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Kweku flies Kovsie flag high at Universität Bremen

20 December 2019 Photo Shaari Rai Poken

It all started with the Umoja Buddy Programme (UBP). Kweku Gavor was a UBP ambassador when he met exchange students from Germany. Two years later, the roles were reversed. “Helping out students who later have become my really good friends opened up the opportunity for me to study abroad in Germany.” he said.

Kweku spent about four months as part of a pilot Summer Lab Programme at Universität Bremen after being nominated for a scholarship by the German Academic Exchange Service, which his former Umoja buddies helped create. He shared the experience with eight other students from Palestine, Poland, Ukraine, and the US. The focus was on Business Studies, Marketing and Economics.

According to the BCom graduate, studying internationally gave him new insights. “The experience opened my mind and better-equipped me to work in situations in which I need to handle a lot of pressure against the clock.”

The first leg of the programme featured corresponding modules presented in a classroom environment, which were integrated with assignments, presentations, tests and exams. This was supplemented by a language course that involved cultural leadership training. Another crucial part of the Summer Lab Programme was an internship where students were placed with companies and tasked with a problem-solving project. Kweku was placed at Fabular Ai, an artificial intelligence company which designs computer software.

“Going to study abroad is an extremely rare and fantastic opportunity I advise all who can to grab it with both hands,” said Kweku, who also used the opportunity to travel all over Europe.

Internationalisation at home with Umoja

The UBP, which is collaboratively run by the UFS Office for International Affairs and Student Affairs, played a big part in Kweku being given the opportunity to study abroad. However, unlike him, not all students have to the opportunity to engage in undergraduate exchanges.

The UBP is part of the university’s efforts to advance internationalisation at home, as anchored in the UFS Strategic Plan: 2018-2022. With the programme, students are able to receive an international experience on home ground.

The programme aims to connect international and local students through meaningful lifelong friendships and foster their academic, social and cultural integration. It pairs first-entry international students with senior Kovsies who provide a warm, welcoming, friendly face, and a helping hand.

Expression of interest sought

A total of 48 ambassadors were enrolled in 2019. To join the UBP in 2020, contact Sonya Kapfumvuti at KapfumvutiSCR@ufs.ac.za or call her on 051 401 3397.

News Archive

UFS responds to revocation of the accreditation of the SA Doping Control Laboratory by WADA

2017-07-01

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) yesterday informed the South African Doping Control Laboratory (SADoCoL) at the University of the Free State (UFS) that the WADA accreditation status of the laboratory has been revoked.

This revocation does, however, not include the analysis of blood samples for the Athlete Biological Passport for which SADoCoL has been re-accredited in August 2016 and which the laboratory will continue to perform. It also does not impact at all on the testing of urine sport samples by the South African Institute of Drug-free Sport (SAIDS), who will continue to send such samples for testing to other WADA accredited laboratories, while blood samples will be tested at SADoCoL as before.

The revocation follows a year long period of suspension in which the laboratory had to develop its analytical capabilities and instate new systems and methodologies. “In this period the laboratory worked diligently to realize all of these requirements and according to an inspection team from the WADA Laboratory Expert Group who visited the laboratory in February 2017, much has been done and the Laboratory is in a much better state than it was before the suspension in May 2016,” says prof Marthinus van der Merwe, Director of SADoCoL.

“However, there were certain aspects of these requirements that the laboratory could not achieve within the time-frame stipulated by WADA and therefore the organisation is bound by its rules and regulations to now revoke the accreditation status of the laboratory. Since much effort and resources have been invested in the laboratory in the last two years, the management of SADoCoL together with senior leadership of the UFS decided to go ahead and finalise all development in order to re-apply for WADA accreditation,” says prof van der Merwe.

“The UFS fully acknowledges the hard work of SADoCoL during the period of development and is committed to support the laboratory in its endeavors to re-attain its status within the very specialised and highly regulated community of world-wide doping control laboratories. The premium goal of the laboratory is still to fully serve the sporting community of South Africa and Africa according to the WADA guidelines for anti-doping control in Sport and it is confident to attain that with the support of all role players in this field,” says Prof Witthuhn, Vice-Rector: Research at the UFS.

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Brand Management)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

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