RSCC staff receive a special thanks

 

Allison van Staden, Mirinda Godden and a group of their friends started an initiative to write letters to healthcare workers to thank them for their service.

They recently visited Ron Smith Care Centre and handed out thank you letters to the staff, to show their appreciation for how the care centre looks after its residents.

Mirinda Godden, RSCC enrolled nursing assistant Catherine Mphahlele,
Allison van Staden and careworker Lebo Mashale.

Irene celebrates her centenary!

 

Ron Smith Care Centre resident Irene Watson celebrated her centenary on 8 September, with her daughter Fiona.

Irene was born in 1921 in County Durham, England. Her father Richard was a farmer, while her mother Harriet assisted the local midwife.

“I attended catholic junior school and was one of only five students awarded a scholarship at a private senior catholic school in Darlington,” says Irene.

“My first job was in the counting house of a huge department store. To transfer money, we put it into a tube and into a special shoot, where it would go whooshing through to its destination,” she adds.

Irene continued with office work during the war. “I met my husband Reginald at a dance in Darlington and we married soon after the war was over in 1945. He eventually signed up with an engineering company in Bulawayo and travelled ahead to Rhodesia to set up what would become our new home,” says Irene.

To join her husband, she travelled alone by ship for 15 days, from South Hampton, England, to Cape Town, with her two young children Trevor and Fiona. “Then we travelled by train for two days to Bulawayo, Rhodesia! It was a very long journey indeed,” says Irene.

Irene enjoys doing crossword puzzles every morning after breakfast, and also likes to listen to light music on the radio.

“I like to read novels, magazines and the newspaper and watch BBC News and quiz shows on TV. I also enjoy watching soapies, my favourite one being 7 de Laan. I also like going for walks at Ron Smith Care Centre and enjoying the lake, trees, flowers, gardens, birds and ducks; the sing-a-longs and chair exercises in the activity centre and playing bingo,” says Irene.

Her simple pleasure is to have coffee with Fiona at Elphino’s Coffee Shop, which is located in the care centre’s grounds.

“My proudest achievement is to have raised two wonderful, understanding children,” she says.

This story has also been published on Rand Aid's website.

Happy 90th birthday Josephine!

 

Ron Smith Care Centre resident Josephine Kew celebrated her 90^th birthday on 5 September, with her sons Gabriel and Nicholas.

Born in Johannesburg in 1931, Josephine refers to herself as ‘South African Chinese’. “My father was from China and my mother from Mozambique – my home language is Cantonese,” she says.

The oldest of four children, Josephine comes from a very close and loving family.

“We lived and grew up in Sophiatown and this was one of the happiest times of my life. I attended a Chinese School, as we grew up in the difficult time of apartheid where people of colour, including the Chinese, were not permitted to attend European schools,” says Josephine.

“Nevertheless, my school days and young adult life in Sophiatown were very happy and active. People of mixed races mingled freely and were good to each other, and my friends and I belonged to many social clubs where we would all go out dancing and enjoying the music of the times. We also played tennis and softball and just enjoyed each other’s company,” she adds.

Josephine met her husband Leslie through friends and were married for 57 years, until his death in 2015.

“He was a professional photographer and we also ran a general dealership together. He was very much loved and respected in our family and in the community in which we lived and worked. I miss him very much,” says Josephine.

One of Josephine’s simple pleasures in life is to laugh, make jokes and find the funny side of things. “Jackie Chan movies usually make me laugh!”

In her more active days, Josephine loved to go dancing and help her husband with the gardening. “We planted all kinds of herbs and Chinese vegetables. I also enjoyed knitting, reading, exercising and arts and crafts.”

Her motto is: “Be good and kind to everyone, whether they are rich or poor, beautiful or ugly! Do not gossip or speak ill of anyone.”

This story has also been published on Rand Aid's website.

Spring Day fun at RSCC

 

Ron Smith Care Centre held a Spring Day braai for residents, with each wing decorating their own tables and prizes for the best decorated table and the prettiest dressed employees and residents.

The best dressed residents were Linden Millard, from River Lodge 2, and Josephine Maxted, from Lakeside.

All six wings won the best decorated table, as the judges couldn’t single out a specific wing.

All staff got cake for tea, for their beautiful decorating skills.

Everyone enjoyed the braai and the beautiful, sunny day.

This story has also been published on Rand Aid's website.

Gordon Smith (Cedar Park), RSCC care worker Rosemary Mazibuko (Best Dressed staff member Cedar Park).

Cedar Parl, Arthur Nortje, Doreen Woodward (Best Dressed Cedar Park), Dorothy Brockensha, Ursula Northern, Sylvia Morowitz and Joy Smith. Sitting: Charge Professional Nurse Florah Tshonisa.

Olive Jew from Lakeside.

Noél Tilney from River Lodge 3.

View the gallery below, to see more photos of residents enjoying the spring celebration!

 

Evelyn joins RSCC OT team

 

Evelyn Shilubane all dressed up for Ron Smith Care Centre’s spring day celebrations.

Enrolled nursing assistant Evelyn Shilubane has been seconded to Ron Smith Care Centre’s occupational therapy (OT) department due to her passion for the Eden Alternative philosophy and her vast experience working with residents living with dementia.

Evelyn, who has worked at the care centre for the past seven years on the specialised dementia care and other wings, was seconded to the OT department in August.

“The Eden Alternative is revolutionising the way in which Elders are cared for. The core concept is about teaching us to see places where Elders live as habitats for human beings, rather than facilities for the frail and elderly. Eden Alternative thus sees aging as a continued stage of development and growth and not as a period of decline,” says Rand Aid’s senior nursing manager Avril Maltman.

“The Eden Alternative initiative ensures that we bring the highest level of care and wellbeing to our residents and takes into account their holistic wellbeing, not just their physical care,” she adds.

Evelyn is enjoying her new OT role and interacting with the residents.

“I grabbed the opportunity to work in OT with both hands! OT ensures that we take care of all our residents’ needs.

“I am enjoying getting to spend more time with our residents, getting to know them in a different way and understanding their needs. We want to make sure that our residents feel at home and are comfortable. While the role can be challenging at times, I am really enjoying it,” she says.

Caroline joins RSCC staff

 

Caroline Mucheka officially joined Ron Smith Care Centre as a permanent employee on 1 September.

Over the past year, Caroline has been working as relief professional nurse at RSCC, Elphin Lodge and Thornhill Manor retirement villages.

Caroline qualified as a professional nurse in 2006, while working at Harare Central Hospital in Zimbabwe. She has since worked for various care centres.

“I’m looking forward to working permanently at RSCC. I enjoy my time here and have finally found a home,” says Caroline, who is based on RSCC’s Lakeside wing.

“There’s a very different vibe at RSCC, compared to other care centres that I have worked at. I really enjoy mingling with the residents. When you work 12-hour shifts, it’s important to enjoy your working environment and the people you work with,” she adds.

RSCC promotes Florah to charge professional nurse

 

Florah Tshonisa, who joined Ron Smith Care Centre as a professional nurse in 2019, has been promoted to the position of charge professional nurse on the care centre’s Cedar Park wing.

Prior to joining RSCC, Florah was a care worker at the Netcare N17 private hospital in Springs. She worked part-time at the hospital, while completing her first- and second-year practical training at the same time.

Before this, she was a care worker at Esda Frail Care and Community Centre, also in Springs.

Florah, who attended Lungile Nursing School in Rosebank in 2015/16, is looking forward to her new role, which sees her now being the sister in charge of Cedar Park.

“I have learnt a lot at RSCC, especially when it comes to looking after residents who have Alzheimer’s disease and dementia,” says Florah.

“My mom battled dementia from 2009 to 2015, but I knew very little about it at that time and didn’t understand it. RSCC sent me on a training course about dementia, which really helped me to understand more about it and how to better help the residents,” she adds.

Florah started in her new position on 1 September. “I’m also really looking forward to continue learning from the people here, some of which have been here for many years,” she says.

 

OT students train at RSCC

 

Angel Mmako and Ashleigh Marshall are undergoing a four-week practical at RSCC.

Angel Mmako (20) and Ashleigh Marshall (21) are two of the Wits University students who are undertaking their occupational therapy practical blocks at Rand Aid’s Ron Smith Care Centre for four weeks.

The third-year students, who started their practical training at RSCC on 23 August, couldn’t start training in their second year due Covid-19 restrictions.

Angel says working at RSCC is a wonderful experience and she is enjoying working with the residents. “It’s really nice to be working with ‘real patients’. I’m gaining great experience and boosting my confidence, by putting theory into practice. It’s wonderful when residents realise that they are still able to do some things for themselves.”

Ashleigh says she feels very welcome at RSCC. “From the ladies in the occupational therapy department, to the residents, everyone is so friendly. The residents enjoy occupational therapy and they are willing to try the exercises. This is important, as they realise that they can still have fun and they look forward to it. It also builds their self-esteem.”

Angel initially wanted to study health sciences, but decided on occupational therapy as she loves to help people; while Ashleigh says she enjoys occupational therapy as it’s more hands-on and one can treat a patient holistically.

As for the future, Angel wants to work with children and would love to open her own occupational therapy practice one day. “I also want to travel, to see how occupational therapy is put into practice in other countries,” she says.

In the short-term, Ashleigh aims to work for government so that she can assist the public health sector and the communities it serves. “I would like to be able to provide the skills these communities need to empower themselves.”

In the long-term, Ashleigh would also like to open her own occupational therapy practice one day. “It would still be in a community centre setting though,” she says.

Ashleigh knew about RSCC before being assigned to the care centre to do her training. “My ‘adopted’ gran and grandpa, Lyn and Colin Cocking, live in Elphin Lodge retirement village. It’s nice to know they are here,” she says.