Residents celebrate greek New Year with MODA
MODA merged with Rand Aid Association in 2016, and all the residents are now based in two modern and spacious wings at the Thembalami Care Centre in Lombardy East.
Vis Naidoo from Bedfordview and friend Nina Stylianou of Greenstone visited Max Ordman Deaf Association (MODA) on January 4 to celebrate a special Greek New Year’s tradition with the residents.
Vis and his wife, Mona, have been visiting the residents at MODA since 2016, when MODA was still based at the Colonel Rowland Home for the Aged, Deaf and Blind in Bedfordview.
MODA merged with Rand Aid Association in 2016, and all the residents are now based in two modern and spacious wings at the Thembalami Care Centre in Lombardy East.
The couple often invites friends along to visit the residents at MODA and provide the opportunity to experience “giving back and doing more for others”.
Also read: Max Ordman Deaf Association merges with Rand Aid
“We regularly visit the elders to have a cup of tea and cake and a catch-up, with sign language often being translated for us. Every visit is a special experience with the beautiful people of MODA.”
“Our friend Nina, who loves baking, heard about our visits to MODA and asked to be invited the next time we go so she could bake them a treat.
“On New Year’s Eve, I saw photos of Nina’s vasilopita (a New Year’s bread or cake in Greece) and her explanation of the tradition of this special cake on social media,” said Naidoo.
Delighted with the tradition, he suggested she bake some for the people of MODA and a few days later they arrived at MODA with mini vasilopitas for the 22 residents and four staff members.
Stylianou added that vasilopita is translated to‘sweet bread of Basil’ in Greek, whereby the sweetness symbolises the joy of life and hope that the new year will be filled with sweetness.
Also read: Max Ordman Deaf Association receives Lotto funding
“It was an amazing experience to see such joy.
People just want to be loved and cared for, and that’s not a lot to ask,” said Naidoo.
“I can’t begin to tell you what an honour it has been to spend some time with the MODA residents. I loved the experience and the opportunity to give back.
We don’t know how blessed we really are and I hope to be able to go back soon to spend time with Luther and Louise and all the other special ladies and gents at MODA,” said Stylianou.
