MOUNT
EDMUND CHRISTIAN BROTHERS’ COLLEGE, PRETORIA
www.cbcpretoria.co.za
Telephone (012)
804-1801
Fax (012) 804-8781
cbcmted@mweb.co.za
Box 912-487
Silverton
0127
The year is well and
truly underway, we are about to start writing mid-year exams and the
next group of Grade 12’s are starting to think about what they will be
doing next year.
This group of Grade
12’s is a very special group as they were the first group of Grade 1
pupils that the College started taking in, and it was also at this time
that the girls joined the College. Life has changed dramatically since
then.
The year started with a
good complement of new pupils, our Grade R, Grade 1 and Grade 8 class
were all full, which is really a wonderful comment on the good work been
done at the College by a dedicated group of teachers and support staff.
Also, happily, many of our Old Pupils (can’t say Old Boys anymore) are
also starting to send their children back to the College.
The sadness of the
first term was that Mr Wally Thiele (Deputy: High School for the past 4
years) resigned his position to join his family at home. We had two
functions to say farewell and we wish him well in his new endeavours.
To date a replacement has not been announced but we are hoping to do so
soon. For the rest we had only 3 new staff join us at the beginning of
the new year.
Many of the senior
pupils were very excited by the prospect of an overseas tour. A
“Cultural Tour” went to Brazil under the watchful eye of Damon Freeman
and Peter Becker, and had a wonderful experience. The “Sports Tour”
went to England accompanied the Head, Mrs Lorraine van Velden and Mrs
Ria Steynberg. A girl’s hockey team and boy’s football team had an
experience of a life time. One of the many highlights was that Damian
Rainer (the last of the current generation of Rainer’s) and the captain
of the team, Grey Jiyane, were hosted by Brian Robson when we stayed in
Manchester. They ended up by being his guests at the United vs West Ham
game. Some people have all the luck!
Since then life back in
Pretoria
has seemed a little less exciting, but we have put a huge effort into
the sport for this term. It is a demanding term with teams going in all
different directions. The U15 Soccer team has made it through to the
finals, the new U14 Boys’ Hockey Team has managed to win their first
game last week – with the first goal of the session being scored at the
same time. Victory was so sweet. The girls’ hockey team was very
disappointed to lose their tight hold that they have had on the Inter
CBC Trophy, narrowly going down to the winners, Welkom.
On the cultural front
our Speakers have once again done us proud, all teams getting an A
symbol or higher in the Grade 10 section where we entered 4 teams! The
best speaker in the
Pretoria
area was a CBC boy. Last week saw our second Annual Choir Festival.
The first night was meant to be for Primary School Choirs and the second
for High Schools. Sadly schools are no longer able to produce choirs.
The Primary School evening was most enjoyable. The second night
featured the St Alban’s College Barbershop Boys - they were a real crowd
pleaser. All 3 of our Choirs performed magnificently. Thanks to
Boksburg for making the effort to come through on the coldest night of
the year.
This week is our
Community week and we will be actively engaged in many activities,
mostly as part of our outreach to the aged and to other children. The
Junior ERS will visit Holy Cross Home (which is, of course, where Br
Dillon spent his last days). We will also host all of our Grandparents
at our special Grandparents’ Mass. We are currently involved in
assisting Gogo Gladys at Siyfunda Home for Aids children and they will
form a major part of our outreach.
Another major aspect of
the week will be our attempt to reach our Old Pupils. Last year one of
our Old Boys was tragically killed and we decided to set aside a day
that Old Pupils could come back to the College and reunite with each
other. So we launched the Monde Nombe Old Pupils’ Day. It was a very
successful day, matches were played all afternoon and this was followed
by a Chicken Braai in the evening. So, we would like all Old Pupils to
make sure their information is kept with the College so we can
communicate with them as details of the day unfold.
MR PETER ROSS
HEADMASTER
DERICK POREMBA-BRUMER
(PAST PUPIL OF CBC
PRETORIA)
Derick had a serious
motorbike-accident on the 5th of February 1986 (when he was
in matric). It had been raining, so he did not attend a drama-lesson (he
was entered for a Grade VIII Trinity College drama exam; and thereafter
he was scheduled to attend a Drama rehearsal at CBC). So, when the rain
lessened he was on his way to arrange for an extra lesson. Well he
didn’t get very far because a speeding taxi from Mamelodi hit him from
behind and caused him to fly through the air across the face of 2
houses. A doctor specializing in Neurosurgery happened to be passing by
the scene of the accident, and he applied first-aid to the comatose
patient. An ambulance rushed him to the H.F. Verwoerd hospital, where
the doctors in the ICU gave him a 5% chance of surviving that first
night.
Well, he survived and
he laid in a coma until September that year. After a long recovery
process his main problems are that he suffers from double-vision, he has
a ‘different sounding voice’ and he can’t run.
Derick writes -
That, briefly, is my
story. Since then I’ve completed my matric (I completed 5 subjects in 4
years that included taking 3 subjects I never studied before) and I got
into university on a mature-age exemption.
First, in 1993, I went
to Midrand Campus – a campus running UNISA courses – and in 1995 I
entered UP from where I graduated with a BA in 2001. I started working
part-time at the Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC)
in the main grounds of UP. While there I completed a Further Diploma in
Education – Severe Disabilities. My position there ended in 2004 when
my position was taken over by an AAC-user. I’m currently reading the
course, Counselling People in Trauma, through INTEC College.
While studying at UP, I
noticed that there were plenty of books about patients in the critical
stage, but there was a lack of information available to patient’ about
their future recoveries – not to mention to the secondary victims (i.e.
those people closest to the victim e.g. most typically their parents).
These secondary victims’ lives also change if their child (usually) is
involved in an accident. But this also applies to everybody – they just
have to think that they can do whatever they want to do! So I started
delivering motivational speeches. The audiences have all been to
non-disabled people and I’ve received nothing but praise from them.
The one I’m most proud
of is as follows –
On the 24 October 2005 I was invited to speak to the WITS Psychology-Honours
class.
Your letter was so
heart warming to read. I do not think that anybody who has not been
there can possibly offer the same degree of support and understanding.
Enid Schutte (lecturer: WITS-university Psychology Hons)
I’ve also released a
motivational CD “5%” (see attachment).
I believe that one of
the reasons for my recovery was due to the fact that I had a stable
background at CBC.
Derick Poremba-Brumer
BA (UP), FDE – Severe Disabilities (UP)
The following article
appeared in
Brainwaves
- SA Clinical Neuropsychological Association, in April 2005.
Emendy Records have
released an audio compact disc intended to help motivate people
recovering from head injuries. The disc will be valuable inspiration
for patients and families dealing with the recovery process. Derick
Brumer who sustained a severe head injury in 1986 when he was 17 years
of age narrates the 35-minute sound track. Brumer’s story is indeed
inspiring and he certainly seems to have made a remarkable recovery. He
makes a number of valuable observations on the disc, such as:
The
classification of brain damage is given a Master’s status which means
that it becomes an all important label that assumes more importance to
the uninformed onlooker than any other positive trait that the victim
might display.
He promotes a message of
not giving up, repeatedly pushing the idea that people “can do anything
if they put their minds to it.” This belief is perhaps overly
optimistic, but does help families believe that recovery is possible.
Mr Brumer advocates the idea of the “unused potential” of the brain,
perhaps a dubious concept, but also arguably helpful to families.
There are a few trivial
errors on the disc: the brain is not surrounded by “amniotic fluid”;
recovery does not follow a first in last out principle such that
brain functions developed early in life (like hearing) are the last to
recover after injury; skull is spelt “scull” on the disc’s cover; and a
few other small blunders. However, these minor mistakes are not serious
to the overall intention of the disc. All in all the discussion is
valuable and the product is to be commended.
The disc would be a
valuable resource in rehabilitation hospitals and support groups. SACNA
members who regularly treat head injured individuals would do well to
recommend the disc to the families and patients.
Mr Brumer can be reached at
082 749-3549 or derickbrumer@telkomsa.net. Emendy Records can be
contacted at 012 362-1177.
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