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03 April 2019 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Vhugala Nthakheni
Uhuru Qwaqwa Arrival
The #UFSWalkToUhuru team arrives at the UFS Qwaqwa Campus on Friday 22 March.

The University of the Free State (UFS) Division of Student Affairs, in collaboration with the UFS Office for International Affairs, have joined hands to drive a fundraising and student-accessibility initiative dubbed, ‘The Walk to Uhuru’ (#UFSWalktoUhuru), which is aimed at raising funds and advocating for the educational rights of the less privileged. 

The project aims to raise funds in excess of R2 million from the public and stakeholders affiliated with the UFS (Kovsie staff and students). The project derives from the 2018/2019 UFS Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC) mandate ‘Students Must Graduate’. The ISRC mandate aims to source funding opportunities for UFS students to register, and to complete their studies across all three campuses in 2020 and beyond.

The first leg of the project, a 350 km walk from the Bloemfontein to the Qwaqwa Campus, has already taken place and concluded on Friday, 22 March 2019 as planned. The #UFSWalkToUhuru team successfully completed the first leg of their journey to academic freedom for financially disadvantaged students at the UFS. The Uhuru team is now focusing its attention on the second leg and is determined to take on Mount Kilimanjaro (Uhuru) from 20 June to 20 July 2019.

The team sat down for a debriefing session to unpack the overall experience and result of the first half of the initiative, and they all agreed that the walk to Qwaqwa was an enlightening experience. It was a walk that comprised learning opportunities, team building, and goal crushing.

According to Rethabile Motseki, member of the #UFSWalkToUhuru team, the walk to Qwaqwa made a significant impact on the project, as the university community is now aware of the significant goals that the team is trying to accomplish. The team has also resumed their fitness-training programme to ensure that they are ready to take on the Uhuru climb in June.

A media briefing will take place shortly (date to be confirmed) to detail the ongoing fundraising initiatives rolled out by the #UFSWalkToUhuru team.  We implore you, and the nation as a whole, to help establish a better future for disadvantaged UFS students by donating to the initiative.

Students, staff, and the public can support the cause and make contributions/donations to the initiative by visiting the UFS Walk to Uhuru #givengain account page.

For more information, contact UFS SRC President, Sonwabile Dwaba, on DwabaSJ@ufs.ac.za  or Rethabile Motseki on MotsekiR@ufs.ac.za  

News Archive

UFS partners with the Steve Biko Foundation
2010-09-14

The Steve Biko Foundation, with the support of the University of the Free State (UFS) and other stakeholders, recently presented the Annual Steve Biko Memorial Lecture as part of the 33rd Anniversary Commemoration of Steve Biko at the University of Cape Town. The lecture, Coming to See You Since I was Five Years Old: An American poet's connection to the South African soul, was delivered by Pulitzer Prize winner Prof. Alice Walker. She drew on her poetry, personal history and the inspirational role of the South African liberation struggle to disenfranchised people around the world.

This prestigious lecture has to date been delivered by, amongst others, such luminaries as former presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Prof. Chinua Achebe. The lecture was preceded by an evening of poetry and prose, An evening with Alice Walker, at the State Theatre in Pretoria where the UFS was also represented. Pictured at the lecture are the UFS representatives, from the left: Mr Teboho Manchu (Director: Student Affairs, Qwaqwa Campus), Mr Willem Ellis (Centre for Development Support), Ms Lihlomelo Toyana (student), Mr JC van der Merwe (Department of Philosophy) and Mr Billyboy Ramahlele (Director: Community Engagement).
Photo: Mangaliso Radebe

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