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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

Kovsies reign FNB Superbowl

2007-05-10

The FNB Super Bowl took place from 26 – 30 April in Potchefstroom.

The Kovsies reigned the tournament in their respective categories.

It was an absolute mega Intervarsity. The following tournaments took place in which Kovsies was represented.

Senior rugby tournament

The Shimlas won their first game against TUT 33-0

In the Semi-final Shimlas lost against Pukke 17-8.

The Shimlas played for third and fourth place against Tukkies and won the game 41-19. Which secured them the third place in the tournament.

The following teams participated in the tournament

Pukke, UJ, Shimlas, Tukkies, Maties, NMMU, TUT, UCT

SA Students team

The following Shimlas were selected for the SA student games:

Steph Roberts (prop)

Drikus Strydom (hooker)

Philip Steyn (lock)

Marlin Ruiters (Scrumhalf)

Marcel du Toit (flyhalf)

Pharmaton Junior Rugby Tournament

The Kovsies u/21 & u/19 teams won their respective tournaments. It is a wonderful accomplishment for the University. The following teams took part in the tournament: Kovsies, Pukke, Tukkies and UJ.

u/21 results

Won Pukke 12-11

Won UJ 22-18

Won Tukkies 47-16

u/19 results

Won UJ 9-8

Won Pukke 25-13

Won Tukkies 25-16

Hostel Rugby Tournament

Reitz and Armentum represented Kovsies. These two teams played against each other in the final which Reitz won 47-0. To have both our hostel teams in the final is an outstanding accomplishment for Kovsies.

The following Universities took park: Kovsies, Pukke, Tukkies and UJ

Reitz results

Won Sonop (UJ): 27-7

Won Patria (Pukke): 11-10

Bastion (Tukkies): withdraw

Won Armentum in the final: 47-0

Armentum results

Won Overs (Pukke): 15-7

Won Afslaan: 49-12

Won Boekenhout: 43-0

Lost against Reitz in the final: 47-0

Hostel Soccer

Veritas represented Kovsies and won Kiaat from Tukkies in the final with 3-1 after a penalty shoot-out.

Hostel Netball

Vergeet-my-nie and Emily Hobhouse represented Kovsies. Vergeet-my-nie lost in the final against Wanda from Pukke17-14.

Hostel Cricket

Vishuis lost in the final against Villagers from Pukke with 5 wickets.

Hostel Hockey

Wag-‘n-Bietjie and Vergeet-my-nie represented Kovsies. Unfortunetly none of them went through to the finals.

We won most of the games against the strongest Universities in the country is an outstanding accomplishment for Kovsies.

Compiled by

Ansu Colditz

Rugby Manager

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