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Thousand plus hours dedicated to eliminate ‘trash blindness’

03 July 2019 | Story Leonie Bolleurs

KovsiesCare - Clean Up Read More — Tsietsi Ngobese, through the Wesolve4x Cleaning My Planet Campaign, motivated citizens to collectively fill over 23 000 refuse bags to date.

The mission: To collectively fill 20 million refuse bags every Saturday with the help of 20 million people who are cleaning their own communities and our planet for an hour. The message: My planet, my responsibility.

The mission and message that the Wesolve4x Cleaning My Planet Campaign wants to convey, is based on a simple premise: Get community members to donate one hour of their time to cleaning duties every Saturday for the next 20 years until 2039. At the same time provide a continuous educational programme about waste management to the general public and to schools in order to empower them to take responsibility.

Address trash blindness

Tsietsi Ngobese, Chief Executive Officer of this initiative and BSc Actuarial Science graduate, says he understands the transformative power of education and the role it plays in transforming diverse communities. Through outreach programmes in our community and schools, we are slowly eliminating generational trash blindness. We also tackle some of the social determinants of health by encouraging healthy living conditions within our communities through good waste management and recycling.

It is important for Tsietsi to add value to society. He believes that the Wesolve4x Generation will transform the world for the better through education and empowering all citizens.

The campaign – officially endorsed by Miss Earth South Africa, Catherine Constantinides – was launched on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus as well as the Abram Hlope Primary School in Katlehong on 4 May 2019.

“We want to promote the benefits of a clean and healthy environment for future generations,” said Tsietsi.

Since their inception, the group has collectively filled over 23 000 refuse bags with the help of active citizens.

Challenge accepted

When former lecturer, Jan Blomerus, once challenged his Actuarial students to protect the environment in order to decrease the mortality rate (from natural disasters because of the effect of climate change), Tsietsi accepted the challenge. “By inspiring excellence and transforming lives, the UFS plays an important role; I started to believe that I can address societal challenges in the communities I am an integral part of,” he said.

When Tsietsi saw trash piling up everywhere and children playing at illegal dumping sites, he became concerned about the health risk to society. He believes the dumping area is contaminating the air and water around the dumping site.

“I had to be part of the solution to start cleaning up, and most importantly, educating myself and others to continuously take responsibility for our own waste and change our thinking about littering. This is a generational issue and needs a generational approach to unlearn all habits of littering,” Tsietsi pointed out.

As part of his vision, Tsietsi plans to reduce the waste taken to landfill sites and to increase that which is taken directly from households to recycling plants. He also wants to encourage people to find creative ways of converting what has previously been wasted into something useful. “This action can encourage individuals to generate an income from waste,” he said.

Take action

Tsietsi invites all members of the Mangaung community to get involved in the project. This is your opportunity to make a difference on Mandela Day. You can;
• provide sponsorship for educational content on effective waste management, economic opportunities, and health issues to the general public and to schools;
• provide refuse bags, plastic gloves or hand-washing soap (used by community members in every clean-up session);
• join in a collective effort to clean your community by meeting at designated schools or any designated community assembly point on a Saturday (contact 011 307 2005 or info@wesolve4x.com for more information).

News Archive

Fundraising campaign launched to help feed hungry students

2012-03-28

From the left is Dr. Carin Buys (Patron of NSH), Ms. Nicky Abdinor (guest speaker), Mrs. Grace Jansen (patron of NSH) and Redi Tlhabi (master of ceremonies).
Photo: Johan Roux
28 March 2012

Video clip (YouTube)

The University of the Free State (UFS) received over R200 000 for its No Student Hungry (NSH) Programme at the NSH launch dinner on Friday 23 March 2012 in Bloemfontein.

Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS as well as founder of the NSH Programme donated R100 000 from the proceeds of his book We Need to Talk to this programme. Standard Bank also donated R30 000.

An additional amount of about R90 000 was raised by means of pledges made by guests and the auctioning of several items. These items were donated by local companies and university staff.

The No Student Hungry Programme (NSH) aims to raise funds to provide modest food bursaries for needy students and give them daily access to a balanced meal.
Prof. Jansen started the NSH programme in 2011 with the proceeds of his book, We Need to Talk.

The NSH funds more than 100 students in the hope of helping them to excel in their academic endeavours and, ultimately, to obtain their degrees.

In 2011, Prof. Jansen discovered that a significant number of students were studying without eating on a regular basis. These were often students with strong academic records but without adequate funding to sustain themselves with regular meals.

The project was established in January 2011 when the NSH Team started to develop the structure and processes of the programme. The first 100 students who were awarded the food bursaries started using their student cards for daily meals on campus on 1 April 2011.

“The No Student Hungry Campaign is not only about creating a university campus that cares. It is about creating a country where being human matters. Our students on the NSH project are amazing young people. They struggle to get by, but they have great potential and achieve good marks," Prof. Jansen said on Friday.

Prof. Jansen’s wife, Grace, and Dr Carin Buys, wife of Mr Rudi Buys, Dean of Student Affairs, volunteered to drive the programme and raise funds to address the problem. They are supported by various divisions within the university.

Students apply for the bursaries and are selected on the basis of their financial needs, good academic results, active participation in student life programmes and commitment to give something back to the community.

The raising of funds is a continuous process involving awareness campaigns, seeking of partnerships with companies and institutions and support from the general public, staff and individuals.

An agreement has been made with several food outlets/restaurants on campus who offer healthy, balanced meals to NSH students when they swipe their student cards that are funded by the programme.

At the end of the year the process is reviewed and students who still qualify are reinstated on the programme, whilst those whose circumstances have changed or are no longer in need of the bursaries, make way for new applications.

The NSH Team meets with students on a regular basis with the purpose of offering training, motivation and opportunities for personal growth and career development. Students are also expected to become involved in projects as a way of ploughing back into the community.

The goal is to expand the project annually as support for it grows.
Ms Nicky Abdinor, a clinical psychologist from Cape Town, who was born without arms and with shortened legs, provided an entertaining motivational speech at the launch. Ms Abdinor, founder of the Nicky's Drive organisation, also visited the UFS’ Unit for Students with disabilities where she delivered a talk on independence for people living with disabilities.

To become involved with the NSH Programme, please contact Mrs René Pelser on +27(0)51 4019087 or e-mail pelserr@ufs.ac.za.

Media Release
28 March 2012
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: +27(0)51 401 2584
Cell: +27(0)83 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

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