Healing Wings South Africa

Youth Centre Boeresport!

Webmaster — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 07:10:53 +0000

Last week Friday, on the 10^th of July we were all divided into four different teams each represented by their own name, colour and war cry. The four different teams being Thy Saint blues representing blue, RAW representing yellow, Flame United representing red and team Kryptonite representing green. Each team got given an egg that had to be named and decorated in which I personally had a lot of fun doing. We all had time to make a banner for our team and to come up with a war cry. Some of the war cries were very interesting to say the least.

Before we started with the events, each team had to present their war cries. The first event that they had planned for us was the tug of war. The yellow team took the win with ease and started the game off in first place. There was a lot of team spirit going on. People were chanting their team name, singing songs and encouraging each other whilst they did the events.

For the second event the teams had to line up and each person took a turn to run to the other side of the field and get an apple out of a bucket filled with water with their mouths and then run back. They then filled bowls with flour and with our wet faces we had to search for a Smartie in the bowl leaving our faces covered in flour. You could say that it left most of us looking rather odd. The green team won this putting them in second place.

The third event was the egg and spoon race which was won by the red team. After the event everyone started throwing the eggs at each other and smashed them over each other’s heads which was entertaining to watch. I luckily escaped the egg riot.

The fourth event was the three legged race in which two members of the team had to tie their right or left legs together and race to the other side against the opposing teams. The green team won this event putting them right at the top

The fifth event was the egg toss in which team members had to toss an egg to each other and with every toss take a step further away from each other. Eventually we got so far away from each other that the eggs were breaking in our hands as we caught them. The yellow team won this event.

The sixth event involved us putting a balloon in-between our legs and walking awkwardly to the other side of the field. Only 1 team managed to get the balloon there and back and that was the yellow team. The blue team got so far and would have won but unfortunately the balloon slipped.

The seventh event was the wheelbarrow race and it was won by the yellow team.

The eighth event involved getting your team across the field which was said to contain crocodiles with only a tire, two bricks and a wooden pole. The green team won this event with clever thinking.

The ninth event involved using a spray bottle to keep a balloon in the air and getting the balloon across the room and into the bucket. The yellow team won this event.

The tenth event involved blowing a ping pong ball from one cup of water to the next cup until you reach the last cup. The blue team won this event making it their first win.

The last event was to see who could juggle three water balloons but during the event we were told to start throwing the balloons at each other. I didn’t get hit but I can’t say the same for the other guy that tried to get me. J

With teamwork and all around spirit and determination the green team won the boere sport event.

Liam Lewis.

HWSA Youth Centre Resident.

What really underlies addiction?

Webmaster — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 06:50:24 +0000

Addiction is an incomplete cycle! Hence individuals have the opportunity to make use of something to fight the emptiness they will be experiencing. As such, we see that there are different kinds of addictions besides smoking and drinking, which we are most familiar with. Human beings according to social psychologists are described as social creatures, hence, they have a need to belong and to bond. Human beings have a deep need to form connections, it’s how we feel content, understand who we are and feel we have a purpose in life. If we cannot connect with each other, we will connect with anything we can find in our own environments. We live in a society where adapting and surviving have become essential. We can also see that lack of love and affection within our environments forces individuals to seek that love elsewhere. People can fall in love with anything at their disposal to feel gratified. Surprisingly, someone can fall in love with cutting their body. Addiction can also be defined by a concept known as the “Mere exposure effect”. What have you been exposed to…? What meaning do you derive or attach to the things you were exposed to? Growing up in an environment where all your family members are alcoholics! What meaning do you attach to alcohol? What will be your actions thereafter? Growing up in an environment where all your siblings are gamblers and they all praise gambling. How are you going to define gambling? Positively or negatively? What psychological structures would have been created by the mere fact that you were exposed to such activities? Now, the question that always remains is “What really defines addiction and what the underlying factors are? One writer mentioned… “Our cage primarily determines how our life will be likely to unfold”. Addiction is an adaptation. It’s not an individual, but their cage. Thus the emphasis on the environment in which someone grows up. What meaning do you give to the things around you? It all boils down to the need to belong and to form attachments, fuelling the fixation that an individual develops on a substance or behaviour. The emphasis therefore, is to create and promote a culture where those struggling with substance abuse or behavioural issues can reconnect with the world through relationships, because it has become clear that the lack of human connection is one of the most significant precursors thereto.

Tawanda Mutyoza.

Healing Wings South Africa.

Youth Centre Go Carting June 2015

Webmaster — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 06:42:36 +0000

On Monday, a group of people including myself were told that on Friday we would be going on an outing. Here at the Youth Centre these types of trips are called incentive trips, the people that go are people that have been pushing into the programme and doing their best. We were going to go Go-Carting, myself and 5 others where the chosen racers.

On that Friday, the sun was bright, no clouds to be seen. It seemed as if were destiny, choosing this perfect day. When we got to Riverside Mall, which racer goes into a race with an empty stomach? Not these ones, the dispute began on whether to feast at Debonairs, KFC or Steers.

We had finally filled our stomach’s, which meant that the racing was next.

Finally, we got to the racing track. Our leaders sorted out the costs, while the rest of us admired the beauty of the track. We were split into two groups, unfortunately I was put with two experienced racers, and the other group consisted of the power house himself Craig (HWSA Staff Member), the Kenyan cowboy, The Beast and The Drift King. My group consisted of me The Crash Dummy, The Portuguese Stallion and Justin Silent Ninja that looked like Jesus just a bit shorter and with skinny jeans. Those were the teams. Long story short, I wasn’t the best driver but if it was a crashing contest I would have been victorious.

Bafana Mampuru.

HWSA Youth Centre Resident.

Testimony: Rob Hall June 2015

Webmaster — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 10:56:05 +0000

Dear Jeanine and Healing Wings,

It has been some time since I last wrote and checked in and I hope that you, Giles and all the wonderful staff at HW are well. I see from the Eagle that you are expecting your second child, what wonderful news and what an exceptional blessing – congratulations to you both.

A week ago was my sixth anniversary of sobriety – I can hardly believe it has been six years since I arrived in Mozambique and began the remarkable journey to God and healing, and just over five years since I left. As always, HW is never very far from my thoughts or prayers, and I continue to believe that my time spent there was the most special, amazing and blessed of my entire life. I often look at the website, read all the letters and pour over the pictures so as to momentarily move myself as close to you all as I possibly can. Everyday there are things that remind me of my time there, walking through London (where I now live) in winter and the smell of a wood fire drifting on the air instantly takes me back to early morning coffee around the fire, behind the church on the Moz farm, before official wake up time…such special memories that are forever imprinted on my soul. Listening to the wonderful, uplifting music of Hillsong whilst cooking in the kitchen in Nelspruit is a weekly memory as I attend Hillsong Church in London – an introduction I am eternally grateful for. There are so many things that I miss, but am deeply thankful that I was able to experience whilst in the care of HW.

Life post HW continues to progress and new heights in personal and professional development achieved. It has been almost two years since I immigrated to the UK and I am firmly settled into life here. It has been wonderful being able to travel to a large number of beautiful European cities that I had formally visited purely to party, where I can now truly appreciate the beauty within their architecture, their galleries and their churches and Cathedrals. It has been exciting searching for my first little home in London (finally in the process of purchasing), my own small piece of England and, it has been a stunning challenge developing a career – I am now account Director for a global company with offices in Europe, North America and Australasia.

Suffice to say, none of this would ever have been possible without HW, the various counsellors who helped shape my journey, and an ever faithful, truly loving God who waited so many patient years for me. I have stopped marvelling at the gift of my sobriety, and have instead begun to immerse in the blessing. Each year that passes makes me less complacent and more grateful, more filled with love for all at HW and for a Father that never leaves my side and delivers on every promise of life and joy and health.

As always I wish my best to all of your current residents, and a prayer that each one of them may appreciate the gift that they are being offered in time spent in your care. I sincerely hope that they appreciate the opportunity and implore them to not squander the chance they have – recovery is possible, life is within reach and I am a testament to this.

May I end with my now sixth heartfelt thanks to all of you for this remarkable life I continue to live.

Fondest Regards
Rob