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14 June 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Albert van Biljon
Alison Botha
Over and above being a survivor, Alison Botha is an inspiration.

It was an ordinary December 1994 evening in Port Elizabeth. Alison Botha parked her car in front of her home. A man ambushed her at knife point. Minutes later, she was forced into the passenger seat and the perpetrator drove off, picking his friend up on their way to the coastal bushes of the city.
 
What was supposed to be an ordinary evening turned into a horrific experience which changed Botha’s life forever. She was raped, strangled, had her throat slit and her stomach cut open. Physicians called her survival a medical miracle. The true miracle though, is how she has chosen to deal with the experience. 

Botha overcame her fear of public speaking and has become an international motivational speaker who also authored a first-person account of her ordeal and recovery in 1998, titled I Have Life.

Aluta continua against gender-based violence

As part of our university’s advocacy against gender-based violence, the Human Resources’ Division for Organisational Development and Employee Wellness hosted Botha for a motivational talk on 5 June 2019 at the Bloemfontein Campus. In telling her story, Botha stated that she still receives healing.

While welcoming guests and the speaker, Prof Prakash Naidoo, Vice-Rector: Operations touched on Project Caring which is supported by the Rectorate. “We care for you and part of that caring agenda is gender-based violence. We encourage you to speak out about this issue, don’t remain silent, someone will listen,” he advised.

From victim to victor

Botha believes that if her story serves to help someone else avoid the same situation or perhaps even survive a similar trauma, then she has served her purpose. “I now believe that the evil is far outweighed by all the good that has come out of my choice to share my story,” she said.

Much of the reason behind her strength lies in what she terms her own ABC principle which speaks to attitude, belief and choice. “We are not always going to be in control of everything that happens to us. But we always control how we respond,” said Botha. 

The story of Botha’s survival, recovery and victory proves that the human spirit cannot be crushed. There is indeed life after a near-death tragedy.

News Archive

Renowned Harvard scholar to speak on illness, care-giving and subjectivity
2013-01-28

 
Prof. Arthur Kleinman

 Prof. Arthur Kleinman, Professor of Medical Anthropology and Psychiatry at Harvard University, will visit the University of the Free State from 4 to 6 February 2013. Prof. Kleinman is a Rabb Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Harvard Asia Centre.

The highlight of his visit will be his participation in the one-day colloquium entitled “Constructions of Illness and Identity: Subjectivity and Chronic Illness in the South African Context” that will take place on 5 February 2013 in the Centenary Hall. He will be joined by a range of speakers from various international and national universities. During his visit, he will also deliver two other lectures.

On Monday, 4 February, he will give a lecture titled: “Against Cynicism: How the Humanities and the Cultivation of our moral selves sustain the Idealism of Students and Faculty”, and on Wednesday, 6 February 2013, he will speak on “Care giving: Revitalising its place in Medicine”. Professor Kleinman is the author of six books, co-author of two others, co-editor of nearly 30 volumes and eight special issues of journals, and author of over 300 articles, book chapters, reviews and introductions.  

For further enquiries, please contact Dr Katinka De Wet on 051 401 2918 or dewetk@ufs.ac.za.

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