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10 September 2021 | Story Reuben Maeko | Photo Supplied
Shezree Tiel winner of the student category.

As part of the Faculty of Health Sciences’ Awareness Initiative for Mental Health (FoHS AIM High) to raise awareness regarding mental health and well-being among students and staff, the faculty held a photo competition for its students and staff members. 

The competition with the theme, Things my Gogo taught me, received 70 entries and according to the Programme Director in the School of Clinical medicine, Dr Lynette Van der Merwe, the project was aimed at encouraging students and staff members to show creativity and passion by sharing photos with a reflection on the theme.
For the year 2021, the mental health awareness competition had six (6) winners for both student and staff. The photo competition was judged by Prof Willem Kruger, head of the Department of Community Health and an award-winning photographer.

An opportunity to celebrate grandmothers

Mrs Mary-Ann Naudé, author, and Mrs Madeleen Eygelaar, photographer, were the joint winners of the first prize in the staff category. The competition gave Naude, an Assistant Officer at the Clinical Skills Unit for the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, an opportunity to celebrate the life of her grandmother Mary, whose value, despite her generous soul, was unfortunately not always valued while she was alive.

“The competition made me think of the influences on my life of strong women like my two oumas and my mother. I realised that I am who I am today because of their hard work and their examples. I am overwhelmed with gratitude. I feel honoured that our entry was chosen above the many, many excellent other entries,” says Naudé.

The joint winner of the staff category, Eygelaar, a physiotherapy junior lecturer at the Department of Physiotherapy, says she grew up without a mother, losing hers at a young age, and learnt about life, nature, love and art from her grandmother. 

“I wished to celebrate her, capturing the influence she had over my life. She is still the light in my life and the warmth in my soul, as I am fortunate that she is still alive. However, she lives far away. I was happy to join with Mary-Ann in sharing our love of our grandmothers in order to symbolically capture those expressions of love. 

Mary-Ann Naudé, author, and Madeleen Eygelaar, photographer, were the
joint winners of the first prize in the staff category of the Faculty of Health Sciences’
photo competition with the theme, Things my Gogo taught me.

“The photo competition made me realise what a privilege it is to have a grandmother in your life, who share love and wisdom with you in a gentle and kind manner. Winning the competition, I was surprised, as I did not expect others to feel the same emotions I felt when taking the photos. It is a blessing to touch others with a picture that means so much to me personally. In that regard, I am very thankful. I was impressed with so many other beautiful photos that told the story of the love of their grandmothers, so I was humbled to receive acknowledgement for mine.”


Competition was a way of expressing her journey

The student category winner, Shezree Tiel, who is a third-year medical student, said the competition was a way of expressing her journey in the medical field. She saw an opportunity to tell her story on how she dealt with mental health problems during her studies through a photo. 

Shezree had lost hope in her studies and her mental health was a serious challenge. She wanted to share her story by encouraging other students not to lose hope and the competition gave her motivation to speak out about how she feels and deals with mental-health related issues. 

Given the hardships during COVID-19, Shezree felt happy and courageous to win the prize. “It will help me to encourage others to share how they feel about mental health and well-being,” she said.

News Archive

Learning to serve, serving to learn
2013-10-18

 

At the Community Engagement Open Day were, at the back, from the left: Dr Choice Makhetha, Vice-Rector: External Relations; and Rev Billyboy Ramahlele, Director of Community Engagement. In front are, from the left: Selby Lengoabala, Betlehem Unit Manager; Councillor Job Tshabalala, Acting Executive Mayor; and Councillor Isaac Tshabalala, Strategic Manager in the office of the Executive Mayor of the Dihlabeng Local Municipality.
18 October 2013

The university held its first Community Engagement Open Day in order to honour outstanding individuals and highlight programmes that advance its civil responsibility. Hosted by the UFS Community Engagement Directorate, local community members, students and staff gathered in the Callie Human Centre at the Bloemfontein Campus, displaying what they do to empower communities.

Partners in Community Engagement (CE) and Service Learning (SL), local government, community-based research, student volunteer groups, Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) and private business interacted with guests at their various information stalls. Faculties and departments displayed their distinctive programmes and demonstrated a renewed commitment to change lives through sharing knowledge, rendering services and fostering empowerment among communities.

In recognition of outstanding service, commitment and excellence in the field of community engagement and service learning, some staff members, researchers and some partners received the Vice-Rector’s Award for Community Engagement. Among them was Prof Matie Hoffman, who was honoured for his longstanding involvement in research at the Boyden Observatory. He is currently at the forefront of renovations for the planetarium at Naval Hill. In the category for external partners, REACH and Heidedal Childcare were awarded for demonstrating commitment towards their partnership with the university. The acting Executive Mayor, Job Tshabalala, also received an award on behalf of Dihlabeng Local Municipality Mayor, Tjhetane Mofokeng, for their involvement in education and social cohesion programmes. During his keynote address, the Director of Community Engagement, Rev Billyboy Ramahlele, emphasised the contribution that community engagement has on the two major strategic programmes of the university, namely the Academic and Human Projects. He pointed out that CE creates a platform on which students learn to appreciate human diversity in a real and unprotected set-up.

The interactions of the Open Day are expected to raise awareness, cultivate understanding among partners, encourage solid alliances and bring to the fore an acknowledgement of community engagement as the integral part of higher education.

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