Last Few Days At The Dream Centre

26 Jul 2008 at 18:06

Image Hello,

I only wrote on this a few days ago but a lot has happened since then but I haven't started packing yet and we are leaving at six tomorrow morning (and going out tonight) so I'm going to put some pictures of the Agape Choir performance (which was a big success) on here and then write again when I can!

Bye xXx 

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Third/Fourth Week at The Dream Centre!

21 Jul 2008 at 20:55

Image Hello,

It's nearly the end of our time here (we leave at five o'clock on Sunday morning!) and I don't know if I'll have a chance to write again so I'll try and sum up everything now!

Last week started off very badly, after finding out that five people had died in our second week we were told on Monday morning that another six had died over the weekend. The wards seemed very empty. Two other men died in the same room that Anthony had died in. Lunga (the last patient staying in that room) was very depressed having witnessed all his roommates pass away, he also insisted on telling people exactly how Anthony had died and told Malou that he had died literally just after Tiara and I had put him to bed and said good night to him, which is quite upsetting.

There's a lot of good to say about The Dream Centre but there's also a lot that still needs to be done. For weeks there was only very cold water to wash the patients in and in the room that those three men died there was a...

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Second Week at The Dream Centre!

13 Jul 2008 at 22:30

Image Hi, so apparently a few people did look at my blog so now I feel under pressure to actually write well, ohdear...

Anyway, it's the end of the second week here and I'm quite tired so if this doesn't make a whole lot of sense it's because of that, not because I'm an idiot..!

In some ways this week has been easier and in others it has been a lot harder. Firstly Tiara, Jamilla (a couple of the other volunteers) Jingyi and I caught some kind of virus/chest infection so most of last week there was a lot of coughing and sleeping/trying to sleep and feeling ill, but the wonder of working in a hospital is that we have access to lots of drugs, which we dosed ourselves up on! (I still sound like I've been smoking forty a day but I feel a lot better.) Being ill didn't really make volunteering a whole lot easier, especially because on Wednesday (when I felt at my worst) there was a transport strike in South Africa so none of the nurses could come in, so apart from those nurses that had...

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First Week at The Dream Centre!

07 Jul 2008 at 13:38

Image Hi everyone (ha I don't know who that actually refers to, I have a feeling that it might just be me, oh well!)


We've been here exactly a week now, and I've found it really hard but also really fun. There are one hundred and twenty patients here in total and it's strange because some of them seem fine, walking around normally, eating by themselves, playing football, with no signs of being ill but then a lot of them are in a really really bad state. 


We have a bingo night for the patients every Wednesday (they love it, about sixty of them came and played last week, although I don't think they were too impressed with my bingo calling skills, I think my South London accent caused a few problems in their understanding!). I took one of the patients in a wheelchair back to her room, she can't talk but she can totally understand what we are saying and puts her thumbs up if she likes what we're doing or screams (very loudly!) if she doesn't like it, but she also wets herself...

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Name: Imogen Rogerson - Costello

Volunteered at The Dream Centre from 30 June 2008 to 26 July 2008.

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Would you like to know more about Be More, then check the website at www.be-more.org. You can find the latest news, more information about my project and you can become a donor!

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