In many ways it is hard to believe the first month of 2013 is complete, in many ways January has flown by and it seemed just yesterday we were donning our Kapulana’s (a printed fabric from Mozambique) and enjoying our “Christmas in Africa” lamb spit braai.
Healing Wings South Africa welcomed in the New Year with a spectacular Oscars themed celebration, the dining hall was transformed into a venue fit for a movie star and the residents and staff were entertained by various ‘celebrity guest appearances” as well as hilarious short films the residents made themselves. Among these celebrity guests were Daniel Craig and his bond girl, Farrah Fawcet, also known as our very own Directors of Operation, Jeanine and Giles Fourie. Also making a celebrity appearance was Thelma and Louise, played by our Financial Manager Bronwyn with her partner in crime Cornet Kleinhayns. Healing Wings had the pleasure of hosting Cornet during the festive season and it was a blessing to have Cornet feed into the residents as well as the staff through her teaching, preaching, encouragement and gifts!
Healing Wings South Africa would also like to welcome three new staff members who are now joining the Healing Wings team. Firstly a welcome back to the staff team to Justin and Anke Swart, whilst you have never been too far away, it is a blessing to have you both as well as your daughters re-join the Healing Wings family.
Healing Wings would also like to announce that our school, Purpose College has received their EMIS number due to its registration as an independent school, along with this good news we also welcome Purpose College’s newest teacher, Wouter Venter. Wouter has more then 12 years of experience in the teaching profession and we are confident that he will bring a great new contribution to Purpose College. We would also like to welcome all the new students who have joined Purpose College and are proud to announce the opening of the school for the new academic year. We wish our students every success in both their education and their recovery.
Healing Wings also bid farewell to Addictions Counsellor Candice and Executive Chef Alex Olivier. After 5 years of selfless service to the ministry, we wish them all the best in their future endeavours.
In recent months our skills development courses have also gone from strength to strength, with many of the Culinary Skills Development students participating in the Advanced Chocolate Course. The Woodwork Skills Development Course had the privilege of building the HWSA Community Clinic and the Equine Therapy Course welcomed the donation of a beautiful white horse, Gear.
Jeanine Fourie has recently completed her Social Work Degree. She has added to the staff component of qualified social workers as well as social auxiliary workers and peer counsellors that form a dynamic and motivated team that strives for excellence. We offer individual counselling within the Person Centred Approach as well as the Cognitive Behavioural Approach, these approaches focus on the individuality and uniqueness of each resident. This ensures that every individual receives personal attention while their old thinking and behavioural patterns are confronted and alternatives are provided in order for a renewal of the mind to take place.
One of the main focuses since the start of the new year has been to increase the emotional intelligence of residents by means of facilitating small groups, group therapy, life-skill groups and individual therapy to equip residents to effectively identify, express and learn to control their emotions.
The Healing Wings programme continues to grow and develop as the social team focussed on psycho-dramas (role plays) where residents express their emotions and their past experiences. We therefore make use of art presentations as well as lifelines where a resident will portray his life in the form of an art work and present this to his fellow residents for feedback.
The 12 step Celebrate Recovery Programme remains the framework of our process as we do believe that spiritual development increases the possibility of recovery and gives a resident a new level of hope and purpose for the future. Each resident is assessed before they are advanced to the next step in their recovery, progress is not simply writing down the answers to the steps but living it out daily.
An exciting new happening is growth in involvement of Healing Wings South Africa with the rural Mankele community of Mpumalanga. Under the vision of Jeanine Fourie, HWSA has in recent months started the Adult Literacy Project where residents teach English to the neighbouring farm working community. It is commendable and must be noted that all the books and pens for the project has been donations from the HWSA residents. Healing Wings also had its first annual Mankele Christmas Party for the community where a meal was shared, soccer played and gifts handed out. The most significant project that Healing Wings has headed up has been the building of a community Clinic to address HIV/AIDS, dietary and various health issues the community is faced with. January 29th marked the first Medical visit by Healing Wings and our very own Sister Monica. The visit was well attended by the community and we look forward to many such visits.
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