Singing Greetings

Soweto Hospice staff greet us singing

Imagine being greeted by singing and warm smiling faces when you arrive at work. That's exactly what happened today when Susan, Terri, and I arrived at the Soweto office. All the nursing sisters, community care workers, physician, and office staff greeted us with songs and warm embraces. It took a few minutes for the three of us to compose ourselves when the singing ended so that we could introduce ourselves (and no, we did not sing for them!).

Today we taught five different subjects- the hospice experience model, spiritual assessments, the history of our partnership, palliative arts, and caregiver fatigue. You have much to be proud of. The presentations were terrific. We had over 30 people with us all day. We'll repeat these presentations next week for the Johannesburg staff.

Suncoast Hospice chaplain, Terri Peterson presenting at Soweto Hospice

Tomorrow (Thursday) we'll spend the entire day with the Johannesburg nurses. We'll start the morning facilitating a support activity with all their clinical staff and then will make home visits with the nurses.

I'll leave you with this one thought/comment. When I was talking about our partnership and asked the staff what they most appreciated or liked about the partnership they all said, "We are most grateful for your support and knowing how much you love us. It helps knowing you are there for us in many ways. It keeps us going on tough days."  

So let's keep it up!

In gratitude,

Stacy