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09 April 2018 Photo Supplied
CGAS awards second AS scholarship Chetima Melchisedek
Chètima Melchisedek is the recipient of the UFS/AS Young African Scholarship is planning a visit to the UFS Centre for Gender and Africa Studies in 2019.
Chétima Melchisedek from the University of Ottawa, Canada, has been awarded the 2018 UFS/AS Young African Scholarship. “An award like the UFS/AS Young African Scholar is a great accomplishment for a young scholar,” said Chétima.

Melchisedek is the 2018 Gordon F Henderson Fellow at the Human Rights Research and Education Centre at the University of Ottawa and is affiliated  with the University of Maroua in Cameroon. “I am also very happy and honoured to be affiliated to the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies (CGAS) at the UFS. To be able to work with the university is a privilege I am delighted to receive.”

He says the disciplines within Africa studies should be researched by Africans from the continent. “My aim was also to be able to share my knowledge through publications in established journals. In fact, today, this is the only way to be recognised as an authoritative voice on African studies from Africa,” he said.

Scholarship provides platform to young researchers 
The Young African Scholar Award is an initiative by the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies. It seeks to strengthen efforts to promote internationally recognised African scholarship within Africa Studies.   

The programme provides young researchers the platform to publish their work and to build an international network with organisations such as the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA), the German African Studies Association (Vereinigung von Afrikanisten in Deutschland/VAD), and the UFS Centre for Gender and Africa Studies.

“The award is given to the best, publishable research article contribution by an emerging African scholar to the prestigious African Spectrum journal,” said Dr Stephanie Cawood, Acting Director of CGAS. The prerequisite for the award is that applicants must be from Africa or affiliated with African institutions.  

As part of the prize, the winner receives a three-year affiliation as research fellow with the UFS GGAS and prize money of R5000.

News Archive

Deaf Awareness Month empowers the hearing impaired
2015-09-21

There are more sign languages in the world than spoken languages. About 600 000 deaf South Africans have the South African Sign Language (SASL) as their first language. There are about 40 schools for the deaf in South Africa. 90% of all deaf children are born to hearing parents. Only about 30% of speech is visible on the lips.

How many of these fundamental facts did you know?

Deaf Awareness Month serves to educate hearing communities about issues that the deaf population face on a daily basis, as well as to honour the history and culture of people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. For the past 70 years, the University of the Free State (UFS) has dedicated September to hosting events around the topic of hearing impairment.

The theme of ‘With South African Sign Language rights, our children can!’

This year’s theme had learners from Bartimea School for the Deaf and Blind, hearing impaired UFS students, and Prof Jonathan Jansen engaged in a conversation around empowerment at a picnic held on Monday 7 September 2015 at the Red Square on the Bloemfontein Campus.

Through a sign language interpreter, Matshela, a grade 12 learner, explained that he felt empowered by the efforts the university has made to embrace and empower individuals with disabilities. He then revealed his intentions of pursuing Information Technology or Social Work studies at Kovsies.

Clifford Machete, a first-year Administration student at the university, stated how sign language interpreters gave him an ‘I can’ attitude when he first arrived at university.  “As a deaf person, I see that I am able to learn with the help of sign language interpreters. There is accessibility at the university, and I am so proud to be a student here and part of Deaf Awareness Month.”

Susan Lombaard, Lecturer and Acting Chairperson at the Department of South African Sign Language, believes that Deaf Awareness Month is about promoting human dignity.

“We want to show the world that deaf people can do everything, and that their language is as strong and important as any spoken language.”

For more information regarding Deaf Awareness Month activities, contact the South African Sign Language Department on 051 401 2251.

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