Sladen Place News

Elaine – “Claire said one morning at a Formation session, that in L’Arche we have to live some flexibility.  I feel that at the moment our house is constantly having to be flexible and live in a torrent of change.  With Annie moving from out team, we have welcomed Mary-Rose as our new permanent live-out assistant.  Kerry was part of the interview panel.  Kerry provided a most interesting interview question, “What do you think people with a disability can teach you?”, something that maybe all of us should ponder!!!  Mary-Rose had to learn a lot very quickly and is now helping out at Gledden Street whilst Viola is back at Sladen.”

Kerry – “Viola is back in this house (worse luck!! (ha! ha!) – I’m happy about that. I had a happy day going out with Liz and Viola to the Curtin shops. I have been sick and had a couple of falls, that’s true – it scared me.”

Liz – “I have seen different DVDs and I am looking forward to go to Sydney soon to see my brother and his family. I went to ‘Christmas in July’ and had a lovely time with my friends there. I’m still enjoying dancing and movement on Wednesdays.”

Trish – “The Sydney community need our prayers, so I want to paint them a card. I went to my sister’s for dinner and afterwards we watched a movie about the moon landing. My nephew was there and it was nice to catch up with him.”

Viola – “After nearly six months at Gledden Street, I moved back to where I started at Sladen Place. On one hand I miss the Gledden Street guys but on the other hand I am happy to be back at Sladen Place for my last couple of weeks before I fly back to Germany. I am looking forward to seeing my parents and my sister who are all coming to visit me here in Australia. I hope we will have a lovely time here!!”

Almaz – “I am very well physically, but I have something bothering me about my home stay. My host family for my days away is in Bonython, but I find it very hard to catch a bus on weekends to go to the Coptic Orthodox Church at Kaleen. I have been staying with an Ethiopian friend in Curtin, but she has to return to Ethiopia soon. I am praying that I may find a place to stay around in Woden.
The other morning I was woken by one of our core members at 1am. Although the core member was able to go back to sleep, I couldn’t go back to sleep because I was thinking about different things. I especially remember the time I spent with my grandparents in the countryside and how wonderful that time was. But suddenly I realised I couldn’t remember my grandmother’s actual name. I do remember that we used to call her “Endinde” which is ‘Nana’ in my Kaffa language. Other people used to call her tribal name, which is a very common name in my country!! Unfortunately I couldn’t remember Grandma’s name and soon it was time to get up. My grandma died when I was very little, and although I remember what she looked like, I still can’t remember her name. Poor grandma!!!!”

Kerry, Liz, Trish, Almaz, Karen, Annie & Elaine

Gledden Street News

Greetings from all at Gledden St

July has been a fairly difficult month for us. As far as events go, it has been fairly quiet for core members. Dan, Keith and Catharine have visited their families for a weekend. Gledden St. hosted a farewell dinner for Vin which was a great celebration.

Unfortunately Viola needed to return to Sladen Place and so we don’t have a live-in assistant until mid September. Mary-Rose began full-time with us a week ago but finishes this week as she will be working in a refuge in Queanbeyan. All of this means a lot of change for core members and a heavy reliance on our casual assistants. Hopefully they will all stay well during this flu season.

We are pleased to have Hannah back after her one month’s holiday visiting family in Darwin and England. Catherine, thankfully, has also returned after spending time with her family in Victoria following her Mum’s heart operation. Jess has been to Melbourne to a “PINK” concert and Stephen to Melbourne to go gliding with his brother.

We would like to thank Viola for all the blessings she brought us during her time at Gledden St. We really miss her. We would also like to thank Mary-Rose for filling the gap and wish her well at her new job.

Kaylene, Danny, Keith, Catharine, Marianne, Stephen & Viola

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News from Anne

Ron, Elsa and I went out for lunch at Debby’s and Sam’s place on their farm and enjoyed lunch and saw a movie. It was good. And my Basketball is going well and I am enjoying it. My sister Patricia is back from overseas from the Falklands. She had two year’s good experience there. It’s good to have her back. That’s all the news.

Anne

News from Louise

“I went to the Disability Sports Expo at Fadden on July 29 with Annie and enjoyed playing table tennis, basketball and bocce. I saw my friend there, Mark. That was nice. The woman at table tennis said I was “a natural”. We had a good rally with 10 hits in a row. I really enjoyed playing bocce and am looking forward to joining a group on Saturday afternoons at the Yamba Club. I liked that.

I am also joining a gym program at the Chifley TMCA on Tuesdays. It’s called WAM - Well, Able and Mobile for women.

It’s been nice to see more of Kate upstairs, and to meet Gerard – he’s nice – and Catherine Carah too. And it was lovely to see John O’Connor the other day, back from overseas. He’s good and happy.”

Louise xx