Residents of Ridgeview Retirement Village, joined by seniors from Eddy House, spent the day outdoors watching a spectacular Mardi Gras performance.
A colourful parade, with fire dancing, consummate juggling and a balloon artist on stilts, took place against a backdrop of vibrant, upbeat music creating a festive ambience.
For more than five decades, Methodist Homes has been providing compassionate care and comfortable accommodation to the elderly. About 2 000 residents are accommodated at the NPO’s 14 retirement villages, 12 in Gauteng and two in the Northern Province.
Methodist Homes closely follows the Eden Alternative Philosophy where care of the human spirit is regarded as equally important to care of the human body. Alongside their physical well-being, Methodist Homes management and staff focus on nurturing the mental well-being of all their residents and what better way to do this than to give them a Mardi Gras.
Methodist Homes is taking the Mardi Gras to all its seniors, both living independently and those in the care centres. The Mardi Gras kicked off in early September at the retirement villages on Johannesburg’s West Rand, followed by Klerksdorp and Potchefstroom in the North West province, Pretoria and then the East Rand.
No Mardi Gras is complete without a photo booth to capture those special moments and a piñata where residents took turns to attempt to spill its sweet contents. The home provided the seniors with arts and crafts to create their own vibrant masks and a large heart-shaped balloon was awarded to the resident whose mask was voted as the most colourful.
In true Mardi Gras-style, the residents tucked into a delicious lunch of mini pizzas, hotdogs, hamburgers, and scrumptious sweet treats.
Management and staff all agree their biggest reward was seeing the smiles on their residents’ faces.
