Headway Natal

Headway Newsletter : May 2005

Editorial

Rose has requested that I ask in this newsletter how many people received a very special version of the April newsletter last month? It would appear that fifty "Lucky" people were sent a challenging copy based on the talk on Yoga and Qijong given at Headway in April. The challenge, oh lucky readers, was that you had to read your upside-down copy whilst standing on your head! Rose extends an invitation to the recipients of the special newsletter to come and have a free cup of tea or coffee with her at Headway as your prize whether you managed to read it upside-down (without turning the page the right way up) or not!

No doubt you guessed that the mixed-up copies were a mistake, but we couldn't bear the thought of the cost of rectifying the mistake and discarding the faulty ones! I didn't get an upside-down copy but I DID seek out a Yoga class after hearing about its benefits at the meeting last month. It was a humbling experience! I keep pretty fit doing aquarobic classes 4 times a week and playing tennis but - supple - I ain't!! I am determined to persevere though as I immediately felt the benefits of the "mindfulness" philosophy and the restoration of balance in ones life.

It may be this striving for a new sense of serenity that has made me able to cope with the continued silence from the Lottery Fund…….!! Veronica

Welcome to...

In May we welcomed the following people to our Headway family: Douglas Doust, Peter Driver, Joyce Mapumula and Jean Baynes. We know that it is difficult circumstances that have led you to our door and we fervently hope that we can help you and your families in every way possible.

General Meetings

There was no meeting in May (due to the double whammy in April) and, as advised in the previous newsletter, at the June meeting, a video on the brain will be screened with a question and answer session hosted by OT Debbie. In July, we hope to have another visit from Nutritionist Kerry Ann Dolloway with the emphasis being on interaction - this will be your opportunity to get answers to dietary concerns so come along to Headway on Friday 1 July at 11.00 a.m.

PR for Headway

We regularly look for ways to keep Headway in the public eye and the Sharks visit in April provided the ideal platform. Although we could not organise for The Highway Mail to be at Headway House on the morning of the visit (Tuesday is their publication day and all the reporters were tied up at the office), we put together our own report and used the photographs taken by the PR girls from the Sharks "Flagship" office. A photo and article was eventually published in our local newspaper and gave us the publicity we were hoping for.

Activity Programme

OT Debbie reports: Friday 13th May was not a day of problems and disasters for us at Headway (as superstitious people will have it!) but was, in fact, a most successful and happy day! Headway House rang with the sounds of cheers and laughter as we held another table tennis and pool competition. Such was the competitive spirit that one or two attendees were spotted getting in some pre-match practise during tea-time before the event got underway! Howard and Emmanuel were our table tennis champions with Simon and Murray triumphant in the pool challenge.

Another highlight of the month was a visit to Makaranga Lodge in Kloof. We were treated like royalty by Meleny Cuniff and the rest of the staff at the lodge. The morning started off with tea and scones served to us all on the terrace before we set off on our walk (more of a hike, the grounds are so extensive!) around the magnificent gardens. The lodge and grounds are a haven of tranquillity and beauty and well worth a visit - the venue is also wheelchair friendly which is a bonus. You feel as though you are miles away from civilisation while you are at Makaranga and the entire Headway gang felt enveloped by its peaceful atmosphere.

The rest of the month has been filled with a variety of fun crafts and the making of special items (many with a Christmas theme) for our Craft Market is well underway. Don't forget to diarise Saturday 1 October - it is not as far off as it sounds!

Headway Social Club

The second gathering of our newly-formed Social Club took place in May again under the guidance of Eva and Walter Gahler. This time a "Hobo Party" was planned at Headway House and another good evening of dancing and socialising took place.

Higher Ground Camp

An enthusiastic group of Headway attendees spent the last weekend of May at Camp Jonathan in Eston. Many of those who spent the week together in November last year at the very first Higher Ground Camp, were present and there were one or two new faces. The feedback from the campers was very positive and some very firm friendships were forged. Every one of them loved the atmosphere around the campfire at night and one or two commented that the weekend was a life-changing experience. We once again congratulate our ex volunteer/staff member Emma and her American co-camp counsellor Jackie for the incredible courage and resolve they have shown in setting up this project. They have a timetable mapped out for months ahead in which Special Needs people will be given the time of their lives at Higher Ground camps. The next scheduled camp is for Hearing Impaired and there is another on the timetable for Sight Impaired - what these two young people are achieving is amazing and we are very proud to be associated with them! Their achievements are becoming so well known that they have to screen hordes of youthful volunteers who are eager to be part of this wonderful venture. (A poster is displayed in the foyer at Headway showing a variety of the activities at the camp and all the happy faces of the campers.)

Outreach News

As reported elsewhere in this newsletter, our local newspaper The Highway Mail gave Headway some much-needed publicity in May - and the following week focussed on our Outreach Project, Zimele Molweni.

A photograph with the caption "Knowles Bridges the Gap" appeared showing OTA Zipho Mkhize receiving vouchers and cash for the centre. Knowles Superspar in Pinetown and Highway Duplicate Bridge Club joined forces to raise money for Zimele - the R500 from the winners of the Bridge Competition (Heather and Jeremy Hawke of Kloof) was matched with the same value in vouchers from Knowles. As Zimele funds are in urgent need of a top-up this was a very welcome donation (National Lotteries are still dragging their heels about allocating funds to this project!).

Fundraising Projects for Headway

Raising funds for Headway is always a challenge (and often a pain in the neck) particularly as the fundraising team at Headway is a VERY small and understaffed one! When offers come in from outsiders to help us with this very unpopular portfolio, we can hardly contain our joy and relief. Some assistance has come from some unexpected quarters - read on!

Money from Art

Anyone who lives in the Highway area or who frequents Craft Markets will have seen Thelma Whiting's lovely artwork. Thelma's preferred subject is flowers, and her ability to capture the delicate colours and exquisite form of a variety of floral specimens gives her art a special appeal. Thelma asked us to make a notice for her to display with her art which tells potential buyers that a portion of the proceeds will be given to Headway. A recent Art Exhibition made Headway R400 richer with no effort from us! Our warmest thanks to Thelma!

Food and Wine Festival in June

Our local Pick 'n Pay Family Store in the Westville Village Market is holding a first-time event with Headway as the charity chosen to benefit from the proceeds! No less than 45 different wine estates are participating in the event and the entire shopping centre will be set out as a "Wine Route" for the evening. There will be wine and food tasting, live music and a lucky draw and the cost is only R20! Grape Expectations will be held on Thursday 23 June and the fun starts at 18h30.

Christmas in July

Anyone who was born and bred in the northern hemisphere and settled in South Africa as an adult has probably always found Christmas in hot, sticky Durban a little bizarre - particularly since so many of us continue to do the whole traditional meal - roast turkey, plum pudding and the whole shebang! Your chance to enjoy the festivities in weather more suited to this kind of fare is here! We are holding a Christmas in July evening on Friday 22 July at the Westville Theatre Club (corner of St James Ave and Link Road) and the BEST NEWS OF ALL is that Westville SuperSpar has offered to sponsor the event for us!!

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR TWO FUNDRAISING EVENTS IN JUNE AND JULY!!

Donations

No big amounts were received this month but we are grateful for every cent donated.
The regular contribution from Ubuntu Community Chest and Friendship Pledges from Dain van der Reyden, Shirley Warne and Natal Accounting Services are a lifeline each month.. Tributes to the memory of George Smith have continued this month - Almarine Shipping donated R500 and George's family also made a donation to Headway. Durban Rotary Anns deposited R2 000 into our account (to be spent on something from our Wish List). We thank each and every donor for this wonderful support.

More Thankyou's

The list of items donated to Headway this month is amazing - from kitchen items, paintings, garden umbrellas, puzzles and games, sports equipment, toys and a toy box, to computers and computer equipment, a vacuum cleaner (to name but a few!) and the ubiquitous books and jumble!

We thank Andrea and David Tomsu, Eva Gahler, Mrs Johnson, Simon Michel, Mrs Dominy, Sally Bechervaise, Barbara and Francis Hanauer, Mercia Coleman, Shirley Odendaal, Rob Hartley, Shirley Palmer and Mr Dickens.. We also thank Joanne Fanner and Glynis Walker for their donations of wool and fabric and Judy and Hennie Pretorius for their most welcome donation of tea, coffee and sugar. We find a home for everything that is donated to us and every second week a loaded vehicle makes a delivery to Zimele Molweni of items which the children and staff can make use of.

We extend very special thanks to Raymond Radloff who printed our new Section 18 Receipt Books at no cost - and we now invite any donors who want to take advantage of our PBO status to specifically request one of these receipts (instead of our standard ones).

Fund Raising

Our small ongoing projects continue to bring in a pleasing amount each month and in May over R2 650 was raised. Shop Sales were particularly good (R1 443) with Collection Tins and the Phone/Photocopy Tin yielding R637. The rest of the funds raised came from Raffle Ticket Sales, Jumble, Book and Cool Drink Sales and R144 from Mondi Recycling for the first batch of waste paper we collected.

Information Corner

Whenever I give a talk about Headway to a group, whether just to inform them about brain injury and what we strive to do at our centre, or to create interest in supporting us with donations, I always struggle to put across just how difficult it is for the brain injury survivor to cope with the changes and in particular the breakdown in "executive functions". The following article was reproduced in the Headway Gauteng monthly newsletter and was originally published in "Headstrong" Hamilton Brain Injury Association Newsletter. It sketches a graphic picture of the function of each part of the brain and provides insight into what happens when any part is injured.

Editor

A Simple Way to Understand the Complex Brain It helps to understand how the brain works if you think of the brain as a company. The company runs at peak efficiency when all the parts are working.

Up at the front of the company (frontal temporary lobes), are the vice presidents, and there are several of them. They make the plans for the company. They decide who is going to do what and when. As things get underway, they get feedback or information as to how well things are going and they judge if that looks good or not so good, and then make further decisions - change that, keep this - and show appreciation and annoyance. SO UP AT THE FRONT YOU HAVE ORGANISATION, PLANNING, DECISION-MAKING, JUDGEMENT AND APPRECIATION. In the middle (parietal association cortex), are the managers and each` manager runs his own department. On the left side of the brain is the speech department (move the tongue and lips and throat muscles); a language department (find the words that you want, know what the words mean); and a motor department (move the right arm and right leg). On the right side is another motor department (find your way around a building, know where you are when driving a car and right down the basics like getting your arm through a sleeve and - of course - move the left arm and left leg.). Also over there in the parietal cortex is a music department and a few other incidentals.

SO THE RIGHT PARIETAL CORTEX IS THE PICTURE SIDE AND THE LEFT SIDE OF THE PARIETAL CORTEX IS THE TALKING SIDE.

Now, the managers in the parietal areas know what the plan is from the vice president up at the front of the company (frontal temporal lobes) and they make sure the plan gets carried out. In order to do this, the vice presidents and the managers communicate frequently with each other, sending messages back and forth.

At the bottom (limbic region, amygdale, basal ganglia) are the workers. They don't know what the plan is from the vice presidents, but they know their job and they do the same job day in and day out.

THINGS LIKE APPETITE CONTROL, NEED FOR WATER, STAYING ALERT AND AWARE OR GOING TO SLEEP, AND BASIC RESPONSES SUCH AS TURN ON THE TEARS, MAKE THE FACE RED, RUN AWAY OR STAY AND FIGHT, INCREASE THE HEART RATE.

Basically, in brain injury, someone gets tired. It can be a vice president, a manager or a worker depending on the injury and the injury is located in the brain. You can also have some of the company members go on leave of absence. This occurs, for instance, when there is a temporary swelling or loss of blood supply that is returned, however, in a short time. The result of the injury is the reduction of the company's efficiency. Messages get sent but are not picked up. The vice presidents get annoyed, the managers get fatigued and the emotional workers get overwrought. Confusion reigns. One of the main purposes of rehabilitation is to find out who got fired and who is still on the job so that messages can be re-routed and the company can become gradually more efficient again.

Cheers!

Did anyone else spot the item in a local newspaper a couple of weeks ago extolling the virtues of whisky? Apparently, "studies have shown" that a tot or two (but not three) of good single malt each day is as beneficial (some scotch drinkers would say even more beneficial) than a glass or two of red wine in preventing heart disease and strokes! Isn't it pleasing to know that the consumption of alcohol (always in moderation of course!) is good for your health?

DATES FOR DIARIES

Thursday 23 June at 6.30 p.m. at Westville Village Market opposite Westville Hotel Grape Expectations - A Journey Along the Wine Route with Wine and Food Tasting and Live Music. Tickets available from Pick 'n Pay or at the door. R20 entry Fee.

Friday 22 July at 7.00 for 7.30 p.m. at Westville Theatre Club, next door to Westville Swimming Pool. Christmas in July - Three course traditional supper with festive entertainment. Make up a table of 8 or 10 - only R100 per person which includes meal and wine.

Saturday 1 October at Headway House Craft Market - Don't even think about shopping early for Christmas until you have seen what will be on offer at our annual Craft Market!

Headway will be closed for a mid-year break for the week of Monday 4 to Friday 8 July inclusive. Our Own Home-grown Crossword!

Below you will find the results of a morning Speech Therapy session organised by OT Debbie (in the absence of our Speech Therapy students who have finished their practical block). The group put together this crossword and every single person contributed something. They were all so excited that we decided to reproduce it here and challenge our readers!

Appeals

Washing Machine Wanted!
A Headway staff member is urgently looking for a small washing machine - a twin-tub or top-loader, preferably no bigger than 7 kg.

Refrigerator Wanted!
The second-hand fridge donated to Zimele Molweni has given up the ghost and a replacement fridge is urgently needed.

Paper, Paper and more Paper, Please!
A BIG THANKYOU to everyone who has supported our Mondi Recycling drive - but please don't stop! We are now committed to filling 30 bags a month, so keep it coming!!

Headway Raffle
The Ethnic Quilt (1st Prize- made by the Headway Sewing Group) and Sewing Hamper (2nd Prize) Raffle is moving rather slowly and we need to improve the sales. If you can sell a sheet for us please contact the Headway office. We would be very grateful!