Once again I returned to Soweto today to visit another clinic. This trip was coordinated by George Kanyika - Chief Architect at the Department of Health for Joburg. He is in charge of the development of public healthcare facilities, including the provision of equipment and human resources. It was amazing how I got in contact with him and he was extremely helpful......just realized that there are no trees in Soweto....hmmmm
I got to walk around the clinic with the Architect (Noel Puta of Prism Architects) who designed it and learn about the development of the building plan and construction of the clinic....awesome! To top it off, the Managing Nurse practitioner was also there to talk to me about how the clinic is run on a daily basis. Everytime I go to another clinic, I learn a little more about poverty in South Africa and how it relates to AIDS. Talking to both the architect and health practitioner gave me a well rounded understanding of the challenges of designing/managing such a facility.
Later, I was able to pick George's brain about healthcare infrastructure in joburg. What are the ideals for community clinics? How does the AIDS epidemic affect the services that community health clinics offer? What are the different ways that clinics are intended to serve the diverse community needs? The Dept. is trying to implement more clinics to take some of the burden off of the hospitals in the area, they are also trying to provide services that are holistic, addressing issues of malnutrition, education and economic development. By the end of the conversation we were pooped.......
Here is the new stadium in Joburg for the world cup. The design is supposed toresemble an African musical instrument. The city of Joburg is amazing! The old city center and the new....there is so much development hapening because the world cup is come in 2010....new train line, new stadiums, new hotels and public buildings.....an architectural facelift......every now and then a mural about AIDS awareness....can't escape it....the problem is real......... 
This weekend I will prepare to head to Durban for a week and half.......looking forward to working with an NGO there and meeting with some folks at the AIDS Foundation......
I got to walk around the clinic with the Architect (Noel Puta of Prism Architects) who designed it and learn about the development of the building plan and construction of the clinic....awesome! To top it off, the Managing Nurse practitioner was also there to talk to me about how the clinic is run on a daily basis. Everytime I go to another clinic, I learn a little more about poverty in South Africa and how it relates to AIDS. Talking to both the architect and health practitioner gave me a well rounded understanding of the challenges of designing/managing such a facility.
Later, I was able to pick George's brain about healthcare infrastructure in joburg. What are the ideals for community clinics? How does the AIDS epidemic affect the services that community health clinics offer? What are the different ways that clinics are intended to serve the diverse community needs? The Dept. is trying to implement more clinics to take some of the burden off of the hospitals in the area, they are also trying to provide services that are holistic, addressing issues of malnutrition, education and economic development. By the end of the conversation we were pooped.......
Here is the new stadium in Joburg for the world cup. The design is supposed toresemble an African musical instrument. The city of Joburg is amazing! The old city center and the new....there is so much development hapening because the world cup is come in 2010....new train line, new stadiums, new hotels and public buildings.....an architectural facelift......every now and then a mural about AIDS awareness....can't escape it....the problem is real......... This weekend I will prepare to head to Durban for a week and half.......looking forward to working with an NGO there and meeting with some folks at the AIDS Foundation......
This already sounds like it's shaping up to be an excellent adventure. I've already learned so much. Thank you for sharing as you go. This is great. Not as good as being there, but I guess next best thing. Let me know if you run into anyone doing business in Malawi.
ReplyDeleteRoger