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Music outreach programme teach valuable lessons

20 December 2019 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Supplied

The annual Odeion School of Music (OSM) Heidedal Outreach programme’s underlying philosophy is that of equal learning experiences for the community as well as the OSM. The community concert is an annual event in Bloemfontein in partnership with the Reach Our Community Foundation (ROC).

The Heidedal Marimba Project – founded by the OSM Music Education department in 2015 – works in collaboration with the ROC Foundation to serve the children of Heidedal. Through the programme and music,, learners from Heide Primary School in Heidedal participate in an event of beauty and harmony and the OSM students get the opportunity of arranging, teaching and performing music with the learners, as well as compiling a musical performance programme. .

“We are grateful for the privilege to be inspired by the children from Heidedal while we in return incorporate change in their lives,” said Gerda Pretorius, OSM lecturer and co-organiser of the Outreach programme. Pretorius is co-organiser with Patrick Kaars, director of the ROC.

Service learning important for UFS students

It is the third year that the popular concert has taken place in Heidedal and forms part of the BMus, BA (Music) and Diploma in Music qualification which integrates Music education modules with Service Learning. The partnership between OSM and ROC lies in the philosophy of shared benefits.
“The main objective is to provide a service to the community by offering basic skills, which include aural training, as well as teaching both music and movement,” says Pretorius.

The OSM believes not only in the intrinsic musical experience of music-making but is also advocating music-making as an ethical action for social justice.
The community footprint of the OSM is entrenched in the Bloemfontein community with Music Education partnerships at the Brandwag Primary School, the Lettie Fouché School (for mentally impaired learners) as well as the Sentraal Primary School.

The concert took place on Saturday 19 October 2019 at the Heide Primary School.

The OSM students who took part in the outreach were Sibongile Mafata, Lauren Aldag, Nadia Smith, Lesley-Ann Mhalo, Brendaly Buckley, Mary Moalosi, Enslin Smith, Chrismari Grobbelaar, and Phillip Verster.

News Archive

UFS boasts with world class research apparatus

2005-10-20

At the launch of the diffractometer were from the left Prof Steve Basson (Chairperson: Department of Chemistry at the UFS), Prof Jannie Swarts (Unit for Physical and Macro-molecular Chemistry at the UFS Department of Chemistry), Mr Pari Antalis (from the provider of the apparatus - Bruker SA), Prof Herman van Schalkwyk (Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS), Prof André Roodt (head of the X-ray diffraction unit at the UFS Department of Chemistry) and Prof Teuns Verschoor (Vice-Rector: Academic Operations at the UFS).

UFS boasts with world class research apparatus
The most advanced single crystal X-ray diffractometer in Africa has been installed in the Department of Chemistry at the University of the Free State (UFS).

“The diffractometer provides an indispensable technique to investigate compounds for medicinal application for example in breast, prostate and related bone cancer identification and therapy, currently synthesized in the Department of Chemistry. It also includes the area of homogeneous catalysis where new compounds for industrial application are synthesised and characterised and whereby SASOL and even the international petrochemical industry could benefit, especially in the current climate of increased oil prices,” said Prof Andrè Roodt, head of the X-ray diffraction unit at the UFS Department of Chemistry.

The installation of the Bruker Kappa APEX II single crystal diffractometer is part of an innovative programme of the UFS management to continue its competitive research and extend it further internationally.

“The diffractometer is the first milestone of the research funding programme for the Department of Chemistry and we are proud to be the first university in Africa to boast with such advanced apparatus. We are not standing back for any other university in the world and have already received requests for research agreements from universities such as the University of Cape Town,” said Prof Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS.

The diffractometer is capable of accurately analysing molecules in crystalline form within a few hours and obtain the precise geometry – that on a sample only the size of a grain of sugar. It simultaneously gives the exact distance between two atoms, accurate to less than fractions of a billionth of a millimetre.

“It allows us to investigate certain processes in Bloemfontein which has been impossible in the past. We now have a technique locally by which different steps in key chemical reactions can be evaluated much more reliable, even at temperatures as low as minus 170 degrees centigrade,” said Prof Roodt.

A few years ago these analyses would have taken days or even weeks. The Department of Chemistry now has the capability to investigate chemical compounds in Bloemfontein which previously had to be shipped to other, less sophisticate sites in the RSA or overseas (for example Sweden, Russia and Canada) at significant extra costs.

Media release
Issued by:Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
19 October 2005

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