Centurion Hospice hosts ‘Death Café’

The idea behind the event was to raise awareness on topics people would rather avoid.

A departed loved one came in third place.

A hospice in Centurion recently held an unorthodox cake baking competition.

The theme of the competition? Death.

The Centurion Hospice in Lyttelton held its first-ever “Death Café”, together with the baking competition over the weekend, Centurion Rekord reports.

The idea behind the event was to raise awareness on topics people would rather avoid, the hospice’s general manager Annette Reed told Centurion Rekord.

These topics included “courageous conversations” and “I thought I’d have more time”.

“Death Cafe is a place where people can speculate about the mystery and meaning of life,” said Reed.

“They could discuss death comfortably and openly.”

Two counselling psychologists, Hannetjie Edeling and Aderyn Exley, were invited as speakers to share their insights.

“What if dealing with the death of a loved one is not a traumatic experience?” they wanted to know.

Related topics discussed included medical decisions such as DNR (do not resuscitate), proxies and end-of-life care.

“The most difficult thing is honour a DNR,” said Exley.

“A sound healthcare directive should be drawn up, containing the details of the person who would exercise your rights on your behalf, giving that person power of attorney.”

There were more than 12 entries received for the cake baking competition.

Susan Marais won first prize for her cake baked in the form of a bible.

Wynand Strydom won second prize for his double-layered cake, topped with the grim reaper.

Nthabiseng from Soshanguve won third prize for her cake, resembling the death of a loved one.

Reed said these events were the first of many to come.

She said the Centurion Hospice experienced a great deal of support by members of the community, but “more awareness should be created around death”.

Here are some pictures of the event:

: The judges for the cake competition announced the winners. From the left are: Ward Councillor Ina Strijdom, Riva Schoeman, Mornez Du-Rann and Sonja Smith who serves on the Board of Governors of the Centurion Hospice.