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New Era dawns on Qwaqwa Campus

05 September 2019 | Story Thabo Kessah | Photo Thabo Kessah

New Era Editorial Team — New Era editorial team comprising the Editor-in-Chief, Prudence Mkhari, flanked by editors, Mosia Rasekwane (left) and Monti Mosebi (right).

Qwaqwa Campus has a new student newsletter. According to the Editor-in-Chief, Prudence Mkhari, New Era aims to project content that is written from a student’s perspective.

“We want students to easily relate to the content as opposed to being written by a staff member. It focuses on student-life events and the university as a whole. The content ranges from student life to university events and milestones. In essence, it is the voice of the students and the watchdog of the campus,” says Prudence.

She says response to the newspaper has been good, considering that they have had only two issues plus an SRC election special that carried candidates’ manifestos. “We are constantly being asked when the next issue is coming out. A lot of students have even come forth with stories that they would like us to cover in the next issue,” she added.

Some of the comments about the very first edition includes this one by Rosie Senoko, final-year BA student: “Congratulations on your publication. One would swear that you have written many pieces, not aware it was your first! All the best to you and your team.” A BSocSci final-year student, Sibonginkosi Ngcongwane, wrote: “Great job! Well done!”
It has not been an entirely smooth sailing process for the paper. “There is still room for improvement in terms of writing and editing, because almost no-one on the team has writing experience. So, additional training is still required. Meeting deadlines is also another area that needs major improvement,” says Prudence.

The team comprises 14 students who write a variety of pieces, from news to sports and from opinion to lifestyle, while some provide technical support such as editing and photography.

Going forward, the plan is to digitise the newspaper and make it accessible to a broader online market. To advertise, send an email to newera@ufs4life.ac.za

News Archive

Neonatal Care Unit receives donation to expand capacity

2015-10-28

With the best care and technology available,
the survival rate of premature
babies is about 85%. The neonatal intensive
care unit at the Universitas hospital can now
expand its capacity thanks to a donation of
R1 million by the Discovery fund.
From the left is Prof André Venter.
Head: Department of Paediatrics and
Child Health at the UFS, and mrs Ruth Lewin,
Head: Corporate Sustainability at Discovery.

The smallest people need the greatest care. This care is being provided by the neonatal unit in the Children’s Wing of the Universitas Hospital. This project of the University of the Free State (UFS), under the leadership of Prof Andre Venter, has led to several miracles regarding child health since its inception.

Now, thanks to a donation of R1 million rand from the Discovery fund, this unit can expand its capacity and treat more premature babies.

About 14% of babies in South Africa are born before the 37th week of pregnancy. These babies are born with a very low birth weight, and are in need of critical care. The neonatal intensive-care unit at Universitas Hospital is currently equipped to take care of about 14 premature babies at a time, from birth to discharge. However, because of the high incidence of premature births in the hospital’s service area, the unit needs about 45 beds.

The aim of the Children’s Wing Project is to expand the neonatal intensive-care unit in order to meet the demands of the hospital’s service area, which reaches as far as the Southern Cape. The Discovery Fund recently donated R1 million to the project, which will be used to expand the capacity of the neonatal intensive-care unit.

“With the best care and technology available, the survival rate of premature babies is about 85%. Without this, half of all premature babies would die,” says Prof Venter, Head: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the UFS.

“This is the reason why private and public partnerships, such as the one with Discovery, are essential to make specialised services available to the most vulnerable people. Discovery has made a significant contribution to the project without which we would not have been able to expand the capacity of the unit

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