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Shoes project
University of the Free State Biokinetics student, Maralé Hoft, with pairs of tackies they have collected so far for the needy kids of Eersteling Primary School. More donations are still needed.
She could not bear the sight of little children coming to school barefoot. So, a University of the Free State Biokinetics student went on a campaign to help find tackies for the children.

Touched by the sight of barefoot kids
Maralé Hoft encountered this situation when she and her colleagues went to the Eersteling Primary School to present sports-based physical activity programmes at the school as part of their curriculum programmes.

The school, which is located on the outskirts of Bloemfontein, about 10 kilometres from town in the Kellysview area, caters for children from Grade R (pre-school) to Grade 4, which are “obviously very young.”

“It became worse when we had to do some sports activities with them having no shoes on – I felt like I had to do something to help them,” she said.

More tackies still needed

Hoft says she has a target of about 100 children, but “we have so far only managed to get about 50 pairs of second-hand tackies.” 

“I would like to ask anyone who can contribute a pair of tackies for this age group to please do so, so that we could help the less privileged. Their shoe sizes range from size 10 (kids) to size 5 (regular),” she said.

Dr Monique de Milander, Lecturer in the Faculty of Health Sciences’ Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences, says: “All help will be most appreciated, as it would be ideal to have enough pairs to give every child a pair. We are worried that if we don’t have enough, we cannot give it to them, as it would not be fair if only a handful of children get a pair and the rest don’t.” 

Interested donors can contact Maralé Hoft at maralehoft@gmail.com

News Archive

Launch of the Africa office of the IIDE
2006-05-25

Attending the launch of the Africa office of the IIDE were from the left Prof Sytse Strijbos (Chairperson of IIDE Europe), Rev Kiepie Jaftha (Chairperson of the IIDE in Africa’s Board of Directors and Chief Director: Community Service at the UFS) and Prof Frederick Fourie (Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS).

 

Attending the launch were from the left Prof Lucius Botes (Director: Centre of Development Support at the UFS), Dr Samuel Kareithi (Head: Community Development at the Cornerstone Christian College, Cape Town), Rev Kiepie Jaftha (Chairperson of the IIDE in Africa’s Board of Directors and Chief Director: Community Service at the UFS), Prof Sytse Strijbos (Chairperson of IIDE Europe) and Dr Ezekiel Moraka (Vice-Rector:  Student Affairs at the UFS).

Africa office of IIDE launched on UFS main campus 

The Africa office of the International Institute for Development and Ethics (IIDE) was today (26 May 2006) launched on the Main Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein.

“The IIDE specialises in the studying and research of general questions of developmental theory and practices and provides services and support in education, strategic planning, policy formulation, advocacy and capacity building of development agencies,” said Rev Kiepie Jaftha, Chairperson of the IIDE in Africa’s Board of Directors and Chief Director: Community Service at the UFS.

According to Rev Jaftha the IIDE in Africa will focus on the conceptual and normative aspects of developmental processes in Sub-Saharan Africa.  “We want to foster local and international partnerships with various relevant role-players in civil society, the private sector and public sector in the SACD region and later expand our operations to the rest of Africa,” said Rev Jaftha.

The IIDE in Africa cooperates with a similar foundation in Europe, functioning as the IIDE Europe.  This institute was founded in 2003 and its head office is situated in the Netherlands.  The UFS is a funder of the IIDE in Africa together with the Paul Foundation and private sponsors from the Netherlands.

“We have already started with various projects which are in various stages of implementation,” said Rev Jaftha.  Some of these projects include, among others, the broadening of the master’s degree in Christian Studies of Science and Society (MACSSS) which is currently housed at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam to tertiary institutions in South Africa such as the UFS, the University of Stellenbosch and the Potchefstroom Campus of the Northwest University.

“Another project is an investigation into the possibility of initiating a broad development initiative in the poverty stricken Qwaqwa area.  This initiative will attempt to concentrate on issues like the training and empowerment of prospective entrepreneurs in the region, the identification of prospective entrepreneurs for the rendering of development support and the monitoring of the impact of information and communication technology on local communities during the implementation of sustainable development initiatives,” said Rev Jaftha.

“The establishment of the Africa office of the IIDE on the UFS Main Campus is an indication of one of the aims of the UFS to play a role in South Africa and Africa.  It also signifies our aim to contribute meaningfully to research and development and to establish links between the academe and practice,” said Rev Jaftha. 

 

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:   (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
26 May 2006

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