Sunday, February 20, 2011

A relationship that matters, deeply!

I have learned more through the last 12 months of our relationship with the wonderful folk from Suncoast Hospice than in the previous 3 years of having the knowledge that they were partnering with Hospice Wits. Why is that? It is because I have had the privilege of spending time with, and really getting to know, members of the Steering Committee, the team that came over to South Africa in 2009 and the team that have spent time with us now in February 2011. Each one of them is passionate about what they are doing for Hospice Wits in South Africa and show a vested interest and passionate commitment to maintaining the relationship that provides Hospice Wits with so many value adding aspects to the work that we both do for our communities. Each one of them has energy and excitement when they are talking about Hospice Wits and they humble themselves and open their hearts and minds to learning from our staff as well as providing us with so much insight, experience and life skills learned from their work done across the ocean. Our relationship has developed over the past years but has so much potential to grow and mature into an all sharing and caring partnership where all our staff are fully aware of the nature of the work done by Suncoast Hospice for each and every one of Hospice Wits staff.
I personally feel a great excitement at the ease in which we have been able to share our learnings with each other during this recent trip, at the energy moving amongst the group to mature the relationships with each other at every level and at the keenness to find new and innovative ways in which to sustain and build on what has been put in place to date. 2011 is going to be a good year for Hospice Wits and all its staff. I do believe that the partnership with Suncoast Hospice is also going to grow in leaps and bounds, and that an understanding of roles and relationships will benefit each one of us. No one is more skilled or experienced than the other - we all need to open our hearts to share what we have in the way of experience and skills of palliative care with each other and therefore learn more and more from the world experiences
Jacqui Kaye.

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