“Stand still and listen so that you may understand, not just with your head, but also with your heart.”
According to Daisy Groenewald, herein lies the secret to support the residents at Sunfield Home. Include scoops of love and patience and you have a winning recipe!
Her road to Sunfield Home
Daisy Groenewald, Manager at Huis Liebenberg at Sunfield Home, was born and raised in the Paarl and completed her high school education between Paarl Gymnasium and Laborie.
Her work experience is diverse and includes working with figures to charity work. Immediately after school she became an assistant bookkeeper and then joined Metropolitan in their accounts department for nine years. After her children were born she moved to Wellington, where she worked as Statistical and later Purchasing and Development Manager of Douglas Green.
She was also involved with various schools where she evaluated learners and presented courses through her franchise, SA Memory Institute.
Daisy has spent a lot of time with the less fortunate and have supported various children’s homes and retirement homes where she distributed books and gifts made possible by the generosity of donors.
She heard about Sunfield Home through family and also attended our Easter concerts in the past. She was deeply touched by this.
Initially, Daisy was appointed as Workshop Manager and presented various programmes to the residents. Later she was promoted to Services Manager and since February 2021 she is now the Manager for Huis Liebenberg, a dream come true.
The role of creativity in the life of a resident
Daisy explains that creativity improves the communication and social skills of the residents. Through the necessary stimulation their aggression levels are lowered and any personality disorders are managed better. Teaching them to work, help the residents to look forward to a productive day, which in turn leads to positive interaction between them and the staff.
Furthermore, through creative workshops they are taught self-help skills in order to carry out household chores on their own. The ultimate goal is for the residents to function semi-independently, with the necessary support, so that they can keep their dignity.
Highlights
Casual Day at Sunfield Home has always been a highlight for her as the residents can always be trusted to deliver excitement when they are allowed to go on an outing. Upon their return, everyone will speak simultaneously about how much they enjoyed it and the cooldrinks and sweet treats they received.
Sunfield Home also showcases a Valentine’s Day dance for its residents. The exhilaration about their dresses, makeup and hair is evident as the partners enter the hall hand in hand to dance to Kurt Darren’s “Kaptein, span die seile” and “Jessica”.
All of these special moments deliver an extraordinary emotional experience and she is thankful towards the carers for always helping to make the residents feel so special.
On a personal note her highlights include becoming a grandmother, which allowed her to view the world through the eyes of her grandchildren.
Daisy is a very passionate person, an endearing listener and available to help and advise when you need her. She really goes the extra mile.
The world of an intellectually disabled person
Daisy believes that you can only truly understand the heart and soul of an intellectually disabled person when you enter their world. That is why it is so important to stop and listen to what they want to share with you.
These special people have rights like any other person. Every individual has their own identity and needs to be treated with respect.
The most important lesson that Sunfield Home has taught her is that it is always the small things in life that matter most. The way in which the residents support each other when they are sad also reminds us of how much we have to be thankful for. Daisy always wanted to become a social worker and during these moments she receives validation that her work at Sunfield Home is her true calling.
She invites the public to become involved at Sunfield Home as a volunteer and to experience the love that these residents exuberate. Large businesses, that make use of contractual workers, can also contact Sunfield Home since our residents have assisted in many large projects, especially where manual labour is involved.
Daisy reminds us that we always have something to be thankful for, that we need to sprinkle kindness everywhere we go and that the small gestures in life make it more meaningful.
Daisy’s favourites:
Drink: Coffee
Holiday: Beach
Books: Sabbatsreis, Thula Thula – Annelie Botes