Vrygrond seniors take time out

Mymoena Scholtz, founder of Where Rainbows Meet, Vrygrond

It is with much appreciation that I am sending this letter.

On November 15 we took our seniors on their excursion to Table Mountain.

We did not know what to expect because some of them are not well, and have their own chronic medical problems.

We believe some seniors had waited from 8am at our offices and got on the bus immediately, without any delay. We waited for some other seniors to arrive and left Rainbows after 9am. As we drove down the road, we saw two more seniors walking very slowly towards our offices and we turned towards them and picked them up.

When they were asked why they were so late, the one responded that nobody had reminded them about the trip and they had forgotten. We quickly settled them in and off we went.

We arrived at Table Mountain at 10am, and waited for half an hour, in the blazing heat. We spoke to the manager and they quickly assisted us, taking us in different groups. When we got to the cable car, we could see the excitement as well as fear on the faces of some of the senior citizens.

Some had a fear of heights and some had heard stories about the cable car. But once on the mountain, it was an amazing feeling for the seniors, as their dreams had finally come true.

We heard all their stories; how they had dreamed about Table Mountain but never imagined experiencing it for themselves. We had to take very good care of them, making sure nobody got hurt.

Some paced slowly around with the help of their walking sticks. Others did not want to walk around and just enjoyed the view.

They excitedly shouted, “Thank you Rainbows! God Bless”.

It was awesome to see the smiles and joy. After a while we came down with the cable car and I noticed some of them clinging to each other. I saw the tears rolling down one senior’s cheek. She was so scared but did not want to miss out due to her long-held dream of going up the mountain, and now her dream has been realised.

We got back on the bus and off to Hout Bay we went. The seniors were amazed by the
beauty of the view. They got off the bus by the harbour and enjoyed watching some seals nearby, some sat on the rocks and just watched and had a lovely chat with others. Some shared their life history. Again seniors cried, but this time it was tears of joy, they prayed and thanked the foundation for making their dreams come true. The lunch we ordered was enjoyable and we had to eat it on the bus, because we ran out of time.

The feelings of the seniors were that of appreciation.
They thanked the foundation for looking out for them, because they still want to interact with each other. The day was long
and tiring for all our caregivers as well as our seniors but it was a worthy cause for our seniors. We could not have done this without your support. We thank you on behalf of our seniors for sponsoring the event with your hearts and souls and we want you to know that it was truly appreciated by our seniors.