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17 August 2020 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Pierce van Heerden
Burneline Kaars says the annual Women’s Breakfast event will honour all the remarkable women who are working from home while managing added family responsibilities.

Women of the UFS, and now also elsewhere in South Africa, can look forward to yet another Women’s Breakfast event to commemorate National Women’s Day. The event will be coordinated by the Division of Organisational Development and Employee Wellness. 

Burneline Kaars, Head of the division, says this year’s event will look a bit different from past events, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual event will be interactive and engaging, with a balance of serious topics and light-hearted humour. 

The theme of the event is ‘From surviving to thriving’. Kaars says they will be honouring all the remarkable women for their ability to thrive despite ongoing difficulties. 

And with guest speaker duo, Shaleen Surtie-Richards and Hannes van Wyk – who will charm and dazzle attendees – this is definitely an event not to be missed.

“We will also relate experiences of strength and resilience that every woman can draw upon, as well as provide additional entertainment with musical productions performed by local Bloemfontein artists,” adds Kaars.

Not only UFS women, but women across South Africa are invited to join the Division of Organisational Development and Employee Wellness for this year’s UFS Women’s Breakfast on:

Date: 20 August 2020
Time: 09:00-11:00

The event is free of charge, but the audience will have the opportunity to pledge any amount towards the fight against gender-based violence.

Any interested parties can register via this link. The Organisational Development and Employee Wellness team is looking forward to seeing you online


Inspiration integral part of Kaars’ life …

Kaars, who is married with two children, says her family are her biggest fans. “They are my strength in pursuing my goals and dreams and they inspire me to be bold.” Meditation, ambition, and music also serves as inspiration for Kaars, a dynamic woman who leads the Division of Organisational Development and Employee Wellness with a smile in her eyes. “My quiet time in the early mornings brings me to a place of being totally present and of dependence. It is during this time that I can just slow down and get new perspective on things.”

Kaars adds that ambition also keeps her going, even during bad days. For her, it means being eager to accomplish something, striving to reach her goals, and being determined to achieve what she set out to do and to do it enthusiastically.

But she believes the perspectives of others such as her family, close friends, and team members are important. “Their different perspectives, amount of energy, and their support of my ideas inspire me immensely,” she says.

On a creative level, Kaars says: “Music speaks to me in unique ways, and the ability to express yourself is very inspiring. The creativity it takes to make music amazes me in a wonderful way. I’ve been listening and enjoying music for as long as I can remember.”

 

News Archive

New Division of Virology to deliver crucial services for HIV diagnosis and resistance testing
2015-12-14

The establishment of a Division of Virology within the Department of Medical Microbiology, under the joint auspices of the UFS and the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), reflects the continued growth within Virology.  Dr Dominique Goedhals, Head of the Division, says the division will also provide training of undergraduate medical students, medical technologists and technicians, and registrars.

The newly established Division of Virology at the University of the Free State will be one of only five laboratories in the country to be involved in crucial diagnostic and testing services for HIV viral load monitoring, early infant diagnosis, and HIV resistance testing.

The Virology Diagnostic Laboratory serves as the reference laboratory for all HIV National Priority Programme samples for the Free State and Northern Cape provinces.

Medical staff at the laboratory will provide a 24-hour consultative service, as well as outreach programmes to district laboratories in the Free State and Northern Cape where pathologists are not available. 

Dr Dominique Goedhals, Head of the Division of Virology, says this division, under the joint auspices of the UFS and the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), reflects the continued growth within Virology.

The division will not only deliver this critical diagnostic service, but will also focus on training and teaching, as well as research.

Teaching and training activities include teaching of undergraduate medical students, medical technologists and technicians, and registrars.  The postgraduate science programme has a high output of honours, master’s and doctoral students in Virology.  The intern medical scientist programme is also active, with five interns having successfully submitted their portfolios since the programme was implemented in 2010.

Research activities under the Head of Research, Prof Felicity Burt, have also expanded and continue to show increases in publication output and acquisition of grant funding.  Established research groups within the Division of Virology focus on vector-borne and zoonotic viruses, human papilloma viruses (HPV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as well as work with a number of international collaborators.


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