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23 September 2020 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
Participants in the third Amazing Race travelled through the African continent, experiencing Africa’s roots and its rich, vibrant, and diverse cultures

During the third Amazing Race presented by Organisational Development and Employee Wellness, staff had the opportunity to virtually travel through Africa. 

The aim of the race with the theme, A Journey through Africa, was to celebrate South Africa and Africa’s roots and its rich, vibrant, and diverse cultures. 

Natasha Nel, organisational development specialist and organiser of the race, says they wanted to give the 13 participating teams the opportunity to explore, learn, create, and be challenged together as they travel to some of the most interesting and exotic locations around Africa, but also in South Africa. 

Here in our own country, teams had the opportunity to experience our culture as well as the diversity of beliefs and traditions.


Here in our own country, teams had the opportunity to experience our culture as well as the diversity of beliefs and traditions.

Interactive and exciting event

Nel says staff could join the race in the convenience of their personal working space via a Zoom meeting. “They only needed to download the game that was specifically tailored for the UFS.” 

“It was a fun, interactive, and exciting event. In this unique adventure, it was interesting to see how teams worked together, made decisions, and also thought outside the box during the challenges,” she says.

Nel explains that teams were requested to take photos, answer questions, and make decisions unique to Africa and their culture. Some decisions and answers were timed. They also had to decide where they wanted to travel, but each decision and option had its costs, reward, and challenge linked to it.

We are the champions

Chanel Lewis, Aneke Kruger, Runé van der Merwe, and Lischen du Randt walked away as winners of the third Amazing Race. 

By participating in this race, the university has sponsored 13 breakfasts for the Community Chest of South Africa (this organisation’s mission is to inspire and facilitate community giving for community enhancement).


News Archive

Faculty of Theology hosts annual meeting of Society for Practical Theology
2015-01-30

From the left are: Prof Yolanda Dreyer (Chairperson of SPTSA, University of Pretoria), Prof Johann Rossouw (UFS), Prof Hussein Solomon (UFS) and Prof Johan Cilliers (Stellenbosch University).
Photo: Michelle Nothling

The privilege of hosting the annual meeting of the Society for Practical Theology in South Africa (SPTSA) fell to the University of the Free State (UFS) this year. Delegates from across the country recently convened on the Bloemfontein Campus to attend the event from 21 – 23 January 2015.

The three-day congress saw several high-profile keynote speakers discussing the topic of ‘Power of religion and religions of power’.

Dr Johann Rossouw from the UFS Department of Philosophy presented a paper on ‘Power, the state and the church in South Africa’. Dr Rossouw regards the cooperation between theologians and philosophers as integral to help us understand the time we live in. Twenty years since the dawn of South Africa’s democracy, “the gap between the country we were promised and the country we received is bigger than ever,” Dr Rossouw said. “A South-African Church … cannot but make her voice heard regarding this gap.”

Expert on conflict resolution and fundamentalism, Prof Hussein Solomon from the UFS Department of Political Studies and Governance scrutinised the compatibility of Islam with democracy. He warned, though, against “the labelling of a conflict as religious on the mere basis of its religious overtones.” Prof Solomon’s paper, ‘Political Islam: trends, trajectory and future prospects,’ not only advocated tolerance and political pluralism, but also pointed to the fact that it is “in the common good of all humanity” to avert a “Clash of Civilizations”.

‘God in granite?’ – Prof Johan Cilliers’ paper – investigated the phenomenon of the monumentalization of religion. Prof Cilliers from Stellenbosch University explained that monuments often have “spiritual character and iconic value, in the sense that it offers a space for the formation or discovery of meaning.” In his presentation he showed, though, that monuments – even those connected to religious motifs – “seldom escape the lure of power”.

The event was organised by the University of the Free State’s Faculty of Theology, Department of Practical Theology.

  

For more information or enquiries contact news@ufs.ac.za .

 

 

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