persons preferences, gender identity, and behaviour. Assuming a person’s positionality is so important because it allows me as a therapist to get the clients holistic overview of self and life.

Google (2021) these are the factors affecting ones positionality.

 Hence at Kenville community, we look beyond the client’s family status and treat everyone as equals. Be it a doctor, one of our own OTs and a child from a disadvantaged family. We understand that quality of life is impacted by health, environment, race, gender, and social status. We have also looked at programmes we can use to educate our community through the maternal health programme. Which has included individuals who are from South Africa with an attempt to alert our communities that outside of skin colour lives people. Its actually not important which gender you assign with, which race you identify yourself as. We are people. We are women.

I have this great urge to have my daughter, sisters not having to unlearn social injustices. how about you?

Reference

References

1.    Darwin Holmes, A. (2020). Researcher Positionality - A Consideration of Its Influence and Place in Qualitative Research - A New Researcher Guide. Shanlax International Journal Of Education, 8(4), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.34293/education.v8i4.3232

2.    https://www.dictionary.com/e/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/positionality-300x156.jpg

3.    https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fmiro.medium.com%2Fmax%2F794%2F1*prT891D9WB1Nm3xyG3r7OA.png&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fmedium.com%2Fscholar-activism%2Fblog-8-when-are-we-positioned-out-of-bounds-3df6c7ee8dad&tbnid=_GtBNmlokchE_M&vet=12ahUKEwimt7yMrNvvAhUU4RoKHQhbAxYQMygFegQIARAj..i&docid=b-ownNp2UorWiM&w=794&h=505&q=positionality%20quotes&ved=2ahUKEwimt7yMrNvvAhUU4RoKHQhbAxYQMygFegQIARAj

4.    https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fmattmaycock%2Fethnography-group-15th-july-2015&psig=AOvVaw3LL8lzR2rGXMI_zXSF2ZaK&ust=1617476909120000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA0QjhxqFwoTCKCq55eh4O8CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAK

5.    Yifei, S. (2011). China in the "Post-Patriarchal Era". Chinese Sociology & Anthropology, 43(4), 5-23. https://doi.org/10.2753/csa0009-4625430401

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Why is maternal and child health a huge ‘fuss’ for Occupational therapists, particularly at a community level?

Mental health is a very important factor that needs attention, especially in our South African context, where there are high levels of unemployment, trauma, HIV infection and the likes of the COVID-19 which impacted every citizen (Chhagan et al., 2014). In a male dominant society, it is the Occupational Therapists (OTs) initiative to, as part of our profession, include feminism, which will cater to the women in our society. This has led to a greater focus, especially in my community block at Kenville to prioritize health promotion, especially maternal health. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines maternal mental health as a state of well-being where a mother realizes her abilities, can cope with normal stress, and still becomes productive and contributes to her community. Our main focus at Kenville community is to equip women with information that will be beneficial now and in the long run to their mental health and the community.

Maternal health includes the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period. This looks deep into delivery, antenatal and postnatal experiences for women within a community. Community participation was one of the founding principles of Primary Health Care (Rifkin, 2009), which has been proven to be important in supporting local health services provision and delivering intervention at a community level (Rosato et al., 2008). As part of community-based rehabilitation, OTs have adopted the movement of reaching out to women to ensure possible independence and equip them with survival skills. This was carried out by introducing the Kenville Inspirational Trade Experience (KITE) by the University of KwaZulu-Natal OT students to generate income from those in the lower class. This year focuses on getting a female to supervise the project to encourage engagement in occupations and provide an opportunity for vocational rehabilitation ensuring that women and their babies reach their full potential for health and well-being.

The concern at Kenville with maternal and child health is driven by the low socioeconomic conditions that our women live in, leading to maternal depression, an increasingly noted health concern due to its high consequence on mother and child health. The delivery of appropriate resources for intervention and prevention of maternal depression remains a focal worry because of under-resourced health care systems and community groups. (Tripathy et al., 2010) As holistic therapists, we aim to bring about occupational balance and alleviate the burden of unavailability of resources by using what is available and attainable to make a difference. For example, there is a vegetable garden at Sea Cow Lake clinic that was initiated to enable community members to have access to fresh vegetables, thus reducing the impact of poverty, which is part of the Sustainable Developmental Goals. Additionally, Rahman et al., (2013) picks up other impacts of mothers' experiences, which are human costs leading to maternal depression.

Not only are we as OTs interested in maternal but child health as well. The focus on child health is important as It addresses health deprivation issues due to an increase in the number of children in households with minimal resources. These children like, for example Miss X's case, came to visit the clinic with a 13-months old baby who weighed less than 9kg due to lack of child support grant, and poor socioeconomic background. Physical well-being is not our only focus; child health is inclusive of cognitive development. At Kenville, we focus on the child’s early years (even before grade R) to minimize chances of treating the child at a later stage, reducing health inequalities to better our country (Tomlinson et al., 2016). Child health includes feeding and socioemotional concerns, especially those brought upon by the COVID19 pandemic and unemployment of parents. Hence, we are actively engaged in the child’s development by screening them at the clinic when they come for immunization, or the mother brought the child along as there was no one to care for him. We take advantage of the situation and assess children for developmental delays, furthermore understand the important role we play in promoting positive mental health in children and their mums, resulting in greatly improved emotional and social outcomes in their relationship. (Barlow & Sepulveda, 2020).

At Kenville we actively involve them in child health to be better equipped with the knowledge and information necessary to function optimally at a societal level. We involve them in decision-making and implementing changes that may occur with their children (Rifkin, 2009) enabling the mother to be more engaged and aware of her child's needs (Kruijsen-Terpstra et al., 2016). OTs at Kenville are concerned with child stimulation for better sensory development and readiness for school. Hence work with kids from the local creches and schools together with the managing bodies, the teachers and caregivers to impart knowledge about stimulation and activities that can be utilized. We have started the school and creche visits to further prepare the child for high school and adequate community integration and social participation.

Implementation of maternal health projects ensures that mothers are taught contraceptive methods to prevent lack of child social support, which is anticipated to improve child health at Kenville (blacks). Also, we hope to develop their skills, which could contribute to child health, as this would mean they are using correct measures to ensure adequate child health outcomes (Ohonba et al., 2020). Maternal health promotions at Kenville focus on home visits to see the client’s environmental weaknesses and assets, which could decrease the burden of disease and the burden of living with a disabled child and/or husband. This is to improve quality of life as our main scope of practice says and address the underlying issues that clients do not freely talk about, which may include gender-based violence, emotional turmoil, and unaddressed family concerns. We try to intervene within the family structure.

Maternal and child health is a huge fuss to occupational therapists as we experience through told stories the immense form of oppression to mothers and children, which has been accepted and ‘okayed’ by society. With OT being fundamentally female-driven, it inspires and empowers female independence (Traulsen et al., 2003). We are huge advocates of maternal health, and believe it impacts the people's lives, choices, habits, values, roles and deconstructs structures that are one-sided beneficial to one and oppressive to another by guiding women to infiltrate the patriarchal system. Such that in the case of Mrs. X, she cares for the baby who is malnourished, who she felt compassionate towards and raised her, but still takes care of her husband who has a physical impairment but who can actually be of help around the house. Yet she is expected to be the jack of all trades. Our Kenville maternal health focus is on overcoming limitations and restrict negative experiences imposed through continual patriarchy. And to assist women with identity development and improve self-esteem, self-concept, and self-confidence to encourage active participation in social activism.

How I wish we could have more OTs to better mothers and children's lives without expecting payment in return….mmh

#ImportanceOfMaternalAndChildHealth

#OT4Mum&Child

#DeconstructingWork4PayOT

  References

1.         Barlow, K., & Sepulveda, A. (2020). The promotion of positive mental health for new mothers during Covid-19. World Federation Of Occupational Therapists Bulletin, 76(2), 86-89. https://doi.org/10.1080/14473828.2020.1822577

2.         Chhagan, M., Mellins, C., Kauchali, S., Craib, M., Taylor, M., Kvalsvig, J., & Davidson, L. (2014). Mental Health Disorders Among Caregivers of Preschool Children in the Asenze Study in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Maternal And Child Health Journal, 18(1), 191-199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-013-1254-5  

5.         https://www.who.int/health-topics/maternal-health

6.         Jongh, T., Gurol‐Urganci, I., Allen, E., Jiayue Zhu, N., & Atun, R. (2016). Barriers and enablers to integrating maternal and child health services to antenatal care in low and middle income countries. BJOG: An International Journal Of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 123(4), 549-557. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-0528.13898

7.         Kruijsen-Terpstra, A., Verschuren, O., Ketelaar, M., Riedijk, L., Gorter, J., Jongmans, M., & Boeije, H. (2016). Parents' experiences and needs regarding physical and occupational therapy for their young children with cerebral palsy. Research In Developmental Disabilities, 53-54, 314-322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2016.02.012  

9.         Ohonba, A., Ngepah, N., & Simo-Kengne, B. (2020). A Dynamic Analysis of Maternal Fertility Choices and Child Health in South Africa. The Journal Of Developing Areas, 54(3). https://doi.org/10.1353/jda.2020.0029

10.       Rahman, A., Surkan, P., Cayetano, C., Rwagatare, P., & Dickson, K. (2013). Grand Challenges: Integrating Maternal Mental Health into Maternal and Child Health Programmes. Plos Medicine, 10(5), e1001442. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001442  

12.       Rifkin, S. (2009). Lessons from community participation in health programmes: a review of the post Alma-Ata experience. International Health, 1(1), 31-36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inhe.2009.02.001

13.       Schneir, M. (2014). Feminism: The essential historical writings. Vintage. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.za/books?hl=en&lr=&id=2V6YAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA2&dq=Schneir,+M.+(1972).+Introduction.+Feminism:+The+Essential+Historical+Writings.&ots=dhiByR4ePR&sig=ok6loeo6TrhuBnydUYOejvVsyz8#v=onepage&q&f=false

14.       Tomlinson, M., Rotheram-Borus, M., le Roux, I., Youssef, M., Nelson, S., & Scheffler, A. et al. (2016). Thirty-Six-Month Outcomes of a Generalist Paraprofessional Perinatal Home Visiting Intervention in South Africa on Maternal Health and Child Health and Development. Prevention Science, 17(8), 937-948. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-016-0676-x

15.       Traulsen, J. M., Haugbølle, L. S., & Bissell, P. (2003). (5) Feminist theory and pharmacy practice. International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, 11(1), 55-68. DOI: 10.1211/002235702865

[deconstructionofworkforpayot]

dear future OT and future self

Dear Ilda. Do you remember how excited you were to be the second person in your family to get matriculated? Do you remember how excited you were to study engineering at Witwatersrand University? Do you recall the disappointment on your face when your mum told you that you couldn't go to Wits because there is no money for transport, accommodation, and never mind tuition? That is when I knew my dreams were slowly fading away. However, the acceptance letter on the 5th of January 2017 for Bachelor of Occupational Therapy from UKZN was not as exciting as studying Engineering. Still, I knew I couldn't let that opportunity go despite all the financial crisis.

The municipality bursary to cater to my registration was enough to tell me that my journey is far from being over. From that day, I knew that there is so much out there that the world has to offer. I learned to be an adult through experiences, be happy in uncomfortable situations, and be optimistic even in the desert. If my 2017 self survived all that and failing a module, what more could I not go past? Future self learn from where you come from, learn from your mistakes, and the failures you experienced. Learn from the tears you cried, the sleepless nights you had. Has it been a journey, right? Guess what, you haven't reached your destiny, which means there's still a long way to go.

I wonder what William Shakespeare meant (thinking), but dear self, it's not every time you have to lift up your eyes and voice to pray, it's not every time you will have to cry, but in all the times you will be required to fight. You will be required to let the destiny within you drive you to do and be better. More often, we tend to take life easy; this is a rollercoaster.  It is a battlefield. Future self, I hope you're gathering the wisdom you will need in the future. I hope you're making memories that will keep a smile on your face in the future when you look back at them. I hope you forgive more, pursue peace and love greater than money. I know the future OT in me says, "what the hell?" yes, we need money for survival but don't forget to pursue peace. Don't neglect to share the love. In your work line, you will be exposed to many different people but be aware not to succumb to their manipulative ways, be careful of their evil vices and plans.                                        

In as much as there is truth in this, Ilda, think about this, would you be able to give what you don't have? Would you share if you lack? No. Therefore, to strengthen others' bodies, keep yours healthy, look after yourself. To empower others' minds, yours needs to be sound and clear, free from negativity. Isn't that why we use the Cognitive-Behavioral frame of reference in our line of work? This is as important as the oxygen we breathe. A wise person once said, 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' Be sure to feed your mind positive energies, always master the art of calming your mind. Transform your soul, be the kind of person you've always dreamed of. Be the kind of person you who will attract greatness—the kind of person who will impact the lives of millions of people through conduct and positivity.Dear future self and future OT, 'like sheep among wolves; so be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves [have no self-serving agenda].' Mat 10:16, we are client-centered professionals. Last but not least →

 , and that your child will forever be appreciative of, even after you leave this world.

references1. n.d.

Occupational Therapy Quotes

. [image] Available at: <https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Fff%2F22%2F88%2Fff2288f5fa39683dfecc8f66fecc1ba1.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F492299803000104858%2F&tbnid=vK_6VShXiPXnWM&vet=12ahUKEwi_o76E-6ftAhWYxuAKHZuuAfEQMygDegUIARDAAQ..i&docid=jnSxwaAfx01Z5M&w=640&h=640&q=occupational%20therapy%20quotes&ved=2ahUKEwi_o76E-6ftAhWYxuAKHZuuAfEQMygDegUIARDAAQ> [Accessed 29 November 2020].2. n.d.

Its Not In The Stars To Hold Our Destiny But Ourselves

. [image] Available at: <https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fthequotes.in%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F05%2Fshakespeare-Quotes-11.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fthequotes.in%2Fit-is-not-in-the-stars-to-hold-our-destiny-but-in-ourselves-william-shakespeare%2F&tbnid=Wnw-k1yZsRGIZM&vet=12ahUKEwiQmrbtgqjtAhUH9BoKHXYnDFQQMygQegUIARCmAQ..i&docid=zNpCggRQMY26hM&w=2000&h=966&q=It%20is%20not%20in%20the%20stars%20to%20hold%20our%20destiny%20but%20in%20ourselves.%E2%80%9D%E2%80%95%20William%20Shakespeare&ved=2ahUKEwiQmrbtgqjtAhUH9BoKHXYnDFQQMygQegUIARCmAQ> [Accessed 29 November 2020].3. n.d.

Journey Quotes For Everyday Living And Inspiration

. [image] Available at: <https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.eatlivetraveldrink.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2FJourney-quotes-3.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Featlivetraveldrink.com%2F2018%2F10%2F27%2Fjourney-quotes-to-inspire-your-life%2F&tbnid=TUD1SbZtrxqgfM&vet=12ahUKEwj9ucmo_aftAhVM0RoKHYumBHsQMygZegUIARCJAg..i&docid=qeQK-fNuh1bWJM&w=800&h=800&q=journey%20quotes&ved=2ahUKEwj9ucmo_aftAhVM0RoKHYumBHsQMygZegUIARCJAg> [Accessed 29 November 2020].