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08 February 2019 | Story Thabo Kessah | Photo Thabo Kessah
Gateway 2019
From the left: Mookgo Mofokeng, Lethukuthula Nsibande, Siyalungelwa Ntombela, and Chulumanco Mazwi.
The two-week Gateway Orientation programme to introduce first-year students to campus and faculty life on the Qwaqwa Campus,  has been a resounding success – if the first-years’ comments are anything to go by.

“Amazing Race was for me the pinnacle of this programme, as it enabled me to get to know the campus much better. It was such a refreshing experience, despite my sore thighs that are still hurting. I also loved the Step Up for success initiative,” said Chulumanco Mazwi from Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. Chulumanco has enrolled for a BAdmin degree, which will “enable me to interact with people, particularly in the corporate world”.

From Paballong Village in Qwaqwa came a budding scientist, Mookgo Mofokeng. “The programme has afforded me the opportunity to interact with a number of students from different places such as KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, and Gauteng,” she said. “I have also learnt about the history of the campus that is very close to my heart,” said Mookgo. “This is the campus where I won the prize for my Eskom Expo for Young Scientists project, with my partner and I displaying our water-extracting project as learners from the Beacon Secondary School here in Qwaqwa. For more on this, please watch the environmental television programme 50/50 on SABC 2 on 17 February 2019.”

Coming from Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal is ‘the future businessman in the computing sector’, Lethukuthula Nsibande. “The Gateway orientation programme was so much fun, as it enabled me to see teamwork as an integral part of our development as first-years. Considering that I want to pursue business in the interesting world of computers, I have seen that interacting with others is crucial,” said Lethukuthula, a BSc IT (Computer Science and Management) student.

From Johannesburg, Gauteng, comes Siyalungelwa Ntombela, a BEd (Intermediate Phase – Life Sills and Social Sciences) student who believes her studies will enable her to give back to her community. “I want to educate our future generations and make a difference. I found Gateway to be educational and entertaining. We have learnt a lot about university life and the campus in general. I now know about the services offered by the clinic, where the Mandela Hall is, and so on. Interacting and learning from our mentors was also one of the highlights,” she added.

News Archive

Community Service Summit
2008-10-20

Community service must heal our campus

Photo gallery

Community service and community service learning at the University of the Free State must be put in the forefront of healing our divided campus and our divided country.
This was the message from the Acting Rector Prof Teuns Verschoor when he opened the Community Service Summit that was held in Thaba Nchu on 9 and 10 October 2008.
“The importance of community service is that it heals those who help others because the needs of others are more important than our own needs when we render service to those who are worse off than ourselves,” prof Teuns said.

He said community service has already helped to change the UFS in terms of the academic experience of students and staff and in terms of the perceptions that various communities hold about the UFS.

The summit was attended by more than 35 representatives from different Faculties and departments of the university, representatives from the communities in the Motheo and Xhariep District Municipalities as well as the project managers of Lebone Land and the Bloemfontein Life Change Centre.

Several issues pertaining to the Community Service Policy of the UFS, as well as other related issues were discussed which will culminate in a Statement of Intent that will be handed to the Executive Management of the UFS. This is being done in response to the challenge of the acting rector that the Summit will make a meaningful input in the repositioning process of the UFS.

One delegate described her participation in the Summit as a life changing experience. “This articulation of her experience has captured the views of a lot of the delegates. It shows that there is a big need to cement the importance, commitment to and implementation of Community Service and Community Service Learning at the University of the Free State. With the support of our partners we are determined to make a difference in the lives of the people of the Free State and beyond,” said Rev Kiepie Jaftha, Chief Director Community Service at the university.



 

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