June 2014

Dear Friends

On behalf of our Chairman and committee, I wish to express our gratitude to all those of you, who so generously donated to FOU this past year, enabling us to once again bring joy to the patients.

As usual there was great excitement over the Festive Season, with all the events going well, and loads of fun was had by all. During Easter, the patients were delighted to be treated to a feast of Easter eggs, hot cross buns and yogurt, which were kindly donated by Merrival Spar, Fairfield Dairies and FOU. A big thank you to all those concerned and to Nerissa from the Occupational Therapy Department for coordinating the event.

The Royal Show was a resounding success this year, when FOU kindly sponsored 30 patients, with entrance tickets, lunch and a bit extra to spend. Each year a few of the patients work tirelessly on their crafts, which are exhibited and entered in the craft competition. It gave them great pleasure to attend the show and see their crafts on display and find out how they fared in the competition. ( Article by Shaan Mothilall OTA at Umgeni Hospital who organized this event.)

Few people are aware of our very own hospital band, comprising a few extremely talented patients, who periodically get the opportunity to play at functions in the local community, aswell as at all the festive events like the Hospital Christmas Lunch and New Year dance. Recently it was brought to our attention, that their drums were looking very tired and so FOU were happy to be able to donate a replacement set to them, which they are very proud of!

Due to the support of our donors, our “splint” programme, which was initiated by Jenn Dunn the Hospital’s Occupational Therapist, has been a huge success.

It involves making foot, and hand splints to improve the positioning, function and hygiene levels of the patients, which previously, had often resulted in infections. Once the splints are made for a patient, they wear it for specific hours during the day or night, which generally improves their functioning, self esteem and comfort.

The Patients of Umgeni Hospital really appreciated the donated woollen items from volunteers who are part of the Amber Valley Knitting Group. The donations which brought joy and happiness to the patients, could not have come at a better time as we have started feeling the harshness of winter. On behalf of the Occupational Therapy Dept, we would like to extend our heartiest appreciation and thanks to the Amber Valley Knitting Group who are difinitely making a difference.
Written by Nerissa Sathipersad from the OT Dept

In Rememberance of Coenie who passed away this year…his Royal Show exhibit which he never got to see.

2014 will always be remembered as a year when the staff of Umgeni Hospital and FOU made a collective decision, to move forward together for the good of the patients, and it is our wish in the future, to help them, wherever possible, in their very difficult task.

As we are constantly looking at ways to improve the daily lives of the patients, a decision was made at our previous FOU committee meeting, to begin a project of upgrading the many hospital wards, taking into account the specific needs of the patients in each of those wards.

The hospital kindly allowed us to view the following 3 wards to begin with, and these are our recommendations and comments:

SAAMSTAP: (for geriatric patients) is a relatively new ward, with only a few minor refurbishments needed ie. Some curtains need rehanging, and replacing. The plastic diningroom table clothes are also in need of replacing. We are purchasing a larger wheelchair for one of the patients, plus a few duvets etc..although not much is needed there.

THE CHILDREN’S WARD: Already a well maintained and cared for ward, needing only 18 cot bumpers, so the children don’t hurt themselves when turning, plus one ceiling mobile.

MEN’S WARD 1: Here we felt that a complete overhaul is needed, so we will approach the hospital to undertake the basic painting, and thereafter FOU will endevour to complete it with a wall mural, (depending on us finding volunteer artists!) ceiling mobiles, new curtains, bed comforters and hammocks, for the very disabled patients who can’t sit in wheelchairs.

We were pleasantly surprised at how caring and helpful the staff were in these wards. We realize that there are going to be major challenges when it comes to revamping others, however we look forward to the end result, with the patients living in a more comfortable environment. We will keep you updated from time to time on our progress.

If there is anything above that you feel you could be of assisstance with, please contact myself on 082 459 2743 or Amanda on 072 373 8811 so we can arrange to meet with you. Any help is appreciated greatly! Perhaps you would like to consider being on our committee which consists mostly of retired volunteers and one or two staff members? You don’t have to be an expert in anything, but rather a willing person with a passion to help those less fortunate!

God Bless you
Kind Regards
Bev Habermann
(FOU committee member)
info@friendsofumgeni.co.za

Because someone cared, someone did something,
a child smiled and was comforted
Fundraising No: 3291002-091-NPO
Bank details: ABSA Howick – Branch Code 63205 – Account No 63043726612
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