The halfway mark

So we past halfway on our community block- time flies when you having fun right… so I thought I’d reflect a bit on the last couple of weeks…

Community work is tough….we have been running like headless chickens trying to find our feet and make our way through the community figuring out all the dynamics. A lot of time has been spent forming relationships and gaining trust of key members of the community. Trying to plan our intervention has been frustrating to say the least- people you need to meet with are always busy or they not at work that day. You speak to one person and they tell you speak to this person then that person and it goes on and on and it feels like you going nowhere.. but that’s community work- its endless persistence to make a change even if it’s a tiny change (which most of them are)… but now this week the ball is rolling, and its picking up speed. Twice today out of nowhere we received positive feedback and gratitude for the work we have been doing. One person actually requested our help with something- goes to show they trusting us and letting us in- HUGE progress. For me today that little bit of positivity motivated me in a big way- the little pebbles we have been throwing are going deep even though they not going wide. For me that’s a great achievement and I couldn’t ask for more.

Our entrepreneurship group is on its way and today I saw the effect that this has had on some lives already. One of our members is a paraplegic lady and her son who is also involved suffers from epilepsy and appears to have some cognitive impairments. She expressed to us today what this group has done for them- she had spent her days cooped up in her flat with nothing to do leading to great tension between her and her son whom she used to take her frustrations of her limitations out on. Now here they are, mother and son, out and about every day- not only to work but she is now catching up with old friends and going to visit them. Their entire aura has changed. Her son said to us today ‘I am sooooo happy to be out and working’. Amazing really… and not only that but she comes today with a peg bag she had sewed by hand the night before- beautifully done. Here she is using her talents and bringing them forward to extend and grow their business

Something I have really been enjoying in the community is going into the homes of our clients to work with them… it’s made me realise how the people we treat in hospitals are just a client not a person. Going into their homes you go into their lives and the person with the disability is not where your work ends- the entire family and context comes. There is so much more to a person than their impairments which is something we as OT supposedly take into our intervention but its only really become a reality now whilst being in the community. I’ve felt a part of something,  a part of their lives. Its fulfilling for me.

I feel a part of the community now. A sense of belonging nestles within me.

So this video doesn't relate much to my work in the community but i watched it and it made me smile... something so simple and small that just works and makes a huge difference.. maybe it is actually related to our community work. Watch it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlA9tXYxD8g