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

We made it to Johannesburg

Sisters wearing Care4Soweto and Suncoast Hospice buttons

Hi everyone!  We made it to Johannesburg.  Our flight was good and we enjoyed watching movies- good thing because none of us slept very well or very long.  So, here we are in Johannesburg, where the time zone is 7 hours ahead of Clearwater.  Even though we're pretty tired (and fairly silly from not sleeping much in the last two days), we're super excited about out first day.

We arrived at Hospice Wits around 9:00 in the morning, Tuesday (we left Tampa at 6 am Monday). The hospice had a nice welcoming breakfast for us and many staff stopped by to say hello.  Penny, Dorcus, Ntombi, and Bev (who were with us in October/November) came and were wearing their red Suncoast Hospice buttons!!

Jacqui Kaye and Stacy Orloff at Resale Shop

We toured a few of their Hospice Resale Shoppes and their beautiful campus in Johannesburg.  Then we went to our host homes so we cold unpack and relax before dinner.  We hope to sleep well tonight. 

We'll be in Soweto all day Wednesday.  Susan, Terri, and I will be providing a full day of education to the nursing sisters and community care workers.  We're very excited to spend the day learning together. 

Keep reading the blog and post comments.  Your comments help us to feel even more connected to you- plus I'll share them with the Hospice Wits staff too!

Until tomorrow,

Stacy

Early Morning Travelers

Our 2013 Suncoast Hospice team getting ready to board flight to South Africa.

L-R: Stacy Orloff, VP of palliative care and community programs, Susan Bruno, director of Institute business and Theresa (Terri) Peterson, care team chaplain

Hospice Wits, Here We Come

Left to Right: Terri Peterson, Stacy Orloff and Susan Bruno

Our next group of staffers is ready to embark on an exchange trip to Hospice Wits in Johannesburg, South Africa next week. Going are Suncoast Hospice’s Stacy Orloff, vice president of palliative care and community programs and Theresa “Terri” Peterson, a care team chaplain and Suncoast Hospice Institute’s Susan Bruno, director of institute business.

The three are excited for their two-week visit. Terri and Susan are first-timers and eager for this new learning experience. Stacy has made several trips and been involved a long time with our partnership. They’ll arrive bearing gifts, including much-needed medical supplies donated by Suncoast staff and volunteers.

During their visit, they’ll observe and work with Hospice Wits’ care staff and management team. This time there will be an even heavier focus on education. They plan to share resources, provide support and make presentations on interdisciplinary care teams, self-care, palliative arts, leadership development and more.

They can’t wait to get there and meet everyone. It’s going to be an incredible visit.

Packed and Ready to Go

Pat Sargent, Suncoast Hospice R.N., says farewell to her knitted friends she and her husband made for this year’s staff exchange trip to Hospice Wits which serves Soweto and Johannesburg, South Africa. She’s hoping her dolls don’t have jet-lag when they arrive in South Africa and that they quickly find new friends to love them in their adopted country.