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Making an impact through care: Outreach programme benefits Deaf community

08 September 2022 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Rulanzen Martin

Bartimea school outreach — Annemarie Le Roux and two of the learners from the Bartimea School for the Deaf and Blind.

It was a perfect Spring Day with laughter, cupcakes, and the brightest smiles on excited little faces of learners from the Bartimea School for the Deaf and Blind in front of the Main Building of the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS). The UFS Department of Deaf Studies and South African Sign Language hosted the school on 1 September 2022 for a day of learning, fun, and lots of games to kickstart #DeafAwarenessMonth.

The relationship between the department and the school is stronger than ever, and after a two-year hiatus both staff and learners were basking in the excitement of the day. The school faced closure back in 2016 and it was in this year that the department and the student group Signals started a project to visit the school, which saw them participate in different activities with the learners. “We helped the school with the cleaning up of the school grounds and painting the playgrounds,” said Annemarie Le Roux, South African Sign Language lecturer at the UFS.

UFS could set blueprint for outreach to Deaf communities

The department and the UFS are in a unique position to set a blueprint for engaged scholarship with the Bartimea school in Thaba ’Nchu and the Thiboloha School for the Deaf and Blind in Phuthaditjhaba (formerly Qwaqwa).

The Bartimea outreach is an important project for the department because it not only enables the students to put their teachings into practice but also demonstrates the engaged scholarship mandate of the UFS. Le Roux believes more teachers should be able to use SASL in schools, and the UFS could facilitate such training opportunities. “It would be wonderful if the university and the school could work together in engaged teaching and learning.” She added that leaners at the two schools sometimes do not get all the information they need when applying to universities.

Le Roux thinks the relationship between Bartimea and the department could enable meaningful action to foster engaged citizenship. “We can help with fundraising, because the school is always in need of funding, as most parents cannot contribute to helping the school.”

Putting teaching excellence into practice

This engagement with Bartimea allows students to put what they have learned in lecture halls into practice. “Students who attend the visits to the school or the school to the university understand more about the culture, and want to learn more and develop their language skills,” Le Roux said. “Before the COVID-19 pandemic we took our third-year and honours students to the school to give them access to the Deaf community.” Furthermore, the engagement helps students gain a better understanding of Deaf culture and sign language.

Also visit our Deaf Awareness Month webpage for more information.

News Archive

Study Abroad Fair presents exciting opportunities

2013-04-23

Staff and students gain a wealth of information at the first Study Abroad Fair hosted on the Bloemfontein Campus.
Photo: Stephen Collett
23 April 2013

Kovsie staff and students gained a wealth of information at the first Study Abroad Fair hosted by the Office for International Affairs on the Bloemfontein Campus.

Representatives from partner universities across the USA, Europe and Asia took part in the fair, giving information on study opportunities abroad. They were joined by representatives of international funding agencies and foreign missions from countries including Canada, Indonesia, France and the Republic of Azerbaijan, who gave information on funding opportunities to study overseas.

Welcoming visitors, Ms Dineo Gaofhiwe-Ingram, Assistant Director: Internationalisation, said international education forms a very important and critical part of the university’s strategy of aiming and working towards becoming a research intensive university.

“I believe all here understand and know the value of an international education, both as a donor agency, as an embassy that has bilateral agreements with the South African government to support education, and as a staff member that is here with students to encourage them to go abroad. It is important that our staff and students get to learn and experience from others and others from them.”

Dr Choice Makhetha, Vice-Rector: External Relations, encouraged Kovsies “to visit the world and bring the world back to the UFS.”

Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector, had a similar message, talking about the advantages of seeing the world. “You never get to be a good leader unless your sense of the world is bigger than yourself. My goal is to make sure that almost every undergraduate student has some experience of studying abroad.“

List of Exhibitors who took part in the Study Abroad Fair:

1. Funding Agencies
Embassy of USA
Embassy of France
Embassy of The Republic of Azerbaijan
European Union
Embassy of Canada
National Research Foundation (NRF)
Embassy of Switzerland
Embassy of Indonesia
Czech Republic Embassy
Research Africa
British Council

2. Partner Universities Abroad
Mahasarakham University (Thailand)
Appalachian State University (USA)
University of Brussels
Radboud University Nijmegen
The Hague University of Applied Sciences
University of Bremen
VU University Amsterdam
University of Groningen
University of Antwerp
University of Leuven
Jönköping University

3. UFS Representation
Postgraduate School (UFS)
Office for International Affairs (UFS)
Faculty of Education (UFS)
Department of Plant Sciences (UFS)
Department of Social Work (UFS)

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