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02 November 2018 | Story Charlene Stanley | Photo Johan Roux
Grassroots Champions Rising Above Challenges
Prof Richard Teare, President of the Global University of Lifelong Learning (GULL) (far left), Karen Venter, Head of Service Learning (second from left) and Bishop Billyboy Ramahlele, Director of Community Engagement (second from right) with graduates of GULL’s non-academic programme.

Reciprocity. That’s what it’s all about when it comes to engaged teaching and learning in a community context.  Everyone must benefit – which includes getting recognition for what you’ve achieved,” says Karen Venter, Head of Service Learning in the Directorate: Community Engagement.
   
This conviction was put into practice at the recent Grassroots Community Engagement Awards. It was an opportunity to thank and award all the role players who made a success of this year’s Learning Festival, presented in partnership with Bloem Shelter on the Bloemfontein Campus earlier this year. During the festival, 55 skills development workshops were offered in a collaborative effort to create sustainable income-generating micro enterprises.

Global University for Lifelong Learning graduates

The awards function also doubled as a proper ‘Cap and Gown’ ceremony for 18 participants in the Global University for Lifelong Learning (GULL) programme. For the past three years, they’ve been involved in action learning on a uniquely designed Professional Bachelor Pathway to Holistic Development. This pathway is rooted in spiritual, personal, and professional development, where the learning of skills for entrepreneurship is key to gain personal and professional viability, moving from dependence to independence.

“GULL’s approach is to give people in the community a chance to advance themselves. Our focus is professional and not academic. It’s about life skills and professional skills where people don’t have the funds or qualifications to follow an academic route,” explained Prof Richard Teare, President of GULL, who came all the way form the UK to officiate the ceremony.
  
Academics and Life Skills running parallel

“What makes the UFS involvement in our programme so great, is that it’s run parallel with an excellent academic programme offered by the university.”

He emphasised the importance of graduation ceremonies, as it instilled a sense of pride and gave graduates an opportunity to reflect on how far they’ve come in improving their own circumstances. 

“This is a deep form of learning, because we are enabling people to move from their difficult circumstances and release their own inner potential.”

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Lecturer advises Sudanese government
2009-02-12

 
 Mr Andries Jordaan and a Sudanese farmer during his recent visit to that country.
Photo: Supplied

Mr Andries Jordaan, Director of the Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa (DiMTeC) at the University of the Free State (UFS), recently visited Sudan to conduct an environmental impact study next to the Blue Nile and Dinder rivers, west of Ethiopia. The Sudanese government is in an advanced stage of implementing a new irrigation scheme of 1 million hectare in this area.

As part of this study he conducted research on the current indigenous drought strategies of farmers in order to make recommendations on how they can effectively overcome the dry months (stretching from September to April).

He was part of the team who last year planned and monitored the resettlement of 70 000 people during the building of the Merowe Dam in the Nile River in northern Sudan. Mr Jordaan is contracted as agricultural specialist by Lahmeyer International, a German engineering company.

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