Water & Light: A Strange Masquerade

In-between the clumps of moss the moonlight flashes splashes onto the rocks below drops of contemplation randomly escape the collective pool of thoughts awakening one organism and causing the death of another while the near-by shadows are always doing costume changes in this strange masquerade of water and light where the night lies quietly against my skin and the ceremony is always about to begin.

1. archaic : a way or place of exit mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary— Ezekiel 44:5 (Authorized Version) 2. archaic : BOUNDARY and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to

Kadesh-barnea— Numbers 34:4 (Authorized Version)

“Going forth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/going%20forth. Accessed 7 Nov. 2020.

Already my gaze is upon the hill, the sunlit one. The way to it, barely begun, lies ahead. So we are grasped by what we have not grasped, full of promise, shining in the distance. It changes us, even if we do not reach it, into something we barely sense, but are; A movement beckons, answering our movement … But we just feel the wind against us.

Anam Cara House Colac is a Community founded and funded Hospice caring for people of all ages in the South West of Victoria. Established in 2012, following the hard work and dedication of a group of local volunteers who formed a Committee of Management and inspired the local region and beyond to support the concept and importance of local, community driven Hospice care in rural Victoria. Many volunteers donated time, many local people and business supported the hospice’s growth and development with financial support and donated materials and labour.

After nearly 9 years of supporting the region with the provision of hospice care including end of life care, short term respite for people with life limiting illnesses and day respite services, Anam Cara has grown and evolved. Over this time, we have added other layers of support to help people and their carers cope with their illness, a free equipment loan service, a free advance care planning service, bereavement support and a Parkinson’s Support Group. We also offer in home respite to people thought to be in the last 3 months of life, to support the carer and their families to manage the stressors of the caring role towards the end of life. All these services have developed from the feedback from the communities we serve and support and the needs of the people in our region. Anam Cara Colac is a Quality Improvement Council Accredited Service (QIC). We provide a model of care that focuses on supporting all the needs of the guest (patient) and their family. We support people to help them achieve the highest quality of life that can be achieved in accordance with their illness. Physical, social, psychological, emotional and spiritual needs are assessed, and care is delivered to ensure that we respect and support all identified needs and goals of the guest. Our commitment to the communities we serve is to provide 24/7 access to end of life care.

As Coronavirus emerged our Committee of Management and Executive team worked solidly to ensure that Anam Cara Colac was properly positioned to provide care to our regional community. We responded to an invitation from Colac Area Health to meet with other local health providers to discuss the provision of health care in response to the declared Coronavirus Pandemic. The Management Team unhesitatingly committed to the provision of our ongoing care to the Colac Community, provided in the safest possible manner for both guests and staff.

Infection Control Standards and Policies were upgraded according to guidelines for Residential Aged Care provided by the Victorian Health Department. Additional information and mandatory infection control training was provided. Day Hospice Care was reluctantly suspended; however, the provision of short-term respite and end-oflife care has continued.

Anam Cara is well positioned to provide care within our smaller and more isolated community facility. Indeed from March through to September we were privileged to care for some 12 guests who came to Anam Cara Colac for end-of-life care and overall provided 497 episodes of overnight care for the March – September period, to 50 guests and their families. We acknowledge the support of the Community Palliative Care Team, Colac doctors, our staff, volunteers and local services who have enabled and supported our ongoing hospice care to the community. If you are interested to know more about Anam Cara House Colac please get in touch. Sometimes people are unsure if we can support them or a person they care for, we suggest you pick up the phone and have a chat with us. We support people with any life limiting illness. This includes those with heart disease, brain or neurological diseases, kidney and lung diseases or indeed any other disease that is incurable. We have also supported several NDIS guests for access to respite and we are a registered NDIS care provider. We are actively looking for additional casual Registered Nurses, Patient Care Attendants and Volunteers. If you are passionate about caring for some of our region’s most vulnerable and work with a compassionate and dedicated workforce we would love to hear from you. We can be contacted on (03) 52338203 or manager@anamcarahousecolac.org.au you can also check our website at www.anamcarahousecolac.org.au or follow us on facebook https:www.facebook.com/AnamCaraHouseColac