Sustainability. That was the focus of the West College from the University of the Free State (UFS) when members of its student community visited the St Bernard’s High School in Bloemfontein for their Academic School Project. The visit took place in collaboration with the Community Engagement office of the UFS.

The idea of the college, consisting of the residences Outeniqua, Harmony, Imperium, ConLaurês, and Abraham Fischer on the Bloemfontein Campus, was to ensure the impact of the visit stretched beyond the few hours spent at the school.

The College visited the school on 18 July 2016 and worked with the UFS Library to revive the school’s library. West College members also believe that the project was not the end of their relationship with the St Bernard’s, but rather the beginning of a fruitful journey.

Madiba spirit part of initiative

The initiative also coincided with Mandela Day. The spirit of the late Nelson Mandela could be seen in each of the participants who gave their time cheerfully to assist the community around them. The college painted the library, books were reshelved, new chairs were delivered, and training was hosted for some of the learners to be library assistants.

Reading culture encouraged

The project also wanted to ensure a reading culture emerges at the school. The college believes that if the learners start getting into the ‘groove’ of studying early in high school, the transition to university, where one has to study daily, will be much easier.

Excitement covered the faces of the learners when they saw their refurnished library. They were glad that they can now do research at their school instead of having to go to town to access information.