12 March 2025   |  Story Leonie Bolleurs

Gaining educational experiences through innovative action learning

ACCESS embraces self-directed, real-world learning by integrating personal and professional development, bridging the gap between co-curricular and academic programmes. “Our focus is to gain high-impact educational experiences through innovative action learning,” Terblanche explained.

The ACCESS programme also seeks to provide students with opportunities to participate in social cohesion events with other students and communities outside of the UFS, which include student organisations, residence and commuter students, support services staff, colleagues in faculties, non-profit organisations, and community partners.

In 2024, ACCESS had 520 student volunteers, a number that has grown to 824 this year. These students have actively participated in various initiatives, making a tangible impact on the community.

ACCESS operates across three key spheres: Health and Wellness, Environmental Affairs, and Social Justice for Impact. In the Environmental Affairs sphere, students were involved in eco-brick making, climate change and recycling workshops, and clean-up campaigns. They are also building friendship benches at the National Hospital using old tyres filled with rubble, rocks, soil, adobe bricks, and finished with mosaic.

Another aspect of the Environmental Affairs sphere is gardening, where students gain valuable information on worm farming, community gardens, lasagna gardening, composting, natural pesticides, indigenous herbs, medicinal gardens, and harvesting and storage of herbs. In the past three years, 600 people were trained in earthworm farming.

One of the programme’s success stories is the vermiculture social enterprise. Here, ACCESS students collaborated with Entrepreneurship students from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences to develop a social enterprise. In this enterprise that links curricular and co-curricular learning, students are not only preparing to offer workshops at nurseries in Bloemfontein and sell earthworms. Their first supply was recently delivered to Tala Cannabis Growers.

Skills development opportunities with the potential for small business ventures

In the Health and Well-being sphere, ACCESS students participated in soap and candle making, crocheting, upcycling projects such as paper beading and basket weaving, baking, and needlework. These activities provided skills development opportunities with the potential for small business ventures.

Students in this sphere also attended a first-aid workshop to prepare them for working with children and vulnerable communities. Another outstanding initiative is the menstrual health project, which is conducted in collaboration with the MINA Foundation and the School of Nursing. This project links academic learning with community engagement and saw the ‘Wear a Doek Day’ event as one of the outputs, where the doek symbolises empowerment.

In the Social Justice for Impact sphere, students participated in dialogue sessions and mural projects, creating platforms for mindfulness, self-expression, social cohesion, and visual reflection. One of these initiatives, the WomXn’s Memorial Wall, shed light on important social justice issues.

Looking ahead, Terblanche said that students can expect more skills development opportunities, expanded entrepreneurship initiatives, a stronger focus on fundraising and training in this area, as well as more collaboration opportunities.

By combining engaged scholarship with hands-on experience, ACCESS continues to drive meaningful change, preparing students for impactful roles in society.