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03 March 2020

The Office for International Affairs (OIA) at the University of the Free State (UFS) implemented the second iteration of its Umoja Buddy Programme (UBP) in 2020. The UBP is a flagship internationalisation-at-home programme aimed at the smooth academic, social, and cultural integration of first-entering international students at the UFS by pairing them with senior UFS students. It offers local students an international experience on the home campus and develops their international and intercultural competence through direct interaction with international students. The UBP contributes to the achievement of the UFS vision, whereby every student will in future have an international experience during their studies at the UFS.


Internationalisation at home

On 13 February 2020, a welcome function themed Echoes of Sophiatown set the tone for this year’s edition. Chevon Slambee, Chief Officer in the OIA and UFS master’s student, welcomed the students and explained the theme of the day. She said that, “as students, we have a responsibility to be active citizens and contribute to change and social transformation”. Programme coordinator Bulelwa Moikwatlhai introduced the function and framework of the programme and highlighted the importance of internationalisation at home. Also in attendance was the Dean of Students, Pura Mgolombane, who encouraged students in his address to honour their heritage, “so that together, we can be able to appreciate one another”. He emphasised the importance of social justice for academic success. The SRC member for the International Student Council, Simba Matheba, expressed his support for the UBP. The UFS Arts, Culture, and Dialogue office provided entertainment at the event.

Umoja Buddy

International and local students mingling at the 2020 Umoja Buddy Programme Welcome Function.

News Archive

Kovsie student on his way to the record books
2011-10-12

 

Hermann van Heerden
Photo: Gerhard Louw

Ten hours. That’s how long Kovsie student Hermann van Heerden held a stationary wheelie in his wheelchair by lifting the front wheels of his wheelchair. The second-year disabled student now stands to get his name in the Guinness World Record Book for the longest stationary wheelie in a wheelchair.

Starting at 03:15 and holding on until 13:15 on Tuesday, 11 October 2011, Hermann achieved what he set out to do. Now he is waiting for the Guinness World Record office to verify his world-record attempt.

The minimum time set for Hermann to achieve a Guinness World Record was four hours, but the B.Ed. student went six hours over this time, wheeling non-stop for ten hours. During this time the Kovsie student had no food or water over his lips, nor was he allowed to go to the bathroom.

Hermann’s Guinness World Record attempt forms part of the ten-year celebrations of the Unit for Students with Disabilities (USD) at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Accomplishing his record attempt, a tired Hermann said the first thing he wanted to do was to eat. Hermann, who was born with spina bifida, a developmental congenital disorder, said he did not have a lot of preparation for his world-record attempt, as he had always been in a wheelchair.

According to the Guinness World Records press office, the closest record to the one Hermann set out to achieve, is for the longest continuous wheelie in a wheelchair. This was achieved by Michael Miller from the USA who covered a distance of 16, 12 km on the rear wheels of his wheelchair.

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