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12 August 2022 | Story NONSINDISO QWABE | Photo NONSINDISO QWABE
Mpho Twala
Cultivating the land-Mpho Twala.

The Bachelor of Community Development qualification offered on the Qwaqwa Campus develops young professionals who are able to work collaboratively with the community to come up with initiatives that build resilience and sustainability. Before obtaining their qualifications, students are required to identify community needs and to come up with viable ways to eradicate these.

It was during this period that Mpho Twala, a recent CommDev graduate, identified a once-thriving community vegetable garden that had been abandoned and subsequently stripped over the years. Further research led her to realise that the soil was still very fertile, and with a bit of work, could once again be revived to become an income-generating business. She received her qualification during the April graduations on the Qwaqwa Campus, but she did not stop there.

Bringing change to the community through vegetable farming

Twala, with no agricultural background, approached the locals for permission to revive the 1-ha garden into a community-owned vegetable garden. “The land has been uncultivated for more than a decade, and after conducting a needs analysis, I didn’t want to leave it like that, because I saw that if I worked with young people, this would help with the high unemployment rate among the youth in this area,” Twala said.

She says she was driven by bringing about change in her community, which she believes was inspired by her studies.
“I’ve always wanted to do something in my community, and CommDev taught me to see opportunities instead of challenges.”

The vegetable garden currently has 17 employees, 10 of whom are under the age of 35. They are currently harvesting cabbages, various forms of spinach, and white onion – all organic – for home consumption and community purchasing. They also occasionally sell to hawkers around Qwaqwa.

Twala dreams of expanding the garden, adding more crops, and ultimately reaching commercial level. “We are currently classified under subsistence farming – farming for home consumption and selling the surplus so that the project can remain operational. But with the right funding and support, we can grow bigger and better.”

News Archive

Training in critical medical skills receives preference at the UFS
2015-07-24

The UFS bought a new simulator for surgeons to learn how to perform laparoscopic operations. During the launch of the simulator, Dr Mathys Labuschagne (left), Head of the Clinical Simulation and Skills Unit, illustrates to Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean of the faculty, how the simulator works.
Photo: Rene-Jean van der Berg

The Clinical Simulation and Skills Unit in the University of the Free State (UFS) Faculty of Health Sciences purchased a new laparoscopic simulator for R1.2 million recently. The simulator will be used to teach postgraduate medical students how to perform laparoscopic surgery. The UFS is currently the only university in the country, and one of only two institutions in South Africa, that own such a simulator.

The Lapsim simulator, from Surgical Science in Sweden, is a highly sophisticated computerised tool for the training and improvement of laparoscopic surgical skills in postgraduate students within the surgical disciplines.

“The purpose of a simulator is not to replace training on patients, but to help registrars in acquiring basic laparoscopic surgical skills,” says Dr Mathys Labuschagne, Head of the Clinical Simulation and Skills Unit.

These skills include depth perception, hand-eye-coordination, instrument handling, precision and speed, which are essential before operations can be performed on patients.

Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, says this simulator is very important for the UFS to train registrars more effectively in theatre work.

“Not only registrars will benefit from this, but qualified surgeons may also make use of it to improve their skills.”

The simulator is pre-programmed for different medical conditions that laparoscopic surgery is traditionally used for. Programmes can be selected for procedures such as sterilisation, cholecystectomy (gall bladder removal), endometriosis, etc. The simulator even makes it possible simply to practise eye-hand coordination, and to apply stitches internally.

Watch the short video explaining more about the Lapsim simulator.

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