Its been a while. But man oh man I have been a busy boy.
Well since my last blog I went on a 2 month placement for Uni. My placement was at a residential unit where assessments are done in relation to parenting capacity of people with disadvantaged or difficult backgrounds i.e. teenage mums, parents with drug or alcohol history, parents with mental issues. So they are placed in this house with a bunch of social workers , given guidance in the first month then they are assessed to see if they will be able to look after the babies once they leave the setting. Unfortunately the outcomes were sometimes heavy with the parents having to be separated from the children.
I really had to get into the role and do alot of things the social workers were doing which was daunting to say the least, plus I had the extra anxiety of having to deal with their babies. though by the end of it I was a pro at changing nappies and burping babies. Though my first baby changing experience was not so smooth... actually it was a bit nutty. Poor little baby girl really drew the short straw when there was only me around to change a nappy. mid way through of it we were both covered in poop, but we got it sorted. Def had to leave my comfort zone on many occasions, whether dealing with crying people, giving out perscription methadone(medical alternative to heroine), or just invading peoples personal space e.g. going into their room if i heard baby crying. It was a real learning experience.
I was given a couple families to work directly with which was difficult cause sometimes i needed to tell them what to do when it came to things like feeding, bathing the babies etc. also i had to be authoritative with some of the parents and make sure they went to appointments and did what was expected of them. was a bit of a challenge but def learnt alot of skills about how to deal with people.
I also co-run a Dads Group which was for dads that were out of prison, drug/acohol users etc. I was at first anxious about helping to run a group of 12 guys but they were welcoming and although there were a few issues i enjoyed their company and learnt alot which changed my perception of many things.
So that was my placement. When I go back to Uni in September ill go straight into a 3 month placement.
Me and Hannah land in SA on the 17th July and leave 6th Sept. So its about half the time i usually spend and we are hoping to squeeze in some camping and a trip to Cape town. Really looking forward to seeing family and friends.
I have been offered a job to do relief work at the place where i did my placement. so if someone calls in sick or goes on holiday there they call me in. Im just waiting for my police check i needed for there to come back then i can go on their books.
Im officially off Uni now but I need to still go into the library as need to finish 4 Essays by 21st June which is gonna be tough. But after that Im free, have a couple weeks after that before SA so gonna crash on Liz's couch.
Below are a few pics of recent times
No comments:
Post a Comment