Westlake United Church Trust

Easter Holiday Program – April 2012

Andrew — Fri, 04 May 2012 09:07:45 +0000

During the Easter holidays our team (funded by Dept of Social Development) organised a holiday reading program which included reading books, puzzles and other fun activities in the hall. Up to 130 children per day attended the program, and the children were divided into groups according to their ages. On the last day, they sang and performed short plays on the stage, and prizes were handed out. Afterwards everyone enjoyed Easter eggs, hot dogs and juice.

It was extremely well run and we congratulate Benita Barnett and her team.

We hope to repeat the program in the June/July holidays, funds permitting!!

CDL Support Groups – Mini Health Walk

Andrew — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:51:33 +0000

On Tues 24 April ’12, we held a mini health walk for the members of our CDL Support Groups (Chronic Diseases of Lifestyle, i.e. people with conditions such as hypertension and diabetes). The walk was to create awareness about exercise being part of a healthy lifestyle. There were 4 support groups represented – Westlake, Dreyersdal Park, Musgrave Park (Communicare Homes for the Elderly in Bergvliet and Diep River), and Compassion in Action brought their support group from Lavender Hill. Altogether 70 people took part, including some of our home based carers.

The walk started at False Bay College, Westlake campus, and continued along Lynx Way through the village -with onlookers cheering us on along the way – and finished at our Community Centre hall (1.5kms). There was a water point and everyone was handed a bottle of water. We even had a police escort.

Gallant Ganief (67 yrs old) from Westlake came first.

There were two 86 year olds and an 80 year old, who kept up the pace and were also in the front pack!!

Afterwards, everyone enjoyed hot dogs, oranges and juice in the hall.

It was a great succcess, lots of fun and everyone enjoyed it. Beatrice must be congratulated, once again, for organising such a memorable event.

TB Awareness Activities

Andrew — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 06:29:11 +0000

Our home based care department was involved in various activities for World TB Day. On Thurs 22 March, they walked through the village wearing masks to raise awareness on TB and handed out 388 STOP TB z-cards and over 200 HIV information leaflets to the community.

Veronica and Joseph, our Patient Advocates, as well as Bonita and Fiona, from our social development team, assisted at MSAT South’s TB Awareness Day at Retreat Station/Taxi Rank on Fri 23 March. 6 NGO’s took part – Living Hope, CAFDA, OIL, Yabonga, WUCT and Think Twice, as well as the City of Cape Town. There were 3 testing stations with 2 nurses, 3 counselors, 5 tents (including 2 from the City). TB info leaflets, z-cards, Stop TB stickers, and over 4000 condoms were distributed to taxi drivers and the public. High school children broke up for the holidays and many came forward for testing. HIV Stats from Living Hope – 54 negative, 5 HIV positive. 62 people were tested by WUCT staff for blood sugar levels. 712 people in taxis were educated about TB. It was a very successful event.

News from Geneva regarding necklaces

Andrew — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:36:44 +0000

We have had more news from Geneva. Our button necklaces (made by craft workers at Westlake United Church Trust) have been selling well and they are now worn by many students and faculty.

The Webster Humanitarian Association is also benefiting from the ladies hard work, and Ros Thomas tells us that the additional money raised will be used to support some of the projects run by genocide affected women in Bosnia.

Ros will be in Cape Town around the 22nd July to speak at a big psychology conference and hopes at that time to be able to come to our premises in Westlake to see us at work and perhaps purchase some more of the goods on sale here.

Valentine’s Day & AIDS Awareness

Andrew — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:17:36 +0000

On Valentine’s Day (14 February 2012), our fieldworkers once again walked through the Westlake village handing out roses, chocolates and condoms. They also visited the hair salons and shebeens. This was part of our AIDS Awareness drive, and it was well received by the community.

Here are a few photos.

Thanks to Multichoice, computer training is underway

Andrew — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 12:19:16 +0000

Last year, through Lester Cooper at Church of the Holy Spirit (an employee of Multichoice) a number of used computers were donated to the pre-school. We installed Ubuntu as the operating system on the computers as well as a pre-school Ubuntu educational bundle. Each class now has a PC in the classroom for the use of the young learners.

Instruction at this stage is very basic. Children learn about the mouse, keyboard, and how to turn the machine on and off correctly. Although they have only been able to use these computers for a few weeks, some of the young learners are really beginning to shine. Young Aaron Mphande, for example, can turn the PC on and find his way to the educational bundle. Once there he selects a programme to play with and soon he is matching words with objects. Impressive stuff, and sure to give our young learners quite an advantage when it comes to computers at Primary School.

Our grateful thanks to Multichoice for making this possible.

1st PTA meeting for 2012 : Emmanuel Educare

Andrew — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:57:02 +0000

The school year started on 11 January, and Emmanuel Educare now has 170 registered learners. As our numbers increased by more than 20 learners, we now have an additional class for the three year olds. We also have several new staff members.

The first PTA meeting for the year was held on Thursday evening (23 February). The Chairperson of the 2011 Governing Body, Col June Cilliers addressed the more than 75 parents who attended. Col. Cilliers has served as Chairperson for the past three years and we are very sad to see her leave as her daughter has now progressed to the Primary School.

After the Principal delivered her speech, a new Governing Body for 2012 was elected. The new members are:

Jaqueline Jean Kalamba
Nicholas J van Rensburg
Nawhaal Jacobs
Cassandra van Beulen
Christopher van Wyk
Rosy Passman
Nonkulunga Ntshikeniso
Happy Nyambose
Silimela Mbande
Nontseko Dyantyi
Mzukisi Jokazi
Debbie Du Plessis
Nonhlanhla Nancy Mpanza
Beulah Matthyse
Tilly Fish
Godfrey Velem
Christine Yeki

A Governing Body meeting will be held in a fortnight and a new Chairperson elected. We wish the new Governing Body a succesful year.

Christmas Greetings from the WUCT Team

Andrew — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:11:52 +0000

The team at WUCT wish all our friends and supporters a very Blessed Christmas and a Peaceful New Year.

Our latest newsletter has been published and is available online. Please click here to read it.

Bracelets from Willow Creek Church, Chicago.

Andrew — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 06:59:49 +0000

The children at Willow Creek Church, Chicago, USA, kindly made beaded bracelets for children in South Africa – we handed them out as Christmas gifts to the children of Emmanuel Educare pre-school, as well as to other Westlake children, before term closed for the year. We would like to thank the Willow Creek children for this kind gesture towards our underprivileged children, which brought much joy to them at this Christmas time.

Phillippi Trust Facilitator training

Andrew — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:46:27 +0000

Whilst all the various activities were going on last week, Phillippi Trust ran a one-week support group facilitator training course at our premises. 21 people attended, including 5 of our staff (3 of our fieldworkers - Bonita, Natalie and Nokuthula, a home based carer – Zoe, and a Patient Advocate who monitors ARV adherence – Joseph).

Some people came from as far as Khayelitsha. Phillippi Trust run excellent accredited courses all over Cape Town.