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22 February 2021 | Story Thabo Kessah | Photo Thabo Kessah
Prof Rodwell Makombe’s literary research focuses on a Facebook page that ‘reconstructs home away from home’.

Home is a complex concept, as it is not a physical place. This is according to Prof Rodwell Makombe’s recently published research article titled, Online images and imaginings of home: The case of Qwaqwa Thaba Di Mahlwa Facebook page

“The article looks at how migrants from Qwaqwa, now living in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and elsewhere, imagine Qwaqwa as home. Because they spend a lot of time away from home, they always have a longing and a sense of loneliness, as they live in places that are not home. They also have to find ways of reminiscing about their homeland. This study is about how they reconstruct home away from home. There are two approaches towards the idea of home. Firstly, home can be conceptualised as a familiar place and a place of origin that offers stability. Secondly, home is within them and they carry it with them wherever they go,” said Prof Makombe. 

‘Qwaqwa Thaba Di Mahlwa’  

The study focused on a Facebook page created by Qwaqwa migrants, called ‘Qwaqwa thaba Di Mahlwa’. “We looked at the images that were posted on this page and how they seek to construct Qwaqwa as a home. When a person posts a picture from Qwaqwa, everyone from Qwaqwa associates with the picture and are reminded of certain things from home. Migrants make homes out of this Facebook page and the page becomes a place where all can rally together and construct their home,” he added. 

The study is part of a broader book project titled Visual Cultures of the Afromontane, funded by the Afromontane Research Unit. 

Prof Makombe is an Associate Professor in the Department of English on the Qwaqwa Campus. His areas of research include cultural studies, postcolonial literatures, and cultures of resistance. The article was co-written with Dr Oliver Nyambi.  

 

 

LISTEN: Prof Rodwell Makombe on Qwaqwa migrants and their connection to home

News Archive

Community project teaches students psychology behind training
2009-05-13

 
Aaron Li and Marisa Smit busy teaching pre-school children how to bake biscuits at the Welpies Pre-primary School of Free State Care in Action in Bloemfontein.
Photo: Supplied


A community project of the third-year industrial psychology students at the University of the Free State (UFS) is helping students to gain a better understanding of the psychology behind training so as to facilitate a higher success rate with regard to their programme. Since 2004 the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences and the Community Service Learning Office at the UFS have been involved in a very unique community project. The third-year industrial psychology students are required to conduct their own needs analysis to determine the needs of the community allocated to them, after which they must address this need in a viable, sustainable manner. Key to this project is training and development that often involve the unemployed and entrepreneurs. Some training is also focused on smaller children. The 340 students involved in the project this year were responsible for presenting projects at various communities in Mangaung, amongst others: The Life Cycle of a Butterfly; Small-Group Facilitation; Bake and Decorate a Cookie; Sustainable Chicken Project; How to use the Library; Fire Prevention; Peer Pressure; Team Development; Preparation for Interviews and Writing of CVs; and Early Childhood Development.

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