|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
What about Oh – and by the way….. Lang
may yer lum reek wi’ ither folks
coal! (Translation at bottom of Page 3!) Volunteers Our regular and faithful “Headway Angels” were acknowledged
pretty thoroughly in last month’s newsletter and we welcome one or two new
volunteers this month and welcome back some old friends. Kerri
Gillitt, on vacation from her Occu Also returning to Headway in January, this time as a
volunteer, was Jocelyn van Niekerk who suffered a stroke at the tender age of 17 and
came to us for therapy. It is always a
thrill when one of the Headway Family achieves something and we are delighted
to report that Jocelyn has finally managed to pass Matric. Well done, Joss, we
know how hard you have had to work to make this happen and we are very proud of
you. We extend a warm welcome to some new volunteers who have
already become part of the Headway family – Rea
Hoekstra and Kate Mackanjee. Both these kind ladies have quietly found
their niche and are great to have around.
In a drive to
re-enthuse the team and inform staff and volunteers who, it is hoped, will
become more involved in the project, Wayne showed a fascinating video entitled “Killer Bees” which was filmed in
Arizona USA as well as in Ixopo South Africa and in which he and his brother
partici Brian Dangerfield reports from the team: The
project got off to a quiet but eventful start in 2003. Elize Magneson (Agricultural Research Council) visited Headway on 23 January and
conducted a short class in candle-making using beeswax. The following Thursday
reporter Arkash Brandeo
and cameraman Dave of e.TV
visited the Drummond apiary to film the project field team in action. They did
45 minutes of actual filming which was then reduced to 2 minutes for the The
current honey flow is fairly slow but the 3 hives at Drummond are in good nick.
The team is planning to visit the Stop
Press! Some alert journalist at The Highway Mail saw the eTV news insert and has been to
Headway this week to take photographs and possibly do a feature on the
bee-keeping project. All this publicity
gives us great hopes that the project will move into a more successful phase
this year. Personality Focus Always looking for fresh ideas, we have decided to feature a
“Headway Personality” each month. We
often refer in the newsletter to some of our Headway guys who have been around
for a few years and who have become dear and familiar to us, and newer members
and readers may not know who we are talking about. We hope that in focussing on some of the
members of our Headway family these much loved people will become known to
everyone – they certainly all deserve the recognition! First on the Personality list is Kevin
Hollinshead
whose poetry has been featured a number of times in The
Way Ahead. Kevin is an amazing person
whose well-developed sense of humour has been a source of inspiration to all who
know him.  Kevin was involved in a serious motor accident in December
1993 when he was 30 years old and he has been left severely disabled but with
an indomitable spirit. Before his
accident (in which, tragically, his girlfriend lost her life), Kevin was a real
Action Man enjoying running, cycling and swimming. He also enjoyed mountain biking and parachute
jumping and often entered Triathlons. He
had his sensitive and romantic side too and loved the arts, particularly music
and poetry. Kevin was also in the fast track in his business life,
working as Senior Training Manager for National Brands. His studies at university entitled him to
write BScHDE after his name and he had used his
teaching skills to teach at Amanzimtoti High for 2 years and had spent a
further 2 years lecturing at Mangosuthu Technikon in Applied Physics &
Chemistry. At the time of his accident
Kevin had just returned from a training trip to Unable to communicate verbally since his accident, Kevin
uses a Lightwriter, a high At Headway we enjoy our interaction with Kevin and when
something amusing has been said there is double delight in watching his
reaction! We are also awed by his
incredible mother, Ann, who is always cheerful and positive, and tireless in her
total commitment to and support of her son. It is not surprising that Kevin’s poetry reflects his
sensitive intelligence – here is an extract dated October 2001from his
collection: No Brain No
comms today Person
non compos mentis A
day off day To
party and vegetate Internally
so to speak We’ll
escape to an exotic beach Immerse
ourselves In God’s beauty. Kevin would love to hear from old friends and make
some new ones so why not contact him by email?
His email address is: the.hollinsheads@eject.co.za (Translation of Scottish greeting: “Long may your chimney smoke with other people’s coal.” Who
said the Scots are tight-fisted?) News from the OT Department Our
Occu On 28 January we started a Prevocational
Work Skills Course aimed at establishing
basic work principles and assessing where each client fits into the working
environment. Realising that work is an
integral part of our lives, contributes to a balanced lifestyle and reinforces
a sense of achievement, our aim is ideally to
place our clients in either the open-labour market, sheltered employment
or protected employment. The course is dealing with social skills in the work place,
memory, concentration, stress management, grooming, etc. Clients are divided into two groups and the
course runs on Tuesday mornings until 4 March this year. Simultaneously we
are looking for potential work tasks or contract work we can run from Headway which would provide a sheltered environment and the
necessary supervision for our clients. Should
any of our readers have any input, OT Donations Thanks to our generous donations from the National Lotteries
Distribution Fund last year, we begin 2003 cushioned by a sense of
stability. If it weren’t for the looming
cost of a new (or newer) vehicle in the near future, Headway would really be in
a most comfortable situation financially. We have been very fortunate in having a dedicated committee headed
by Uppermost in our minds this hot January is the wonderful
donation from The Rotary Club of Durban Bay to whom we reiterate our thanks for funding the air
conditioner at the end of last year.
Being able to escape to the Physiogym for a
bit of respite from the heat has been a life-saver these past few weeks!  Also adding to our improved comfort, and more especially
that of our clients, was the funding of an Entrance
Awning in November last year. In response to a direct appeal to install
what we felt was an essential addition to Headway House, Campbell, Bernstein & Irving, the Rotary Club of Westville, the
Nomads Bowls Club and an anonymous donor each contributed the funds to make this a reality. Now, when a disabled person arrives at or
leaves our premises there is protection from the
elements during the often lengthy process of getting into or out of a vehicle,
frequently with a wheelchair to slow down the exercise. Thank you to these kind people from us all. We also thank the following who increased our sense of
security in January: The staff of ABSA Pavilion who made a collection for us of R1 114.00, Shirley Warne (R100) and
individuals who collectively gave R1700 but who, (frustratingly!) wish to remain anonymous. Fund Raising Street
Collections 2003 With the youthful zest we have come to expect from Emma and Megan White, the
admin needed to secure our Street Collection dates for this year was dealt with one morning
this month by the younger of the two sisters, Megan (on university vacation). As our fund-raising projects this year are
under serious re-planning it is a relief to know that at least one of our
regular projects will go ahead. We urge our readers to come forward and offer to help with our
collections – last year the job fell to
just a few kind people and it would be good to spread the load this year. The first collection is always in Westville
and we are waiting for the Inner West powers-that-be to finalise their
allocation – we have asked for March so WATCH THIS SPACE!! Raffles The raffle of a Picnic Quilt has been given a new lease on life! Before Christmas, Rod
Hansen, the manager of Game Stores Pavilion Branch, very generously donated a Picnic Basket to improve the
value of the prize. Since then, a bottle
of Our other ongoing raffle to win a Cricket
Set is also getting more
publicity. Marlene
Smith (who was the original
organiser of this prize) has kindly taken the set away with her to see if she
can improve ticket sales. It is hoped
that with everyone thinking “Cricket, Lovely Cricket” as the World Cup is about
to start, there will be a fresh batch of people interested in winning the
prize! Trevelyn Lodge We are pleased to report that a Group Home has become a
reality – not our own Headway one (yet!) but this information is worth sharing. Trevelyn
Lodge is situated in Vredenburg and is described as
“A home from home for adults with special needs”. John Robinson has contacted us by email and has asked us to spread
the word in our newsletter that the Lodge has recently accommodated 12
residents and has room for 7 more. Trevelyn
is currently caring for 3 people with brain injury and John says “they are a pleasure to look
after and we find that we particularly like having them around”.  If anyone is looking for long term care for a brain injured
loved one, this may be the answer.
Respite care is also offered and the aim is to give the disabled person
a good holiday whilst carers take a well-earned break. Vredenburg is 140 km
from Residents (permanent or temporary) need to be able to
function within a group and be reasonably independent and mobile (wheelchair
facilities at this stage are very limited but conversions will take place later
this year). A varied social and
activities programme is offered and residents are encouraged to partici For
more details, contact Headway manager, Lionel.
Stop Press Liesl
Labuschagne produced a baby boy on Wanted! Thank
you to all the kind people who responded to our appeal for items for our
Outreach Week before the end of last year.
Thanks to you, the handicapped children at Zimele
Molweni can look forward to some
exciting craft work and other stimulating activities this year. The list goes on, though,
and we ask our readers to keep in mind the following needs, both for Zimele
and Headway: §
Fridge/Freezer (The Zimele Centre §
Cooker is due to get power §
Sewing
Machines very soon and will §
Electric
Kettle need these
essentials) §
Non-electric
kettle §
Children’s
Swimming Costumes §
Adult’s
Swimming Costumes §
Old towels
– beach, bath, hand §
Discarded
make-up, nail varnish, eye shadow, lipstick etc §
Hats for
role playing §
MORE JUMBLE! §
SHOP ITEMS – unused gifts, ornaments, crockery, kitchenware,
pots, pans, dishes, etc §
Volunteers
Needed! We need someone who could assist on Thursday mornings with Pottery. The volunteer does not need to have extensive
experience in this craft - a working knowledge is sufficient. Helpers with Jumble Sorting needed!!
| |
 |
 |
| © Copyright Headway Natal For queries regarding the creation of this site please email: webmaster@aat.co.za |
