The CATHCA GAUTENG PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE – 2019
The CATHCA Gauteng Provincial Conference was held from Friday 29 – Sunday 31 March at the Good Shepherd Retreat Centre, Meerhof, &Hartebeestpoort.
Set in the tranquil, mountainous surroundings overlooking the Hartebeestpoort Dam at Meerhof, Good Shepherd was a perfect venue for a peaceful and meaningful weekend, in which CATHCA staff and Members came together to meet other care workers and share their experiences and challenges.
The overwhelming opinion from the organizations was that it was a great success and that everyone gained significantly from the networking experience and information sharing!!! Delegates included 55 Members from 22 Organisations from all over Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North West, as well as 2 CATHCA Board Members and 8 staff.
The organizations were:
| Afra Community Development | Mountainview Health Care Centre |
| Asiphilenikhahle HBC | Nazareth House, Jhb |
| Bushbuckridge HBC | Nazareth House, Pta |
| Fr Michael D’Annucci Centre | Phumula Old Age Home |
| Holy Cross Home | Pta Archdiocese Catholic Health |
| Inkanyezi HIV/AIDS Org | Pta Archdiocese Health & Wellness |
| Lehlohonolo Community Welfare | Shalom Old Age Centre |
| Lindanisizwe HBC | Siphesihle HBC |
| Lufuno HBC | St Anthony’s Clinic |
| Mercy Clinic, Kopano Lerato | TLC Childrens’ Home |
| Mofumahadi Wa Tshepo | Vezokuhle Multipurpose |
The Delegates
Guest speakers gave us a wealth of information on various topics, all of which the Delegates found most interesting and pertinent, and which they felt can be applied to their own situations as Caregivers in their own organizations.
Some feedback from the Delegates
“The conference was informative and we are going to implement it in the organization.”
“Everything was well organized, keep up the good work and thank you”
“The programme was very good for us all and useful”
“I am going to use the knowledge I got from the conference. As community workers we need more education in different things.”
“The conference was very powerful and we still need more training”
The Topics were:
Key Issues Affecting Children -Ms Sinah Moruane, UNICEF SA
Child Rights -Ms Boitumelo Nkomo, Kopano Lerato OVC
Issues Affecting Children -Ms Pippa Jarvis, TLC Childrens’ Home
Key Issues Affecting the Elderly -Mrs Albina Kekana, CATHCA Board
Issues Affecting the Elderly -Fr Paul Tatu, SACBC
Care for the Care Giver -Panel: Ms Bonakele Khamnule – Lufuno Home Based Care
Ms Neo Pule – Lehlohonolo, and
Ms Sethu Sando – Shalom Old Age Centre
Chaired by Mr Bongi Mthembu, CATHCA
Focus-SA – Mr Thomas Joseph, CATHCA
Ms Sinah Moruane, UNICEF Panel Discussion
A special “Thank You!” to all of our Guest Speakers who travelled some distance to be with us – to share their expertise and a wealth of information on various topics, all of which the Delegates found very interesting and pertinent, and which they believe can be applied to their own situations as Caregivers, as well as within their own organizations.
From evaluation forms submitted by the Members at the end of the conference, the majority stated that the most inspiring presentation was by Ms Pippa Jarvis, from the TLC Childrens’ Home on “Issues Affecting Children”. Her stories of how they take care of the orphans touched many people deeply.
Also very popular was Mrs Kekana, a CATHCA Board Member, who spoke on issues which affect the elderly.
The panel of three Members spoke of challenges facing the care workers themselves, focussing on the need for Caregivers to take care of themselves in order that they may continue to take care of others. They elicited a spirited response from the audience, many of whom also shared their own views.
All of the presentations were excellent, perfectly summed up in the comment:
“ The conference was very powerful, thank you very much for your passion in your work. May God help you to further assist those people in need?”
