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01 March 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba
Student from the Umoja Buddy programme
Students from all corners of the globe forge lasting bonds through the Umoja Buddy Programme.

Let’s say you find yourself attending a university in a different country where you need to adjust to a new language, culture, environment, friends, lecturers, curriculum, and lifestyle. Sounds like a challenging leap of faith, right? However, the Umoja Buddy Programme (UBP) makes this transition a whole lot easier for international students.

If you were an international student at the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus, you would be assigned a buddy who is familiar with student life and community. The Office for International Affairs in collaboration with Student Affairs designed this programme for all incoming exchange students to feel welcome and at home.

The UBP is part of the university’s endeavours to advance internationalisation at home, which was entrenched in the 2018-2022 UFS Internationalisation Strategy. Underlying is the idea to provide UFS students with international experiences on their home campus.

Integration at the heart of internationalisation


At the Bloemfontein Campus launch of the UBP on 14 February 2019, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Francis Petersen, welcomed this year’s cohort of first-time international students and highlighted the importance of the UBP. “In essence, it aims to connect international and local students through meaningful lifelong friendships and to foster their academic, social and cultural integration at the UFS,” he said.

Prof Petersen strongly believes in the programme’s ability to facilitate “cross-fertilisation of ideas and intercultural exposure and learning”, which further enhances the quality of graduates produced by the institution.

A student is a student through other students


Lesotho-born Precious Lesupi volunteered as one of the 48 ambassadors to prevent others from experiencing the difficulties she did when she arrived at UFS. “I have been in a situation where you get to a place and you know nothing about the people there, especially the culture, and the way everything is done because you come from a totally different place, so it’s really hard to adjust.”

Lebohang Lesenyeho, who hails from Botshabelo in the Free State, expressed similar sentiments with fellow ambassador,Kweku Gavor. He said he “looks forward to “building a meaningful relationship.” Kweku who has Ghanaian origins believes that, “you cannot put a price on learning about another person and ways you react to certain situations.”


Umoja is a verb


True to the word umoja, which means “unity and the spirit of togetherness”, the programme has proved to bring together students from diverse backgrounds in the pursuit of academic excellence. The goal can be best achieved when complemented by a holistic social and cultural experience.

News Archive

Soetdoring/Kagiso pair-up wins 2015 Stagedoor
2015-03-03

With a new format and residences mixing it up, the 2015 Stagedoor proved to be a success yet again, leaving Soetdoring and Kagiso with the spoils of victory.

Stagedoor (the annual first-year residence stage and serenade competition) saw a change of format this year where residences were combined to perform in a few number of outdoor venues for rotations.

Prior to this, Residence CoRC Cultures expressed much concern regarding the co-operation that might (or might not) be achieved with working with other residences. These were all early stage fears. However, as their preparations progressed there seemed to be a glint of light at the end of many groups’ tunnels.

Seven diverse and combined groups made it through to final, namely;

• Vishuis and Tswelopele,
• Karee and Armentum,
• Sonnedou and NJ van der Merwe,
• Soetdoring and Kagiso,
• Roosmaryn and Vergeert-My-Nie,
• Villa Bravado and Madelief, and
• and Veritas and Marjolein.

The finals proved that the efforts and sleepless nights of RC Cultures, first-years, composers, and other behind-the-scenes contributors can really make any situation work.

As always, the crowd was blown away by the musical and vocal talent of first-years, as some compositions gave the audience goose bumps, leaving them asking for more. All in all, the evening created a frenzy, causing residences to interact whereas they would have never done so before.

According to the Student Affairs’ Arts and Culture office, the aim behind the new format was to break the barriers between residences. Arts and Culture were also pleased as to with how the RCs worked around accommodating their partners and ensuring maximum co-operation, despite some challenges.

As the night neared its closeclosing, residences were chanting their names and showing their pride in their first years’ performances.

2015 Stagedoor final results:

1. Soetdoring and Kagiso
2. Roosmaryn and Vergeet-My-Nie
3. Vishuis and Tswelopele

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