Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

Gift of the Givers’ Dr Imtiaz Sooliman inspires hope at UFS Brown Bag Lunch

26 September 2023 | Story Lunga Luthuli | Photo Supplied

The University of the Free State (UFS) Centre for Graduate Support (CGS) recently hosted Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of the Gift of the Givers Foundation, at a CGS Brown Bag Lunch. The Brown Bag Lunches are a series of informal talks aimed at providing guidance and inspiration to postgraduate students.

The event served as a platform for Dr Sooliman to share his insights into how pursuing a postgraduate degree can empower individuals to bring hope and change to those around them.

He said his talk was inspired by his own journey: “After receiving a message from my spiritual leader in Istanbul, Turkey, at the age of just 30, I immediately heeded the calling and established the Gift of the Givers Foundation.”

He emphasised that success and progress are not possible without faith and spirituality, and that these were motivating factors in his work. “The foundation works to unite people with a common vision to make a real difference by serving mankind for the greater good.”

Dr Sooliman shared many of his experiences and insights with the audience. He said the foundation has provided critical aid to many disaster-stricken regions and has extended its assistance to the most vulnerable populations worldwide.

Creating hope

The Gift of the Givers Foundation also provides support to the UFS No Student Hungry Programme, which delivers food parcels to needy students on the UFS’s three campuses.

Dr Sooliman’s efforts have helped the foundation make a real and telling difference in the lives of people from all classes, political affiliations, and geographical locations

He encouraged students and academics in the audience to “view your pursuit of higher education as a means to gain knowledge, but also as a tool to cultivate empathy, resilience, and a sense of purpose”.

Event organisers said the University of the Free State continues to promote education and community engagement, and Dr Sooliman’s visit served as a beacon of inspiration for students and academics alike.

Dr Danila Wessels, Assistant Director at the Centre for Graduate Support, said, “Inviting Dr Imtiaz Sooliman to our Brown Bag Lunch event was a deliberate choice driven by our commitment to broadening the vision of UFS postgraduate students. We believe that postgraduate studies can serve as a powerful impetus for bringing hope to people, and Dr Sooliman's inspirational journey perfectly exemplifies this."

News Archive

Projects of the South Campus inspire excellence

2014-12-18

The University of the Free State’s (UFS’s) South Campus in Bloemfontein runs several projects to make a difference in the lives of learners and educators in the central region. These projects are based on the very essence of the UFS – to ‘inspire excellence, change lives’.

Three projects which have been very successful since the outset are the UFS Schools Partnership Project, the Family Math and Family Science Project and the Internet Broadcast Project.

The Schools Partnership Project attempts to empower teachers by improving their teaching skills in critical Gr 10 – Gr 12 subjects (Physical Science, Mathematics and Accounting).

Poorly performing schools are invited to join in the programme. A mentor, providing guidance to teachers in the planning of lessons, transferring knowledge and creating a healthy learning environment in the classroom, is assigned to each subject teacher. Management and leadership skills are also improved.

Hercules Dreyer, Programme Manager, says the success of the programme can be seen in the lessons, the results and the progress which have been made.

“In 2013, the pass rate of participating schools has grown from 71.5% to 85%. We had an increase in donors and the project went from 22 schools with 12 mentors in 2013 to 72 schools and 34 mentors in 2015.”

The UFS Family Math and Family Science Project, which is already in its sixth year of existence, are extremely popular. This intervention programme focus on bringing about a better understanding of Mathematics and Science in learners, teachers and parents.

Dr Cobus van Breda, Programme Director of the Family Math and Family Science Project, says that judging by the feedback from teachers, it is evident that the programme is growing from strength to strength and that it is making a real difference in Mathematics and Science education in the early school years.

The UFS’s Internet Broadcast Project (IBP) has thus far received four awards for their successes. In this project, lessons in Mathematics, Accounting and Physical Science are broadcasted from the UFS’s South Campus through internet presentations to schools in rural areas.

“To date, the IBP catalogue contains over 2 000 video lessons and in 2013 alone, the 68 schools accessed and used these videos 69 305 times. The project has the potential to reach more than 40 000 learners and 1 765 teachers every week,” says Sarietjie Musgrave, Project Manager.

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept