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11 April 2018 Photo Charl Henning
Nicro approach UFS Drama for crime-prevention play
Dion and Charl with the school group during rehearsals at the Scaena Theatre on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus.
Theatre is one of the many ways used by the National Institute for Crime Prevention and Reintegration of Offenders (Nicro) as medium to educate our youth. Nicro approached Prof Nico Luwes, Head of the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts at the University of the Free State (UFS), to assist with a crime-prevention play project.  

Prof Luwes then knocked on the door of Drama lecturer, Dion van Niekerk, and master’s student Charl Henning.

Nicro is a non-profitable organisation with the purpose to create awareness among learners about different societal issues such as crime, substance abuse, etc. 

“They have this leadership programme within the organisation for youth who have not fallen into a life of crime. They are known as the ambassadors,” said Van Niekerk. 

 Play address societal issues 
“We did two plays; the text of the plays were existing text written by Prof Luwes. The text wasn’t about crime prevention, but rather about HIV and other societal issues; however, we improvised by making use of the children to guide us.”  

They are the ones who are confronted with these issues on a daily basis. “You see their leadership quality grow and how they can work together in a team. It was also a way to build their self-confidence in a fun way,” said Henning. Not only did it improve their self-confidence, but it also improved their interaction with learners from other schools. 

The play will be performed at schools in Bloemfontein.  The project is conducted at four local schools, namely Kopanong Secondary School, Moemedi Secondary School, Hodisa Technical School, and Louis Botha Technical High School.

News Archive

DiMTEC hosts second conference on disaster risk reduction
2009-06-02

 
Dr Anthony Turton, the Director: TouchStone Resources (Pty) Ltd. delivered the opening address at this year’s two-day annual international conference on disaster risk reduction that was presented by the Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa (DiMTEC) at the University of the Free State (UFS).

In his presentation: Sitting on the horns of a dilemma: South Africa and its strategic water supply, he said: “We have simply reached the limit of the water resources in South Africa. On the one hand, we deal with the quantity dilemma in terms of strategic water storage. South Africa and Zimbabwe counts under the top 20 countries in the world in terms of dams built. We can only build about ten more dams.”

“On the other hand, we must deal with quantity. Previous solutions are not future solutions. When water is recycled, hormones such as oestrogen do not disappear. We must become creative and do something else,” he said.

“Science can make a difference. The UFS is well placed in terms of its groundwater research. Universities must invest in the necessary technology because the testing of toxins is essential. We must work in ways to prevent toxins from re-entering the water cycle,” he said.

A number of international speakers such as Dr Fabrice Renaud, Associate Director at the United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) in Bonn, Germany, Dr Eugene Poolman, Chief Forecaster: Disaster Risk Reduction, South African Weather Service, and Prof. Rob Bragg from the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology at the UFS, attended the conference, as well as attendees from 11 different countries.

At the conference were, from the left: Mr Andries Jordaan, Director: DiMTEC at the UFS; Dr Ing Jörn Birkmann, Head of Section: Vulnerability Assessment at the United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS); Dr Anthony Turton, Director: TouchStone Resources (Pty) Ltd.; and Dr Fabrice Renaud, Associate Director: UNU-EHS.
Photo: Supplied

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