The Headway Newsletter
November & December 2002
EDITORIAL
This newsletter is (sort of) an
economy one. It is a combination of our
November and December news, and will be sent out in time to wish all our
members and their families a very Happy New Year – 2003! We remember our past members and their
families, wherever they may be; we think of our current members and their
families; we feel solidarity with brain injured families throughout the
world. We sincerely wish that this
year will bring happiness and success; that goals will be achieved; that we
find peace, resilience and patience for the days ahead, and that each and every
one of us is able to see “that the glass of life is half full, rather than half
empty!” Life is full of clichéd
expressions, and I don’t really want to add more. However, as we enter a new year, I would simply like to quote from “Six of
Life’s Philosophies” which I found on the Internet. Rose
1. Mistakes are
the stepping stones to mastery. Have you ever watched the “takes” in
movies or sitcoms which have to be done repeatedly before the final “take” -
which is what we see in the final product?
Nothing illustrates the concept better.
We can learn so many lessons:
that humour can get us through the fumbles; that others are there to lend a hand if we
allow them; that no one is perfect; that there’s a chance for another “take”; and, most importantly, that if we persist, we
can eventually master the task at hand and no-one would be the wiser!
2. If you truly
believe in YOU, you’re one up already. Any top salesman will tell you that he
cannot fully succeed if he doesn’t believe in his product. Whenever we try to project ourselves – for a
promotion, a lead role, or a new job – just how effective we are is largely
determined by our own self-confidence and esteem. Think about the times you’ve been fully
confident in your abilities, and how easy it was to convince others of the
same. And then, think about the times
you may not have been as confident. Was
it as easy to be convincing?
3. Perfection,
like a brand new car, is customisable. What’s your idea of a perfect life? If you asked 5 other people, they would all
tell you something different. We all
know there is no universal definition of “perfection”. The key is to define it for yourself, based
on your Personal Values, and then to pursue it aggressively, despite
differences in opinion about what may constitute “perfection”.
4. Disappointment
in oneself only stems from the knowledge that we CAN do better. Deep down, we all know what we’re really
capable of. The key, then, is to figure
out what forms of support enable us to be our best. The reality is that there’ll be times when we
fall, and when we do, revisit philosophy no. 1.
5. Accept
responsibility for yourself.
To quote Charles Swindoll, “I am convinced that life is 10% what
happens to me, and 90% how I react to
it!” And so it is with us……we
are in charge of our attitudes.
6. For every 1
thing you regret, there are always 50 more to be thankful for. Many of us spend a lot of energy focusing on
what we don’t have, or what didn’t go our way.
Meanwhile, the sun is shining, the sky is blue, the grass is green, the
sky is starry, etc. etc…Try this – next
time something disappointing happens, shift your focus instead to identifying
50 things that you have to be thankful for.
Then, work out how you can channel all that positive energy into trying
to achieve whatever it is that you seek!
Welcome
to
We have had several new members
recently: Glen O’Connor, Roland
Saunders, Dan Potgieter, Mark Bridges, Chester Dlamini, Neville Barker, Ismail
Badat and Marcia Schreuder. We
do hope that your association with us will be a fruitful one, and we hope we
are able to be of great help to you and your families. As part of our ongoing outreach, we have
also done some hospital visiting and quite a bit of telephone counselling. Our aim is to help wherever we can.
Donations
Our
donations, for the month of November, amounted to R4770. For this generosity, we would like to thank
the following people: A.J. Robinson,
Peter Gillitt, Deborah Overweg, Dain van der Reyden, Dianne Hepple, ITC, KZN
NDT, Lynn Price, Peter Denny, Westville Rotary Club, Shirley Coetzee and Ubuntu
Community Chest. It becomes more
and more difficult for charities to survive these days, since there are so many
of us, and we each feel that we are the ones with the greatest
need. It goes without saying that we are
incredibly grateful to all the people who support us - financially,
materially and with their talents - but we never take anything for
granted. We look forward to continued
support and sincerely hope that in your “giving” to Headway,
you also “receive”.
Fund Raising
Our fund raising efforts never cease. This is a Portfolio which most people try to
avoid, so I feel that on-going congratulations are due to 
Veronica Raaff who puts so
much energy and enthusiasm into her task.
Fortunately, there is often an element of fun in the various
ways we do our fund raising, and once again we are so thankful for the wonderful
group of volunteers who lighten the task for Veronica. Our November efforts raised an amount
of R2641, and this came from the sale 2003 Diaries and Journals,
jumble sales, raffles, and an excellent amount of R1379 from our Second
Hand Shop sales. Special thanks to Ann
and her helpers.
Report back on our Social Activities
Our first social activity in November was our General
Meeting which took the form of “Who wants to be a Millionaire?” This
was another very enjoyable and successful evening. With the ubiquitous Peter
Deighton in the chair, six pairs of would-be millionaires fought it
out to become the winners. Not surprising with so much at stake! Lots of
questions, lots of fun and laughter, lots of memory challenging and lots of
asking the audience!! Ultimately, the winning pair was Kerry Gillitt and
Simon McArthur. Having found our
winners, however, once again there was a problem with the money. The bank had let us down yet again and we had
to find a solution. Undeterred, we managed to get some chocolate shortbread,
and thus our evening turned into “Who wants to be a Millionaire Shortbread
Eater?” A good, fun evening and our
very grateful thanks to Peter, who is an entertainment industry all in
himself!
In December, a few of our Headway Choristers - Murray, Cameron, Zanele, Kirsty, Tim, Keith and
Happiness - went up to the Westville Mall and ”busked” for an hour
and a half. Mavis Colley has been hard at work for months now getting
all the well-known Christmas carols ready for the Christmas Concert so the guys
were more than ready for a performance at the mall. Rose McArthur
played some popular Christmas music on her flute, and the whole venture was a
great success. We presume that people must have enjoyed us since we received
quite a lot of donations, and Anastasia’s, the coffee shop, offered us
all some free coffee/tea once we were finished. A lovely gesture, much
appreciated.
Next on our calendar was our Christmas Concert, “Christmas
Crackers”. This was our annual
Christmas Carol concert – with a difference. The first half included the
singing of traditional Christmas carols and the second half took the form of a
variety concert. Overall, the concert was a great success and thoroughly
enjoyed by all present. The traditional half is self-explanatory and we were
treated to the solo singing talents of Murray, Cameron, Keith, Kirsty and Zanele. They really do have lovely
voices. There were several reasons for having a variety concert too. We actually have an abundance of talent at Headway
– both in the attendees and the staff. Kerry
Westbrook’s forte is drama - she introduced a short comedy sketch using the
talents of Tim, Cameron and Dennis;
Riet and Pete (Riet
van der Elst and Peter Deighton) performed the famous “Cats Duet”
by Rossini; Mavis had us in stitches with her rendition of “Hello
Dolly”, Rose and Veronica did a hilarious send-up of the individual
therapists – (they have vowed to have their revenge at the next Christmas
concert!!) -; Rose also played her flute; our own African ensemble – (staff,
carers and attendees) – treated us to some marvellous singing,
ending with a stirring rendition of Shosholoza; and we ended up with the
entire cast and audience learning to do the “Headway Rumba”! Grateful thanks to Mavis for all
her hard work during the year, and for putting this concert together, and to Keith
Jones for the beautiful Christmas mural which he painted for us. Debbie Fewster did a grand job as our Master
of Ceremonies; - she also played a large part in background
organisation. Thanks, Debbie,
(and to Ryan – her husband) - for the efficient way you always get
things done!
News from the O.T. corner
There has been much excitement and
enthusiasm in the music department as the attendees, volunteers, staff and
caregivers fine-tune their voices for the Christmas Concert. Each has shown his / her talent in various
ways. Other talents, such as massage and
beauty therapy have also been put to use in our 
outreach
programme. This outreach programme was
started with two visits, namely to the Highway Aged and Flame Lily
old aged homes. The attendees were given
the opportunity to give into their community, which has added a new dimension
to their lives. The elderly were
delighted with all the attention they received.
Keeping in the spirit of giving, we joined the Zimele group for
their Christmas party. Thank you,
Peter Deighton, for being Father Christmas, and to his helper,
Happiness! Happiness and Zipho
have been avid gardeners in our veggie garden, & we have had our first
strawberries! Four in total!! Thank you to all our volunteers for their
hard work and love this year. Debbie
Staff updates
Congratulations to Daphne and Brian
Chetty on the safe arrival of their baby daughter. We wish them all lots of
love and happiness, and trust that the baby is sleeping well at night!
Veronica’s son, Tim,
got married in December. So more
congratulations are in order, and our very best wishes go the couple. We wish them a lifetime of love and
happiness.
Volunteers
There are quite a lot of volunteers who offer their help as and
when it is needed, and we couldn’t manage without this help and willingness. We can never truly express the extent of our
gratitude and thanks. Then there are
volunteers who come along to Headway regularly, week after week, and it is due to them that we are able to offer
a different programme each day of the week...
We are able to offer…
ART – Riet van der Elst
MUSIC – Mavis Colley
POTTERY - Irene Limbouris and Jenny Smith
SEWING - Rose Patterson and Stan, her husband, is indispensable as
a fixer-up-of-broken-things and putter-up-of-shelves etc
STROKE SOCIAL GROUP - Peter Deighton
READING - Jessica Perritt
WOODWORK - Laurie Blackburn (plus maintenance
work)
BEE KEEPING - Wayne Myburgh
HEADWAY SHOP - Ann Leary
REIKI & INDIAN HEAD MASSAGE - Rookaya
Vawda and co-workers (once
a month).
This list would be incomplete without mentioning Joy Stoddard who is an absolute whiz at
reception each week. If you really want
something done, and fast, ask Joy! A recent, very welcome addition to our
weekly volunteers is Jenny Kristy
and she is rapidly finding her niche by helping Mavis and also interacting with the attendees. This combination of
regular and occasional volunteers has contributed to a very happy and
successful year, 2002, and we
look forward, with anticipation, to another very fulfilling year for all those
who come to Headway.
STOP
PRESS
Latest update on our General
Meetings for 2003
The 2nd Wednesday
each month at 6.45 for 7.00p.m.
- 12th
February: Ari
Seirlis will be talking about his attitude towards life with a
disability, and telling us about his experiences in America with Christopher
Reeves - Superman!
- 12th
March: “Driving
after Head Injury / Stroke”. What does the law say? Are there special
Driving Instructors? What are the implications for Insurance? Linda
Hiles and Debbie Fewster are planning to run specialised
driving courses during the year, so come along, have your questions answered
and find out about our new project.
- 9th
April: Wanda
Boshoff, Head of Treatment at the Westville Hospital Centre for
Behavioural Health, is an Occupational Therapist by
profession. In 1998, Wanda was
involved in a motor bike accident which left her paralysed, and her talk
will focus on the positives one can get out of trauma. So often there is
anger and post traumatic stress but this really can be turned into
something positive with the correct direction.
Accept the
challenges life sends your way and only compete against yourself.
Make a list
of all the things you can still do and do them!!
Nothing is too simple not to be an achievement
when it is
taking more out of you than it would a person who does not have your problems.
Don’t let
anybody tell you that it is easy to overcome your problems. It takes a lot of willpower
and courage,
but in the end you owe it to yourself to live as well as you possibly can.
