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12 January 2024
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Story Nonsindiswe Qwabe
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Photo Sonia Small
“The future should be one where communities can decide on their development agenda and futures. That’s the most important for me.” Dr Grey Magaiza, Deputy Director of the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies (CGAS) and Head of the Community Development programme on the Qwaqwa Campus, is passionate about capacitating communities to be agents of change and advancement. His vision for the future emphasises the empowerment of communities to take charge of their development by actively participating in decision making and the implementation of development projects that can improve their lives.
Since joining the UFS in 2008, Dr Magaiza has worked extensively on approaches that can foster the socio-economic transformation of societies. Over the years, he has crafted his research speciality into one that he is most proud of – being an interdisciplinary scientist immersed in the development of communities.
“I’m in a fortunate position of researching what I like. I say ‘fortunate’, because I’ve taken the time to understand what I’m passionate about, which is the overall field of rural livelihoods and livelihood futures – in short, community development. My research starts from an engaged university, understanding the elements that a university must use to enhance transformation and relevance to its immediate community in terms of development.”
One of the ways he has done this is by looking at social entrepreneurship as a development approach for young people in a rural setting. Through workshops with non-profit and civic organisations in Qwaqwa, Dr Magaiza has been helping these organisations to map out their needs and actively meet them through the involvement and support of external role players.
“We understand that communities are part of the national development agenda, but even that national agenda respects community knowledge and intentions and allows communities to shape their identity. A critical enabler of this is community organising. You bring back the capacity in communities to have dialogues on issues affecting them as spaces for engagement, knowledge exchange, and for people to just talk about their way forward.”
By enabling communities to define their development agenda, they can address their specific needs, challenges, and aspirations, he said. “When I look at livelihood futures, it’s quite an exciting aspect of my work – it’s like looking into a fortune tellers’ globe, because you’re not deciding for communities what they should do, but the communities themselves take those decisions.”
Shaping strong foundations for young children
2011-10-02
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At the seminar were Profs. Nithi Muthukrishna from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Hasina Ebrahim
Photo: Maritza Olivier
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Experts in the field of early-childhood development gathered at our Bloemfontein Campus on Thursday, 29 September 2011 to attend a seminar focusing on curriculum in the early years. The seminar, organised by our Faculty of Education, the Flemish Government and the Free State Department of Education attracted delegates from Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands, Kenya, and the United Kingdom.
Prof. Hasina Ebrahim, Associate Professor at our School for Social Sciences and Language Education, said the aim was to stimulate conversation on the realities of young children’s lives, the inequalities that exist and the implications for curriculum development in the early years.
Speakers at the seminar covered topics on worldviews of childhood development, indigenous curriculum perspectives and child participation in the curriculum in the early years.