Headway Natal

Headway Newsletter : August 2006

Editorial

Although this is the August newsletter, it will reach you in September - the beginning of Spring! Budding flowers - sprouting trees - grass starts to grow; little hints of springtime are beginning to show! Don't let these blessings go unnoticed - let's share the wonders of Spring with our friends. It's a time of new growth, a time to be hopeful and a time to "clear out". What needs to go? Not just the material clutter we all manage to accumulate, but also the mental and emotional clutter. Time to sort through lots of things and then to look forward to longer days, more sunshine and, hopefully, a brighter future. Spring is a good time, a fresh time, an optimistic time and we hope it will also be a time of growth and renewal in every sense. Rose

Welcome ………
A special welcome this month to Yusuf Dawjee and Jeanette Myeni and their families, and we hope we can be of service, help and support.

……… and a further welcome
to our new Speech Therapist, Louise van Laren. Louise will be at Headway on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and we are really delighted to welcome her to our Therapy Team. We hope she'll be very happy with us, and that she'll enjoy a long and rewarding time at Headway. We mentioned in our last newsletter that we'd had a lovely response to our request for volunteers. So now we welcome 7 new Headway Angels on board. We are delighted to welcome Mary Bissett, Joan Britz, Sherrene Burnett, Christine Campbell, Vera Crawford, Mary Lou Giliam and Andrew Rolando. Debbie, our O.T., is taking everyone through a 3-week orientation course and this is proving to be of huge assistance and help to Debbie, especially in the run-up to our annual Craft Market. (read about the Craft Market later in this newsletter) So, a huge welcome to you all. We hope you'll enjoy your time at Headway and thank you most sincerely for offering your time and your talents.

Sending our very best wishes……….
We send our very best wishes to Peter and Flick McKenzie. Peter was in hospital recently undergoing surgery, but we hear he's home again and making a good recovery. We wish him a continued, speedy recovery and keep him in our thoughts and prayers.

Congratulations……….
It's a girl!! Congratulations to Nomah Kwela on the safe arrival of her baby girl. We're all delighted to hear the good news and wish them lots of happiness and not too many sleepless nights!

Donations………
As always, we have a long list of generous people to thank for their kind donations. This month we'd like to thank the following people: Norman Lourens, Joanne Fanner, Sarah Rogers, Richard Baasch (from Emilie Roets), Barbara Hanauer, Johan Schreuder, Graham Lucey, Martin White, Rob Hartley, Darina Obertik, Carol Barlow, Brian Cunningham, Linda Hiles, Joan Britz, Patricia Kilburn, Tim & Narelle Raaff, Richard Obertik, 1st Berea West Cub Group, Lynn & Mike Amos, Mr & Mrs Bumberry, Mrs Hyman, Beryl Murray-Brown, Frank Burton, Gail Bailey, and Tim Pekarik. Collectively we received - 3 TVs, a coffee maker, clothing, material for patchwork, 2 foot stools, gym equipment, curtain rails, door frames, braai kit, briefcases, a picnic basket, bags for doing decorative beadwork, a typewriter, dumb-bells, computer printer / speakers / scanner and a fax machine, jumble, computer monitor / CPU / speakers, 2 sets of glassware, carpeting and underfelt, blue refuse bags, various mixers and beaters, computer / clothes / lamps and furnishings, 4 computer monitors, 40 packs of home-made biscuits, stationary / bags / ceramic ornaments and odds & ends, material off-cuts / bags, floor polisher / standing lamp / kitchen items, pictures / tennis racquets / bed linen - pillows, duvets / bags / cases, foam mat, magazines and a spice rack. Wow! Our sincerest thanks to you all. On the financial side of donations, we have also had an absolutely amazing month. We have received the grand total of R106,189.00! The breakdown of this is as follows: Ubuntu Community Chest - R10,002 (this covers the last three months!): Hiltonian Society - R74,127.00 (read the article towards the bottom of p.2): Anonymous - R1,250.00: Victor Daitz Foundation - R19,580.00 (this was already earmarked for the completion of our Hydrotherapy Pool Heater): PHSG Old Girls' Association - R500: Sue Preston - R200 (in memory of Joan Williams): Westville Yoga Group - R100: Peter & Isla Deighton - R40: Joy Buckle - R20: Dain van der Reyden, Natal Accounting Services & Brian Dangerfield- Friendship Pledges - R370. We thank you all most sincerely and hope you really know what a difference your generosity makes to so many lives.

Fund-raising……….
We like to do our bit too, and this month we managed to raise R5,512.00. Firstly, many thanks to Mavis Colley and her Headway group of "singers and minstrels" who raised R1,310.00 busking at the Westville Mall. Shop sales amounted to R813 - a great effort; the Sewing and Craft Exhibition raised R749 - (read about this later, too); Mondi photostat paper sales - R450; Golf Day extras - R400; Raffles - R400; Pool Hire - R370; Sale of T Shirts - R360; Books - R295; "Funny Money" - R155; Mondi recycling - R110 and Office Rental - R100. A great effort and our heartfelt thanks to all concerned.

Occupational Therapy update………(from Debbie)
Full steam ahead for the Craft Market on the 7th October! If you walk through Headway you will see a buzz of activity from members to volunteers to friends of volunteers…it is cool and everyone is having fun. Thank you to every one who is helping… From now until the Craft Market we are looking for help on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings specifically to help with craft… if you can help please let me know.

Our Bunny Chow lunch was a GREAT success! This was part of our Indian Cultural Day, organsised by our OTA, Walter Gwamanda It was a fundraiser for the OT department and we made R200! Thank you to Mark Beilovich from Mndeni Meats for his generous donation of meat towards the bunny chows. Thanks also to Narain and his wife for making the bunny chow. It was so good I will be having lessons shortly on how to make the most divine curry!

We had a great outing to Tim's house. Walter Pople, Tim's carer, had done a quiz in which everyone had to look for clues - a bit like a treasure hunt. Although it was competitive, at the end of it all everyone was a winner and thoroughly enjoyed the tea, coffee, cakes, sausage rolls, chips etc etc. A real feast! Thanks Tim, Walter and Mich for your hospitality. On the 18th August we join the young adults at the Westville Methodist Church for a Pudding Evening. We really had a ball! The evening started with a "Get to Know You" game which had everyone chatting away energetically for an hour. Then came a cognitive guessing game, followed, thankfully, by the puddings! There were about 30 different puddings - what a pleasure! Thanks to Jaco and his team for hosting the social. Stay posted for the next one.

N.B. As many of you will know, we have been having 2 very special visitors every Monday morning - the dogs from PAWS with their handlers, Kevin and Irene. This really is one of the highlights of the week and is proving so beneficial to our attendees. As of this month, September, they will now be coming on a WEDNESDAY MORNING instead of Mondays.

Physio update………(from Pam)
Pam has given us some really encouraging feedback on the progress of a few of her clients - always such a pleasure to hear! "News about clients who are moving / grooving and improving!! SIPHELELE MPULO is now much straighter and has been able to get rid of her kyphoscoliosis brace. She has managed independent standing for 50 seconds. Her hand function has improved and she's now doing all her hand exercisises so well. Siphelele is walking independently in her frame and her posture is greatly improved. NDU MADIKIZELA is now doing his walking in the parallel bars with reduced support. He has managed independent standing for 100 seconds. Ndu is now able to do sitting to standing transfer for himself - with a frame. His arm functioning is improving significantly. HAZEL MADONDO now has independent wheelchair function and she's moving around in her wheelchair on her own. She has succeeded in standing alone for 8 seconds and is needing less support during walking in the parallel bars. There has also been a huge improvement in her hand functioning. TIM PEKARIK walked in a "box frame", with very little assistance, for 25 metres! There has also been a huge improvement in his hand function. Tim is now managing sit-to-stand, and his sideways walk is coming on so well!!" This is wonderful to hear, and we can only say congratulations and very well done to Siphelele, Ndu, Hazel and Tim. Keep up the good work! And to Pam, thanks so much for all your hard work and dedication. Indeed, yet again I have to say just how fortunate we are at Headway with our wonderful therapists.

Very special thanks………
(NO. 1) Warren Bretherton, (the son of one of our volunteers from last year, Sharon Bretherton,) and his friend, Andrew Reid - a scholar from Hilton College, came to do some community service at Headway last September. We must have made a positive impression on them since very recently we were contacted by Hilton College to inform us that they had raised the amount of R74,000 for Headway!! This came totally out of the blue, and so we needed to do a bit of research to find out how this had come about. The main contact was none other than Andrew Reid, who has emailed us the background to this wonderful donation. The email reads as follows:

"The first time that I was made aware of what Headway does was when I did some community service at Headway with Sharon Bretherton's son. I did the community service some time last year. At Hilton College there are 7 houses, and each house had a Head of House for the year. The 7 Heads of Houses and the Head Boy are encouraged to do at least 2 Charity Projects during the year. We got our idea from a previous charity event done by the boys in the school. When the group of us were deciding on a charity to donate the money to, I put foward Headway as a possible option. I explained to the rest of the group what sort of work Headway does. We then visited the Headway website and decided that it would be the charity which would receive the funds that we were to raise. There is a one-mile long road which goes around the main body of the school, called Circular Drive. Our aim was to do a 24 hour, non-stop relay run around Circular Drive. We began at 8 a.m. and each member of the team completed 4 laps at a time. The eight of us stayed in the Head Boy's house for these 24 hours and we slept in shifts so that the next person running would be at the start when the person before him finished. We finished the following day at 8 a.m., just in time to go to chapel, having completed 156 laps - 265 km! We went about raising money by asking the parents and boys to sponsor the eight of us either per lap or by a donation. The names of the other participants are Simon Curtis, Rob Burman, Brad Fainsinger, Ian Fraser, Stuart Pattinson, Dean Shillaw and Dev Kerr."

This really is an overwhelming gesture which pays great tribute to the boys - (our future in the making), to their parents and families and to the kind of leadership which is being taught at Hilton College.

(NO. 2) Our Sewing and Craft Exhibition was highly successful. Although it was a relatively quiet day, there was a great deal of interest shown in Headway and the work we do. The sewing machines used were all either Empisal or Brother as Gori Noormohamed - who sponsored the day for Headway - is the local agent for these machines. The machines ranged from very old machines (which Gori looks after and services) to the most modern - a sewer's / seamstress's / artist's dream!! Having some of our attendees doing their craft work was an added bonus. Our OTA, Zipho Mkhize, was overseeing the Headway crafts and we had Hennie Pretorius and Mandla Mkhize doing beadwork, Nikki Draper was busy with fabric painting, Mercia Coleman and Meryl Warne (both 1-handed sewers) were doing patchwork, and Zipho's daughter, Thandeka, was busy with her wirework. At the end of the day, the Headway Beading Group won the Best Demonstrator Exhibitor Trophy which was donated by Gori. Well done to our crafters, and our most grateful thanks to Gori for her generosity and interest in sponsoring this event.

(NO. 3) For the past couple of years we've treated our volunteers who have been with us for a while to a "Thank you - we really appreciate you" Lunch. We have a wonderful group of volunteers who come in quietly and selflessly week after week. Sometimes we are so busy that we don't have time for much more than a "hello, how are you?" and then a quick "Thanks, see you next week" as they leave. You have no idea just how much we really appreciate all the help and friendship which we receive, and holding a special lunch is just one way we feel that we can try to get all our volunteers together at one time so that we can truly express how much they are appreciated and valued. This year Veronica approached Donovan, the manager of John Dory's in the Pavilion, to get an idea of expenses for us to hold our lunch there. To our absolute delight, Donovan said he would welcome us and that it would be his pleasure to sponsor the lunch for us!! This was a marvellous gesture and such a generous offer. Needless to say, we set a date and thoroughly enjoyed a most delicious lunch. Not all of our volunteers were free to come, however about 16 of us were treated to a wonderful meal, and we say a huge thank you to Donovan for his kindness.

(NO. 4) We have a culinary fairy godmother! Shelley Grobler is her name, and she quietly visits us once a week bringing a cake / traybakes / muffins / milk tarts etc. In fact, if for any reason she misses a week, she brings double the following week!! Shelley's son also came to Headway to do some Community Service and we must have impressed them too, because ever since then Shelley has been visiting regularly with different treats for our Tea Time! This is deeply appreciated by both our attendees and staff and is yet another example of the wonderful people we meet who "go the extra mile" for us.

(NO. 5) Westville Cares Day took place on a Public Holiday, August 9th, and we had about 35 people at Headway painting the outside of the house and varnishing the window frames. These were Rotarians, their wives and children, and members of Rotoract. The following background information was given to me by Rotarian, Derrick Couper. "HEADWAY was just one of several organizations to feel the benefit of the Rotary Club of Westville's inaugural 'Westville Cares Day' on August 9th. The concept of asking the community to support local non-profit agencies, public schools and other deserving organizations, originated in New York nearly 20 years ago and was brought to Westville by a local Rotarian, Richard Fisher. Although inclement weather dampened operations this year, there is no doubt that the lead provided by the Rotary Club will be persevered and promoted with even greater enthusiasm next year and in years to come. Who knows how it may spread throughout our country with so many organizations in need of help?" Thanks, Derrick, and a huge thank you to all those who "cared"!

Annual Craft Market!!………
It's almost October….where has the year gone? Each year we seem to get bigger and better, and this year is no exception. We are expecting to have at least 25 stalls and that doesn't include our Tea Garden, White Elephant, Cake Stall, Second Hand Shop, and all our food stalls. Talking about food stalls, this year we're introducing something for breakfast too - Bacon and Egg Rolls. So you see, you can come along as early as you want and spend a very happy time browsing, finding bargains, buying early for Christmas - (we will have lots of "ethnic " gifts - perfect for sending overseas), sampling our culinary delights and just enjoying the lovely, friendly atmosphere. On the more practical side, we really would appreciate donations of (full) bottles - anything from whisky to bath salts!! - , books, cakes / home baking. If anyone would be able to give us an hour of their time to help "man" a stall, please contact us and give us your details - times etc. etc. All help will be appreciated. So, don't forget -

SATURDAY 7 OCTOBER AT HEADWAY HOUSE, 11 MENSTON ROAD, WESTVILLE

8.30 a.m. till 2.00 p.m.

Back page snippets………

Veronica is away overseas for a well-earned rest and family reunion. Gillian is in Australia, partly visiting family and otherwise attending a Conference. We miss them, but hope they have a wonderful time and return refreshed.
At last Operation Jumpstart (formerly known as CCC - Community Care Centre) has moved into the office which was built at Headway-Natal. We welcome them and hope that their association with us will be happy and helpful.
Throughout the winter months, our Hydrotherapy has continued in our lovely heated pool. (Sometimes it has actually been the warmest place to be!!) Several people have also been using our pool in the afternoons in their private capacity and thoroughly enjoying the health and keep-fit benefits. If anyone is interested in making use of our pool, please contact us to make arrangements.

Makes you think!!………
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the Professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the Professor said:

"If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of you problems and stress. What you really wanted was the coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and were eyeing each other's cups"

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just the tools to hold and contain Life, and do not change the quality of Life.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on one cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided. So, don't let the cups drive you ……… enjoy the coffee instead!