Stephen Rabin a volunteer gave a short talk to the members about the Jewish Festival of Passover. He explained that it occurs around the same time as the Easter festival each year. The talk explained that the festival was to commemorate the departure by the Israelites from Egypt as told in the Old Testament of the Bible.
The festival which lasts 8 days is marked, on the evening before the first day, by a religious service at home called a Seder which in Hebrew means Order. All Jews around the world would conduct the service in the same way, hence Order, and the service would conclude with a meal. It was also explained that during the 8 day festival Jews are not permitted to eat food where yeast has been allowed to rise.
During the talk a Seder Plate was shown which is usually used during the service. It is often decorated with motifs where the 6 items used during the the Seder service are placed.
The festival ends on the evening of the eighth day when it is again permitted to start to eat leavened items such as bread.
Everyone enjoyed dancing to James Le Bec musical entertainment and celebrated Marina and Andreas 55 years wedding anniversary. Session followed with activities as usual - Table tennis, darts and golf and singing
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Today's session started with a short talk and introduction of our volunteers from the Japan Society, Mrs Kyoko Delaforce, Mrs Hisako Fukushige, Mrs Naomi Ishikawa, Mrs Hiroko Tanaka, Mr Shigeo Tanaka and Mrs Naoko Heckle of the Society. Our special guest, Mr Michael Hodge, incoming Rotary District Governor of London was welcomed and he expressed his pleasure to be with us.
This was followed by rajio taiso, (radio exercise ) a mild warm-up exercise which improves circulation and flexibility, energises and improves overall health. Members joined the volunteers from the Japan Society, London in the exercise.
Next was the demonstration of origami, the Japanese art of folding paper into decorative shapes and this art has been found to stimulate the brain, improves cognitive skills and has overall therapeutic benefits. Again, members were engaged and produced helmets which they placed on their heads in excitement.
A presentation on Japanese lifestyle and culture was made by Mrs Delaforce and then members were dressed in Kimonos, the Japanese cultural attire. This part of the session was followed by exercises, singing and dancing as usual.
Many thanks to Annette for organising today and thank you to our volunteers Tija, Theresa and our new volunteer Darica who is doing a medical degree and of course appreciation to Ms Hiroko Kimura, Head of Education Department, the Japan Society for coordinating the volunteers and Abi Ajoni for helping with the equipment and power point presentation.
The Time Series of Newspapers did an article on the Japanese day, click on the image below to read.
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Today was an arts and crafts session.
I showed members how to make flowers out of pink tissue paper and I also showed them how to make a boat out of paper. All members enjoyed making these and using colours to paint their boats.
The members were then asked to talk about a happy/sad or interesting event from their past. We heard some interesting stories.
The session then followed with exercise to music. As a change I played some reggae music which was really enjoyed. We did our usual singing/dancing which then followed by activities. I introduced a new game today - bowls which members enjoyed in addition to the table tennis and golf putting.
The session finished with a couple of jokes.
Thank you to Theresa our volunteer for helping today.
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Lisa attended a Virtual Dementia Tour training on a bus which was parked at Barnet House in Whetstone. The virtual tour lasted for 10 minutes and then this was followed by a talk from the trainer explaining how the delegates reacted in the virtual tour. Lisa believes this training is very worth while especially for carers in care homes.
It gives people the experience of what it might be like to have dementia. For the virtual tour Lisa was fitted with big gloves to take away the sense of touch and dark glasses ti simulate macula degeneration. Lisa was also asked to put prickly insoles in her shoes which made it very uncomfortable to walk but simulated how a person with dementia feels when they walk. This is why some dementia sufferers walk with no shoes on and shuffle when they walk because they find it so painful they want to sit down.
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Lisa was invited by the Rotary Club of Redbridge to Speak about Dementia and how Dementia Club UK helps sufferers and their carers. This was held at at Luigi's Restaurant in Gants Hill.
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