Meet our energetic new activities assistant Rouba Sawaf

When Rouba Sawaf isn’t helping Lawrence Presbyterian Manor residents stay healthy with dancing, exercise and activities, there’s a good chance you’ll find her at her other full-time hobby spot.

“I love the gym,” Rouba said. “I go to the gym at 5:30 a.m., and I do some of the power active classes. Then I come to my job, and then I will go to the gym after work, around 4:30 p.m. and spend two hours. So an hour in the morning and two hours after work. I love everything I can do in the gym. I love the intervals, Zumba, I love everything. In the morning, it’s power, in the afternoon intervals and blast and Zumba. I love it.”

As much as she loves sports, exercising and time at the gym, she said she does try to take a day off every now and then.

“I have to do one day off from the gym,” she said. “Sometimes I still go every day. They say to listen to your body, and my body often says go again.”

After her morning workout, Rouba is ready to energize residents with a host of activities designed to keep them active, mobile and ready for their day.

“I do the exercise classes here,” she said. “We play chicken foot, Jeopardy, checkers, cards, a lot of parties, and I’m doing the Zumba class. It’s about seven songs. We begin with a warm up and cool down at the end, with five songs in between. That’s not easy, but they love it. There are a lot of people there. The music is there. It’s something new and nice. They know the music. I chose older music, but it’s very active, and they want to be active. And they are doing something, and they like it.”

Before coming to Lawrence, Rouba worked for more than four years at Aberdeen Village in Olathe, Kan. When her son moved to attend college at KU, she decided to make the move with him. He’s studying computer science, and she’s enjoying life in Lawrence.

“My home is very close to work — four minutes of driving,” Rouba said. “And I can walk in less than 15 minutes. When the weather is nice, I will walk.”

She’s also finding herself at home in her new role at Lawrence Presbyterian Manor.

“Everybody is kind and nice,” Rouba said. “I love everybody.”

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