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Celebrating Mandela Month

18 July 2020 | Story Amanda Thongha

Staff, students and other stakeholders of the University of the Free State (UFS) can look forward to a virtual music show honouring the values and beliefs of former President Nelson Mandela. Musicians such as Simple Stories, Sibongile Mngoma, Boitumelo Mohutsioa, and Lucy Sehloho have prepared performances that will be showcased on UFS communication platforms on 31 July. Concluding Mandela Month celebrations, the pre-recorded show will also feature performances by poets Braithan Moratwa and Zilungile Muqayi. The show is coordinated by the Division of Student Affairs at the UFS.

Angelo Mockie, Senior Officer: Arts, Culture and Dialogue at Student Affairs, says the show was primarily produced to convey a message of hope, solidarity, and support to the UFS community. “We chose Mandela Month to publish it, because those are the values that he believed in. Now more than ever, we need to stand together as a community to find ways of adapting to the new normal.”

In a message to UFS staff acknowledging the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela, Prof Francis Petersen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor, said Madiba’s example of compassion and courage made him one of the best-known leaders in the world.
“His life was a true inspiration and his devotion to democracy, equality, learning, and caring for others have earned him the respect of communities around the world.

This year, the significance of Mandela Day will be even more important than ever before, as we demonstrate caring by looking after ourselves, our families, and those around us, while we navigate through the pandemic. Caring provides purpose, but also the motivation to fulfil that purpose. The COVID-19 pandemic should enable us to imagine a world that is fairer, safer, more stable, secure, and one that can prosper.”

Taking Action

Heeding the call to take action and inspire change on Nelson Mandela’s birthday, you can read the following articles about the UFS making every day a Mandela Day:

The shelter and the students – a triumph of social impact

South Campus delivers much-needed educational support during pandemic

News Archive

Babies need time on their tummies

2009-08-07

Babies who spend more time on their tummies (in the prone position) when they are awake are more advanced in their motor development than children who are not allowed to lie on their tummies, or only for short periods, shows research published by Ms Dorothy Russell in the South African Journal of Occupational Therapy. Ms Russell is a senior occupational therapist in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health in the Faculty of Heath Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS). The study shows there were significant differences in the active movements of the arms and the pushing-up on the arms between prone and non-prone infants.

She says research and clinical evidence indicate that parents are not well educated regarding the value of placing their infants in the prone position during the early stages of infancy. The supine position where babies lie on the backs, leads to a decrease in the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and mothers steer away of putting their babies in the prone position because of that. However, lack of exposure to prone position can result in deceased opportunities to learn functions such as rolling over, sitting up, crawling and pulling to the standing position.
Photo: Leatitia Pienaar

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