Coming Home Organisation (CHO), hosted its 3rd annual wellness day event at the Newlands East library. This years theme was to encourage the audience to start up garden in their backyards. The green industry theme was well articulated by guest speaker Carina Roos from MayFord seeds who shared her journey of having had multiple accidents which left her not being able to walk. She shared her story of how she learned to walk again through help of physio therapy and commitment from her side.
“I never thought I would ever walk again because of the state I was in, it has been a rough journey but I was so determined to walk again, I kept pushing day in day out. Of course some days are better than others and sometimes I would feel discouraged and wanting to give up but I started watching other peoples stories who went through similar situations and I was motivated by so many success stories and I told myself I too can do this” says Carina Roos.
Roos also shared how she fell in love with gardening and planting after she survived the 3 accidents. During the event she shared tips of taking care of your plants and how gardening can help to keep you occupied to fight depression and mental issues. She gifted all the attendees seeds and plants to start up their own gardening in the homes (sponsorship form MayFord Seeds).
According to Khanyi Mdluli, CHO’s project manager this year’s event had a big turn up and impacted people directly because most of the attendees were stroke survivors, chronic illness sufferers and depressed or battling with mental health who has given up or are in the verge of giving up on their lives.
“you could tell by the excitements on their faces when they were watching Carinas video stories of how she was able to get back on her feet by dedication and commitment and of course with the help of health practitioners. This really brought hope to them and they were excited to go back home and start their own garden.” Elaborates Mdluli.
Amongst many other things on the wellness day the Heart and Stroke Foundation was also present to do full screening of the attendees and educating them on the importance of checking and knowing their numbers. Occupational therapist Niki Singh was also a guest speaker on the event, she also shared some basic exercises that one can do at home.
Coming Home Organisation is a registered NPO with Registration number 224-208 our short term goal is to provide a comprehensive wholeness centre by providing a customized home based care service to patients affected by chronic illnesses whilst working in collaboration with other organizations to provide support, promote healthy lifestyles and educate the broader public on prevention and treatment of chronic illnesses.
