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Students play leading role to ensure food security

17 June 2020 | Story Dr WP Wahl

The Division of Student Affairs (DSA) prioritises innovation to meet the challenges of food insecurity and malnutrition among students. To this end, several student volunteers and student governance structures are collaborating with the DSA on various initiatives.

During 2019, various conversations were held about the possibility of creating a health-promoting food environment at the UFS where students and staff are well informed and empowered to take appropriate action regarding their food and nutritional needs. These conversations resulted in an institutional strategy to address the food environment at the UFS. Student representatives serve on a technical committee that directs the implementation of this strategy. In this regard, several initiatives have already been launched.

Students from residences and other student communities have planted vegetable gardens on the Bloemfontein Campus with the assistance of KovsieACT and the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. Students and staff are already harvesting and distributing vegetables to needy students every week. Measurements were put in place to continue this during the COVID-19 period. The following vegetables were planted: spinach, cabbage, beetroot, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots.

Food parcels, donated by Tiger Brands and Gift of the Givers, are continuously handed out by DSA staff and student volunteers. In this regard, 540 food parcels have already been handed out on the Bloemfontein Campus during the COVID-19 period alone. During the same time, 117 students received food parcels on the Qwaqwa Campus. The innovation of this food parcel project rests on the fact that business, NPOs, UFS students, and DSA staff are collaborating to address food insecurity and malnutrition.

More collaborative initiatives will be implemented over the next 12 months. The DSA staff and students are already working with the Department of Dietetics and Consumer Sciences to create information packages about the preparation of low-budget nutritious meals.

News Archive

Moving towards creating a more accessible UFS for mobility-impaired students

2015-07-21

Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support’s logo for persons with mobility impairments.
Design: Karoo Republic

Hi, my name is Jackson, and I am a wheelchair user following an accident that left me paralysed.

We often take for granted the ability to navigate obstacles, and to move readily from place to place. Few people have to worry about mobility on campus, but for students with mobility impairments, it presents many challenges that few of us are aware of.

The biggest struggle for students with mobility impairments is often encountered in the lecture room/hall. Once they arrive at the class (often struggling to get there on time), their next challenge might be entering the classroom and finding a suitable place where they can sit comfortably. As it is, there are only a few loose tables in most lecture halls. Consequently, the students have to sit through the lecture taking notes and working with their laptops resting on their laps. Obviously, this is uncomfortable and not conducive to their learning process.

When students have limited hand function, the result is that they write more slowly and with difficulty. However, the UFS does offer assistance from scribes, adapted computer hardware/software, assistive devices, and/or modified furniture. Such adaptations can be arranged by the Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support (CUADS), which boasts an official test and examination venue where students with mobility impairments can proceed with their tests and exams if they prefer.

Students with Cerebral Palsy may experience difficulties with quick, sudden physical movements, and delayed processing of information. Stressful circumstances can result in their experiencing difficulty when having to write or process information quickly enough during test and examination situations. The Extra Time Panel, in collaboration with Student Counselling and Development, determines the time concession for those students with mobility impairments who have such needs.

The importance of accessible parking spaces exclusively designated for wheelchair users not only involves such places being closer to a building entrance but also wide enough for a wheelchair user to get in and out of a vehicle safely.

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