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DAY TO DAY FACETS & ACTIVITIES
REGIONAL VISITS
In order to get a feel of the regional activity and activities in the self help
centres, I have planned to visit each region and this to coincide with the AGM.
This programme has worked out very well and I have tabled a report for each regional visit I have done.
I had the opportunity to visit all the regions in the last year of service and I note the activity below:
• 6th October 2001 - Free State Regional Visit
• 28th December 2001 - Visit to Nompumelelo Hospital
• 5 - 7th February - Eastern Cape Regional visit
• 19 - 21st June - Western Cape Regional visit
• 30th June - 1st July - Eastern Cape Regional visit
• 16 - 19th July - Gauteng South Regional visit
• 20th - 21st July - Gauteng North Regional visit
I will be visiting the Free State region from 4 - 6th October which will include a visit to Kimberley to assess the viability of a new Northern Cape region.
Full reports on each visit are tabled in the National office.
SOUTH AFRICAN FEDERAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITY (SAFCD)
We are part of the "Physical disability" generic group with the council and I represent QASA on this forum. This sector has four representatives of which National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities
(NCPPD) and QASA one.
The SAFCD negotiates many issues on behalf of the disability sector and we have made many valuable contributions towards the needs of quadriplegics through the council.
All legislation consultation has contribution from us through the Council.
The SAFCD 2 day Annual meeting was held from 21 - 22 May.
A detailed report on all SAFCD activities is tabled in the National office.
CONGRESS, CONFERENCE, WORKSHOPS & PR
It is important for QASA to attend congress, workshops and seminars and we have both presented and attended many during the last year.
All our attendance has been with the aim of learning and updating and to create positive exposure and PR for QASA and it's aims.
I list some of the talks I have given in the last year:
• 13th October Sexuality talk at Kensington Hospital and Riverfield Rehab centre for the Afrox group in Johannesburg
• 25th October - Opening address on QASA at the S.A.Prothetists & Orthitists National Conference.
• 6th November - Motivational talk for the Union of Jewish Women National meeting
• 15th November - Opening address at the International Medical Society of Paraplegia in Melbourne, Australia
• 21st February - Sexuality and quadriplegia talk to 45 doctors at NU Shifa Hospital, Durban
• 7th March - "What is a quadriplegia" talk at Chelsea School, Durban
• 15th March - "QASA and its function" talk at CCA Brokers in Durban
• 18th March - "QASA and its function and projects" presentation to SHIA in Stockholm, Sweden.
• 15th April - "QASA and its projects and function" talk at the Executive Club in Durban
• 17th April - Sexuality lecture at CREATE College in Pietermaritzburg
• 13th July - "Make a difference" to CE staff in Johannesburg
• 13th August - Motivational talk to Boystown pupils in Durban
I attended the International Day of Disabled Persons festivities in Empangeni on 3rd December on behalf of
QASA.
I attended the IMSOP Congress in Melbourne in November 2001.
I was part of a delegation that went on a Twinning Programme to Sweden to study the Disability Sector in March 2002.
I attended the Management meeting of all Pick 'n Pay regions (Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban) and gave a talk on QASA in preparation for Supercap Day.
All these assignments have helped to create a positive image of quadriplegics and QASA and it is essential to continue to seek assignments of this nature.
A report on each workshop attended is tabled in the National office.
We have attracted much positive PR in the last year from:
• Supercap Day Media coverage
• The Felecia Show programme on QASA
• eTV Interview
• Radio Kingfisher Interview
• Road Safety Programme
• Road Safety Message cards (4700)
• SCD T-Shirts distributed to regions
• QASA banners displayed regularly
• National Art Exhibition Media attention and visitors
CONSULTATION WITH GOVERNMENT
This is a very important role of QASA's and we have, through SAFCD and independently, been consulted by government on all legislation and policy formulation.
The needs of quadriplegics have been represented successfully this last year and although we do not always get all our requirements catered for, much progress has been made.
Leon Labuschagne, Amor Malan and I have attended many workshops and meetings with government on behalf of our membership.
We have also given extensive input into documents circulated to us by Government departments.
I list some of the interaction I have had:
• 8th April - Meeting with Minister of Transport about Road Safety and Transport.
• 19th April - Meeting with the MEC of Health (KZN) to hand over our SCI Manual
• 4 - 6th June - Attended a workshop on the Skills Development Fund
• June 2002 - Input into Passenger Rights and Passenger Charter for Public Transport
• May 2002 - Input into Social Security Grant system and Assessment of Grants Board
Amor and Leon have represented membership on:
• Minimum Standards issues
• HIV/AIDS issues
• Transport issues
• Dept of Transport workshop on Bicycle/Wheelchair Paths
• Social Security issues
• Skills Authority Bursary Scheme planning
• Disability Sector input into the World Summit to be held
• Launch of the "Code of Good Practice" of Employment Equity Act.
Derick de Villiers and I have been selected by DPSA for "Facilitator Training" by the Department of Labour which will commence in September. This training will allow us to deliver workshops on how to access funding and use funding from the Skills Development Fund.
STRATEGIC PLAN IMPLEMENTATION
Our Strategic Plan has been implemented for a year now and there have been positive outcomes on all 8 identified goals:
1. Establishment of an effective and operational structure for information and management support.
2. Creation of public awareness and prevention.
3. New relationships with agencies, regional areas and departments are formed.
4. Care, support and rehabilitation services are provided.
5. Capacity building for affiliated groups is provided.
6. QASA developing financial sustainability
7. QASA programme is effectively coordinated. Strategic alliance/ (partners) core group are functional and evaluation of programme is being done.
8. Further establishment of an effective and operational management structure (Board) for QASA.
ADMINISTRATION
The QASA office is running smoothly and the QASA secretary's salary is now partly subsidized by QASA.
The Treasurery was handed to Cedric Hedgcock (KZN) on 7th November 2001 and he has done a magnificent job since then with the financials being done timeously and accurately every month and in a format which is easy to read and understand.
This has made a huge difference to the Association.
QASA received official notice and their NPO status certificate on 7th January this year.
The office has produced protocol and criteria for:
The Sports Fund The Education Fund
Quad Squad Funding Travel by QASA members
QASA Loans Corporate membership
Sabat application forms
These are all contained in management manual distributed to QASA management.
These documents are available to members.
The QASA office receives many visitors including health professionals, quadriplegics, other SCI, friends and family of SCI and suppliers to QASA.
A weekly report of the National Director activity is sent to all Management.
Twice weekly Management are sent a memo of their responsibilities to the National office and this has improved communication.
There is a very good library in the National office now and this has been accumulated from many overseas
contributors which includes many videos.
The office also has 8 banners which are regularly used for PR.
The office also produces it's own videos for QASA of QASA activity and this has been excellent for exposure of our projects.
Management is considering implementing a "membership card" system to add value to membership and provide for an accurate database and I am busy researching this.
The need for a National Congress or Capacity Building Workshop is also being researched.
The QASA Constitution has not changed in then last 12 months and will need some study to cater for the diversifying of the Association.
I have written a report on every meeting / workshop attended in the last year and these are all tabled in the National office.
QASA MANAGEMENT
The 2001 QASA AGM was held on 7th September in Pretoria followed by the Annual Art Exhibition.
Management adopted a policy to co-opt onto Management , quadriplegics who could add skills and representation of the demographics of quadriplegics in South Africa.
Dennis Mhlanzi (QAK), Pauline Mofokeng (QAGS) and Martin Sodoms (QAWC) attended the May 2002 Management meeting and their contribution was evaluated.
Dennis and Pauline have been asked to attend the Management meeting on 31ST August.
I list the Management members who served the Association on behalf of their Regions:
MANAGEMENT MEMBERS 2001/2002
LEON LABASCHAGNE - GAUTENG-SOUTH - Chairperson
HERMAN WILLEMSE - EASTERN CAPE
CEDRIC HEDGCOCK - KWAZULU NATAL - Treasurer
DERICK de VILLIERS - WESTERN CAPE
AMOR MALAN - GAUTENG-SOUTH - Vice-Chairperson
ELIZE VAN DER MERWE - GAUTENG-NORTH
ABE de JAGER - FREE STATE - Executive
The following Management meetings were held:
8th September 2001 - Full Management meeting
2nd October 2001 - Management Telephone Conference
11th December 2001 - Management Telephone Conference
30th & 31st January 2002 - Full Management meeting
23rd & 24th May 2002 - Full Management meeting
29th July 2002 - Management Telephone Discussion
NEW REGIONS
I have been communicating with the North West region in an effort to re-affiliate them to the National body and there has been no commitment or real response from this region.
I do believe that this region has quite a few internal problems to sort out and thereafter their request to re-affiliate will be forthcoming.
I have also made progress in starting a new Region in the Northern Cape and have been liaising with Mario Swartz to prepare the region for their establishment.
They have prepared a Constitution, guided by National's and I plan to visit Kimberley with the view of launching this region in October this year.
This prospective region has already been active in our Supercap Day project and also attended the Free State AGM last year.
FUNDRAISING
We have had a lot of support from the corporate sector and friends of quadriplegics in order to finance many of our projects.
Notable donations have come from:
Christopher Reeve Foundation
First Rand Foundation
Nedcor Foundation Mr.N. Oppenheimer
Pick n Pay
Lever Ponds (products)
National Lotteries
Many other individuals and organizations have supported us and we are certainly grateful for anyone who believes in us and our strategies.
We are the official charity of the JHI Business Relay held annually in Durban.
We have been offered scholarship opportunities by Deloitte & Touche for quadriplegics wanting to study towards a B.Comm & CA.
We used a surplus of Port supplied by Herman Willemse to label a personalized bottle and sold on behalf of QASA which also created awareness.
This Port is now finished. This venture is worth continuing.
We have gone into a partnership with Arthur Piercy, whereby he is donating 10% of his fundraising for his dream to fly around the world in the aircraft he is building. We are running his fundraising account and assisting him with the PR behind this project.
One of the challenges as National Director was to fundraise to cover the running costs and package of this post and I have done so. What this means in effect is that QASA monies have not been spent on administration and the National Director post as these have been funded separately.
We have just been notified of our first "grant" from National Lotteries. This good fortune is a signal that we are producing results which National Lotteries recognizes. I hope more is to come.
QASA FUNDED DEVELOPMENTS
In the last 12 months, there has been a lot of development within the regions, funded by
QASA. R724 000.00 was allocated to projects through their regional offices.
I list the projects & developments below:
Shangri La Self Help Centre are building 4 shops and 2 accommodation flats with R260 000.00 allocated from Supercap Day funds. This is to secure income for the sustainability of the self help
centre. This development is in progress.
Impumelelo Self Help Centre has been awarded R200 000.00 to build their house in Springs and we commence soon. The land was donated and they have other donors to complete this project.
House Andries Olivier have been awarded R79 000.00 to purchase their bus for transporting quadriplegics. This bus was purchased and has since been stolen. We are busy replacing the vehicle with the insurance claim.
QAEC was awarded R184 000.00 to purchase a Peugeot Boxer vehicle for transporting quadriplegics.
The house in East London which was a Self Help Centre, was sold and the monies returned to QASA account for development.
This failed project from 1999 funding, allowed us to re-think our criteria and ensure better control over project funding.
The house was purchased in 1999 for R360 000.00 and sold this year for R310 000.00.
During the period that the house was not serving as a Self-help Centre, it was let out and the income accrued to the QAEC who funded a community worker to assist quadriplegics in the rural areas of East London.
The Wonderboom Project, being the development of a Community Hall, has been disappointing and there is miscommunication of the facts of the project. This hall will be opening this month and I hope it serves quadriplegics as intended.
Up until now, all funding awarded was entrusted with the regions to use the funds as proposed. This was done to respect the autonomy of regions and allow them the responsibility of managing their own developments.
The Wonderboom project allowed us to re-structure this policy and hopefully recover better control of the use of development funds. This, all in the interests of our member base.
All funding is controlled by the National office within criteria and a protocol designed by Management.
A contract with each project funded for the delivery of the project proposed is drawn up.
QASA WEB SITE
We run an extensive web site that carries a lot of traffic. The site does need updating now and will be done before the end of the year.
http://quad.stormnet.co.za
QASA PROJECTS, SERVICES & PROGRAMMES
SABAT BATTERIES
Sabat continue to supply batteries to members who use power chairs and this is facilitated through the Regional offices. There are many quadriplegics who have benefited from this project which was negotiated by Gauteng south Region. Bob Bell of Sabat must be acknowledged for this valuable contribution.
REGIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING
QASA has funded each region to implement Capacity Building programmes for their membership and Management committees. This 1st year R5400.00 has been allocated
to each region and a report will be submitted by each region on their activity and outcome from this venture.
This purpose is to invest in future Management and allow for future leaders of the Association to be identified and to allow them to be in a position to come into leadership positions.
This programme will assist the "Co-option policy" adopted by QASAS Management.
LOCAL & INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS
I have tried to establish many relationships with allied agencies and organizations to satisfy our Strategic Plan and to share resources with other agencies for the benefit of our members.
I have been successful in establishing strong relationships with the following local groups:
Dis@bility - Employment Agency specialising in placing persons with disabilities.
Phoenix Spinal Rehab - Government Rehab Unit in Durban. I am on their Management Board
Univ.of Durban Westville - OT department where I give lectures on SCI issues.
Road Accident Fund - I give suggestions to policy and ensure fair benefits for SCI.
Chris Burger Petro Jackson Players Fund - We share ideas and partner each other in some fundraisers and PR excersizes.
National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities - We have committed to sharing resources and databases and have a strong partnership with them.
Pick 'n Pay - Our partner in Supercap Day
Y&R - Our partner in Supercap Day
S.A. Spinal Cord Association - We are corporate members and share information and have assisted them in facilitating Seating Workshops.
S.A. Sexual Health Association - We are publishing a manual with their assistance and we partner them in Sexuality presentations & workshops
S.A. Federal Council on Disability - We are a affiliated to them and have representation on Management
APPD (KZN) - I serve as Vice-President of this Association.
DPSA - We partner some initiatives and respond to their call for contributions to policy input.
Wheelchairs KZN - I assist them in managing this project distributing wheelchairs in KZN. I serve on their Executive Board.
Ari Seirlis Wheelchair Fund - A fund I started to purchase and distribute wheelchairs with the assistance of the Kloof Rotary Club (320 purchased to date)
Cheshire Homes S.A. - We supply them with our literature and manuals.
Office of the Status of Disabled Persons - We give input into policy and statements for them.
National CP Association - I am in communication with them.
CREATE - I lecture to their candidates on SCI
Prime Media - We partner them in the magazine Rolling Inspiration
Afrox - We partner them in workshops and supplying info for their Rehab units
Netcare - We partner them in workshops and supplying info for their Rehab units
Workmans Rehab Centre - We partner them in workshops and supplying info for their Rehab units
I have been successful in establishing strong relationships with the following International groups:
SHIA - the agency in Sweden that funds disability sector in Sweden and looks for developing countries to fund.
DHR - A Swedish agency seeing to the needs of physical disability sector
ParaQuad Association - An Australian agency assisting disability sector and running an information bureau for SCI.
Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation - I have a good relationship with Christopher Reeve and his Foundation and to date he has donated $10 000.00 to QASA.
Australian Quadriplegic Association - This Australian agency is similar to QASA and we have regular contact.
All these relationships add value to our goals and we have made valuable input towards their goals too.
I have been invited by Christopher Reeve to visit him again in New York in September this year and to attend his 50th birthday celebration. Management has encouraged me to attend to continue this relationship and I am busy fundraising to make this possible.
I was invited to open the International Medical Society of Paraplegia Bi-Annual Congress in Melbourne and made the trip from 12th - 22nd November 2001.
This was a wonderful experience and a "feather in the cap" of QASA. I spoke on QASA and its projects and services and also on my personal experience as a quadriplegic. I have a video of this presentation.
I was selected to represent QASA by S.A. Federal Council on Disability to spend 2 weeks in Stockholm from15th - 31st March 2002.
This was part of an Exchange Project sponsored by the Swedish Government to research the disability sector in order to gain from their model and to establish relationships which similar Associations as ours. I traveled with Herman Willemse of QASA Management.
I have made a video of this trip.
QASA VIDEOS & LIBRARY
It is important to record and library the activities I perform and the activities of QASA and I have filmed, edited and produced a number of videos which have been shown to QASA members and which are now in the QASA library.
I list the videos I have produced:
QASA - The Association and its activities (15 mins)
QASA - Projects and Development (10 mins) Trip to Christopher Reeve (20 mins)
Shangri-La Self Help Centre (8 mins) Tokologo Self Help Centre (5 mins)
QAEC Regional Visit (10 mins) Aurora (10 mins)
Trip to Sweden (15 mins) Trip to Australia (11 mins)
Road Safety Programme (5 mins) - on site footage and public reaction
I also note the following videos amongst many others that I have in our library:
The Felicia Show
Sexuality Reborn
Ferticare A Mans condition, A couples concern
Just Like You
Life after SCI
Spinal Cord Injury - Patient Information Series Play it Safe, Enjoy the Game
ANNUAL ART EXHIBITION
Our Annual Art Exhibition was held in Pretoria last year for 7 days in September and the opening function coincided with our AGM.
This project allows quadriplegic artists to display their work and is the highlight of our AGM gathering.
The exhibition revolves between regions and we should all enjoy the Exhibition in Bloemfontein from 30th August - 7th September 2002.
The budget for the Exhibition is R20 000.00 and the exhibition is the responsibility of the hosting region.
Opening address by Bennie Pedima (OSDP) at 2001 Art Exhibition 2002 Art Exhibition programme.
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SUPERCAP DAY 2002
Supercap Day was held on 15th March 2002 and once again we had the full support of Pick 'n Pay and the creative input from Y&R. This year, I had the opportunity to go to all the Pick 'n Pay regions and address the managers about the campaign and give them some insight into who QASA was and what we do with the money we raise. Tessa Chamberlain from Pick 'n Pay gave 110% to us and the close knit team of her, Cathy Coyle (Y&R), Riana Greenblo (RG Communications), Cedric Hedgcock and I worked well together and produced a profitable campaign with very few hitches. The PR plan and execution was exceptional and this made a huge difference to the end result. The Western Cape region, supported by enthusiastic input by Suzanne Ackerman (PnP) and Conrad Hoensen (PnP) produced fantastic results and added a new element to the campaign whereby the stores in this region competed fiercely to become the winning store.
The National winning store was Kloof Family Store.
Pick 'n Pay generously introduced R150 000.00 seed capital into the campaign.
SCD 2002 sales were R1 100 000.00 and the net profit approximately R400 000.00.
Considering the campaign made a loss last year, this has been a remarkable
turn around.
There is a full and detailed report on the campaign available from the National office.
SUPERCAP DAY 2003
We have already had a number of meetings to plan for SCD 2003 and the train of thought is the following;
· To invite Dana Reeve out to drive the campaign in the final week.
· To try and have a telethon combined with the badge sales.
· To try for the spotlight of the campaign to be on women, from women.
The same campaign team is working towards presenting the concept to PnP and QASA before the end of the year to get the mandate to proceed.
QASA PUBLICATIONS
In the course of the last year we have published a number of manuals and booklets and have distributed these to all our regions, many hospitals, health professionals and through government agencies.
I list our publications and some detail on their inception and construction:
SPINAL CORD INJURY
"A Guide for Understanding Spinal Cord Injury and Healthy
Living" This manual (110 pgs) was produced in the National office and 5600 have been distributed in English and 400 in Zulu. The printing was done in partnership with the Department of Health (KZN) and National Department of Health.
SEXUALITY & SPINAL CORD INJURY
This manual (95 pgs) was a reproduction of some documents where we added some input, printed and bound 250 for distribution.
SEXUALITY AND SEXUAL OPTIONS AFTER SCI
This booklet was a partnership between SA Sexual Health Association and QASA and is a 10 page practical guide distributed on demand to members and Health Professionals. Approximately 100 have been distributed so far.
QUAD NEWS -2 editions
We produced and distributed 2 editions of Quad News from the National Office which constituted about 4000 copies.
ROLLING INSPIRATION -1 edition
This new venture has seen 5000 copies going to our regions, individuals and our partners.
These publications are available from the National office.
ROLLING INSPIRATION / QUADNEWS
The 62nd edition of QuadNews was published out of the National office and this is the last issue.
We have gone into a partnership with Prime Media and published the 1st issue of "Rolling
Inspiration". This was born as a result of an idea by the now managing Editor Peter Buteaux and QASA has incorporated QuadNews into this magazine.
The magazine is pitched as a "lifestyle magazine for persons with mobility impairments" and the 1st issue of 5000 was distributed free, the issues thereafter are distributed by subscription.
QASA members get the issues (4 per year) @ R44.00 per annum.
I represent QASA on the Editing Board for the magazine.
This new magazine takes QASA to a new level of exposure and allows us to include content to all with mobility impairments.
It is a wonderful new product but will only survive with subscribers and advertisers.
Member input into the magazine is also vital and assists me in ensuring the magazine carries the content the readers' want.
SPORT FUND
This project has proved popular and is in place to encourage and assist quadriplegics to participate in Sport. There are set criteria to qualify for this funding. The budget for this year is R20 000.00
EDUCATION FUND
This is our most popular and successful projects and we have empowered many quadriplegics over the years with education and thereafter hopefully, employment. This project has attracted support from corporate donors.
The budget for this year is R70 000.00.
The recipients of this project in the last year were:
YEAR NAME REGION
COURSE DURATION COST
2001 DEON VILJOEN - FS IT 1 YEAR 5000.00
2001 EUGENE VILJOEN - GN ACCESS 2000, VISUAL BASIC 1 YEAR 10000.00
2001 JOHANN PFUHL - WC ACCESS, TAX 1 YEAR 5505.00
2001 LIZELLE VAN DER VYVER - EC B.Psych 2nd YEAR 10300.00
2001 MZWANDILE SIBIYA - GS Grade 12 (Intec College) 1 YEAR 2990.00
2001 WENTZEL BARNARD - WC 1 YEAR 5175.00
2001 PAULINA MOFOKENG - GS 1 YEAR 6000.00
2001 BERTUS SWANEPOEL - EC 3rd YEAR ART (PE TECHNIKON) 1 YEAR 5330.00
2002 LONDA LOVU - GS QUANTITY SURVEYING 1 YEAR 4670.00
2002 GERALD SMIT - WC MBA (Bond University) 1 YEAR 5000.00
PREVENTION PROGRAMME
One of the goals in our Strategic plan is to implement Prevention programmes and to this effect, I designed a project and presented it to the Minister of Transport, Mr.Dullah Omar in April this year.
We offered the Department of Transport and Arrive Alive a Road Safety programme whereby, during the holiday season, we employed quadriplegics to man popular garages on national roads and handed out cards with road safety messages.
The slogan for the campaign is "we don't want new members" and we used banners and jumping castles to attract attention and gained the valuable PR from this excersize.
Our aims with this project are to:
· Empower quadriplegics by offering employment through this programme
· Reduce the number of Road Accidents on S.A. roads and therefore reducing SCI.
· Partnering Government programmes to establish a relationship with Government
The programme was active during these July holiday and many quadriplegics were employed to roll out this pilot project. We were active on 3 sites (Bloemfontein, Pretoria & Van Reenan).
It was very successful with 4700 cards being handed out and there was very positive feedback from the public.
The Minister was thrilled with the project and the impact it had and we will continue this programme in the December holidays and on Easter Weekend.
This pilot programme cost QASA R32 000.00 and we are hoping that the Department of Transport will make a bigger commitment financially to this programme.
This programme has been nominated for an award by the motoring organization CARS.
We are planning to partner Moira Winslow of Drive Alive in giving talks at schools about the implications of SCI and about Road Safety.
We will be adopting a single message "Buckle Up" so as to be recognized by this message.
I must mention our gratitude to Moira Winslow for encouraging us and advising us in the project.
AURORA HOSPITAL
Three years ago, we found perfect premises and started Aurora Hospital in Port Elizabeth, specializing in Rehabilitation and we knew it would be a long road to be able to compete with other health service delivery companies in the same field.
Today, we can boast part ownership in one of the best Rehab Hospitals in S.A. and this has come from commitment from the Board of Directors, Administrator and staff of Aurora.
This 35 bed unit in now turning over in excess of R10 million per annum.
We have not had a return on our investment yet, but I am confident that we are not far off being able to draw an income from this investment.
The Hospital has developed a good reputation and is supported by most of the health professionals in the Eastern Cape through referrals.
I attended the following meetings at Aurora during the reported period:
30th September 2001 - Aurora Directors meeting
26th November - Aurora Directors meeting
11th February - Aurora Directors meeting
6th March - Aurora Directors meeting
27th May - Aurora Directors meeting
1st July - Visit to OT department and wards
The Aurora AGM is on the 9th September 2002 and I will be attending this.
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NATIONAL DIRECTOR CLOSING REMARKS:
This year has been challenging, interesting and rewarding.
The Prevention Programme was fantastic and will continue, and the birth of Rolling Inspiration was a highlight.
Our Education Fund has grown and we are seeing the rewards, with quadriplegics securing employment from this investment of ours.
Supercap Day has turned around and was a success and we have secured valuable relationships with International partners.
I have seen this Association grow and it is clearly one of the most efficient and industrious of all agencies serving persons with disabilities.
I do have a few fears and certainly mention that I feel we are very thin within our membership when it comes to potential future Management and leaders. This must be taken seriously and we must focus on capacity building to identify potential leaders and encourage them to grow within their regions' to a level whereby they can serve at National level.
Ending on a positive note, it has been a tiring year for me, with an enormous amount of work to get through and that involved a lot of travel, but one filled with a lot of fun and successes.
Thank you for allowing me to express my passion by - Rolling out Vision & Success for quadriplegics in South Africa
Ari Seirlis
National Director |
