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17 June 2020 | Story Andre Damons | Photo Supplied
Food parcels
Annelize Visagie (Food Environment Office, with the black mask), Belinda Janeke (Career Services) and Angelo Mockie (Art, Culture and Dialogue Office) from the Division Student Affairs (DSA) busy preparing food parcels in the storeroom at the Thakaneng Bridge
Between 40 and 50 students from the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein receive daily food parcels during the lockdown, thanks to the cooperation between the Food Environment Office at the UFS, Tiger Brands, and the Total Garage in Brandwag.

Annelize Visagie from the Division of Student Affairs (DSA), who is heading the Food Environment Office at the UFS, says just before the national lockdown started in March, they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Tiger Brands to sponsor 500 food parcels to students who do not have bursaries. This is part of the UFS strategic goal of improving student success and wellbeing. UFS staff is working hard to implement initiatives and obtain sponsorships – such as this one with Tiger Brands – as well as food donations to ensure that students do not go hungry.

“Then the lockdown happened. However, the project continued, with Tiger Brands still sponsoring food parcels. Students email me and I respond to those emails. We are also looking at including students from the South Campus in the project.”

“I deliver the food parcels to the Total Garage across from the campus, where students collect it. We give between 40 and 50 parcels every day and have helped 650 students thus far. These parcels cost Tiger Brands R80 000 a month. We also provide students with vegetables from vegetable tunnels on campus,” says Visagie.

Visagie says the cooperation between the outside companies, the UFS, and even staff and students who volunteer, is heart-warming to see especially during this time of crisis. So is the gratitude from the students. They are also in discussions with the humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers to provide 200 food parcels to needy students from next month.

“We have a supply chain going on in the storeroom at the Thakaneng Bridge. It is great to see how staff members and students jumped in to help us pack the parcels. We have permits and more students want to help, but they can’t get onto campus at this time. We would not be able to do this without the help of Tiger Brands and the Total Garage.”  

The DSA Food Environment Office is also collaborating with senior management on the UFS Qwaqwa and South campuses to distribute food parcels on these two campuses.

News Archive

Nothing beats hard work, says Kovsie
2011-10-13

 

Khethiwe Mtshali

Khethiwe Mtshali is a classic example of a go-getter. This hard-working 23-year-old student from Ladysmith, who is currently studying at our Qwaqwa Campus, strongly believes in her own abilities. She believes that hard work pays off and that a person will be richly rewarded if you give it your best. Khethiwe has recently returned from a month-long visit to China where she was stationed at the Fresh Water Fisheries Research Centre of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences in Wuxi City.

“I was nominated to go to China to learn and conduct research, as South Africa lacks expertise in the field of food security and related fields of science,” says Khethiwe, a 2011 recipient of the Golden Key Award and an M.Sc.in Zoology student who specialises in Parasitology.
 
“The Chinese is a hard-working nation that I wish we could emulate as South Africans. Doing my research on parasitology of fish and other related agricultural diseases over there was a worthwhile experience that will not only benefit me as an individual, but the entire Parasitology Division of the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the Qwaqwa Campus. This research is surely going to put the university and the entire country in a better position to compete with the best in the field of parasitology,” Khethiwe said.
 
After completing her B.Sc. degree in 2008, Khethiwe worked as a teacher at Ezakheni High School for a year before she was summoned back to our university by her mentor and Head of the Department of Zoology and Entomology, Dr Oriel Thekisoe, where she studied towards an honours degree, which she passed with distinction last year.
 
“If it had not been for Dr Thekisoe, I think I would still be a teacher whose potential would not have been tapped to the maximum. I wish to thank him for pushing me to do my best at all times. He has taught me that where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Khethiwe said.
 
The best is yet to come for this proud Kovsie who can teach you a thing or two in Chinese!

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