Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
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  

Dr Martin Mandew, Qwaqwa Campus Principal
Dr Martin Mandew, Qwaqwa Campus Principal
#UFSWalktoUhuru arrives the Qwaqwa Campus
#UFSWalktoUhuru arrives the Qwaqwa Campus
Final day of #UFSWalktoUhuru 4
Final day of #UFSWalktoUhuru 4
Final day of #UFSWalktoUhuru 3
Final day of #UFSWalktoUhuru 3
Final day of #UFSWalktoUhuru 2
Final day of #UFSWalktoUhuru 2
Final day of #UFSWalktoUhuru
Final day of #UFSWalktoUhuru
#WalkToUhuru 10
#WalkToUhuru 10
#WalkToUhuru 9
#WalkToUhuru 9
#WalkToUhuru 8
#WalkToUhuru 8
#WalkToUhuru 7
#WalkToUhuru 7
#WalkToUhuru 6
#WalkToUhuru 6
#WalkToUhuru 5
#WalkToUhuru 5
#WalkToUhuru 4
#WalkToUhuru 4
#WalkToUhuru 3
#WalkToUhuru 3
#WalkToUhuru 2
#WalkToUhuru 2
#WalkToUhuru 1
#WalkToUhuru 1

News Archive

Africa’s lost voice during the Second World War echoes throughout book
2016-08-24

Description: Second World War book launch Tags: Second World War book launch

Prof Judith Byfield and Prof Heidi Hudson at the
book launch of Africa and Second World War at the
UFS Sasol Library.
Photo: Rulanzen Martin

If you pick up any historical record on the Second World War, you would see that, to a large extent, Africa has been missing from the history pages until now.

Africa and the Second World War (WW II) is a book edited by Prof Carolyn Brown from Rutgers University and Prof Judith Byfield from Cornell University in the United States. The book is the outcome of various papers presented during a workshop at Rutgers University and at a conference on WWII hosted at Cornell University.

The co-editors of the book were invited by Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State (UFS), to launch the book at the UFS. The Centre for Africa Studies at the university, in collaboration with the UFS Sasol Library, presented the launch on Tuesday 16 August 2016.

Bestowing honour upon Africa’s role during WW II
Many people do not know that WW II started in Ethiopia with the Italian Invasion. This is generally omitted from discussions or complete histories of WW II. The present book explores the experiences of male and female combatants, peasant producers, women traders, missionaries, and sex workers during the war. “Many people are not aware that Africa produced most of the mineral and agricultural during the war,” said Prof Brown.

Book to reach a greater audience for discussion
The co-editors hope that the book reaches people who teach WW II history, as many talk about only the nationalist movements. “The opening of the book also talks about the importance of South Africa during WW II,” said Prof Byfield. The authors hope that people will read the book to start thinking comparatively about the war.

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept