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08 December 2020 | Story Nelia Oosthuysen | Photo Charl Devenish
Nelia Oosthuysen South Campus
Nelia Oosthuysen is a digital content creator and curator on the UFS South Campus.
Every year begins chock-full of new opportunities, expectations, dreams… And so, we also approached 2020 with a perennial positivity unaware of what lay ahead. New challenges? The Coronavirus Pandemic took care of that, more than we could have ever anticipated. On 23 March 2020, our President announced a national lockdown period that would have numerous ramifications. Most of these would be negative, as we know all too well: Our personal lives, the things we read in the paper / on social media, and what we see around us. But I decided to stop and focus on the positives that could come out of this pandemic as well as some “food for thought”.

We were all dumbstruck at our planet’s ability to heal itself in such a short time and show off the astounding beauty that nature has to offer, such as the sparkling clean canals in Venice. Pollution decreased in leaps and bounds, and for once, residents of some of the major cities in the world could not see what they were breathing in! NASA observed this phenomenon with satellites in the atmosphere that travelled above Asia, America, and Europe during this time.

On a more personal note, the lockdown period was an opportunity for me — and one I hope everyone also used to some degree — to step back, do a little introspection, and reflect on the crucial aspects of everyday life. Reflecting on the significance of relationships with family and friends, our responsibility towards our planet and everything on it, as well as new awareness and sensitivity towards those in a less fortunate position than we are in. Lastly, but certainly not least: How is my spiritual life? Am I spending enough time with my Creator as my only source of energy in these trying times? I can only speak for myself, but during this time, I was able to take stock of my life again and to prioritise what is and what should be important to me. Let us then go forth with a new lease on life keeping in mind the wisdom in this anonymous aphorism: “Some people cannot be cured, but everyone can heal.”

News Archive

UFS in forefront with ASGI-SA initiative
2006-05-10

At the conceptualisation colloquium and stakeholder dialogue were from the left Dr Aldo Stroebel (senior researcher at the UFS Research Development Directorate), Dr Edith Vries (acting Chief Executive Officer of the Independent Development Trust) and Prof Frans Swanepoel (Director: UFS Research Development Directorate).

UFS in forefront with ASGI-SA initiative

Two staff members of the University of the Free State (UFS) have been appointed as members of the advisory board of the national programme for the creation of small enterprises and jobs in the second economy.  This programme forms part of government’s Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (ASGI-SA).

Prof Frans Swanepoel, Director of the UFS Research Development Directorate and Dr Aldo Stroebel, senior researcher at the UFS Research Development Directorate, are working with a team of experts from the UFS on a draft implementation strategy for the national programme.  Both Prof Swanepoel and Dr Stroebel are also associated to the UFS Centre for Sustainable Agriculture.
 
“The strategy is being developed in collaboration with institutions like the Independent Development Trust, the Department of Agriculture, the National Development Agency and the Department of Trade and Industry,” says Prof  Swanepoel.  

The other team members of the UFS are Prof Basie Wessels, Director of the  Mangaung-University Community Partnership Programme (MUCPP) and Mr  Benedict Mokoena, project manager at the MUCPP.

Dr Stroebel was also member of the organising committee of a conceptualisation colloquium and stakeholder dialogue that was recently presented in Johannesburg.  The conference was attended by more than 400 delegates from government departments, higher-education institutions and civil society, including Dr Kobus Laubscher, member of the UFS Council.

The conference was facilitated by Ms Vuyo Mahlati, previously from the WK Kellogg Foundation’s Africa programme and opened by Ms Thoko Didiza, Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs.   

“The colloquium formed the basis of an induction workshop during which a group of 150 individuals (50 teams of three) from all nine provinces, identified to initiate the implementation of the national programme, was trained and orientated towards an induction manual in collaboration with Hand-in-Hand, an Indian counterpart,” says Prof Swanepoel.

Dr Stroebel and Mr Benedict Mokoena formed part of the team to conceptualise and finalise this training manual.  The induction training includes a case study of a successful community self-help partnership model, namely the MUCPP at the UFS. Prof Wessels and Mr Mokoena are both playing a leading role in the further development of subsequent training initiatives throughout South Africa, in partnership with the relevant provincial departments.

“The involvement of the UFS in the programme is a compliment to us.  It reflects the value government sees in the use of academics and experts in the management of the ASGI-SA initiative.  It is also an indication of one of the aims of the UFS to play a role in South Africa and Africa and in the transformation and change that is taking place in our country,” says Prof Swanepoel.  

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:   (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
10 May 2006

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