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03 October 2024
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Story Ansie Barnard
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Photo Supplied
From left to right: Londeka Mkhwanazi, Semither Mkhize, Salima van Schalkwyk, Slindokuhle Ndlovu, Asanda Mpinga, Mantombi Molefe, Ntombinkulu Khumalo, Mosebjadi Chauke and Thembinkosi Mkhwanazi.
The Amrut Foundation, in partnership with the University of the Free State (UFS), successfully hosted its Inaugural Innovathon at the UFS Qwaqwa Campus. This competition is designed to identify and support innovative products and services that not only generate profit but also contribute to the public good, with a strong emphasis on ethical business practices. Through this collaboration, students gain national exposure for their businesses and receive support to create sustainable social enterprises.
Five teams of student social entrepreneurs from the Qwaqwa campus were shortlisted to participate in the regional finals. Their selection was based on ventures that adhered to a social entrepreneurship model and demonstrated plans for long-term profitability and sustainability.
During the Innovathon, a panel of judges from the UFS, the Amrut Foundation, and the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) selected two outstanding teams to represent the UFS at the national finals, which will take place in October. The winning ventures, Biofly-Pro and Root Rescue were each awarded R20,000 to further develop and expand their initiatives.
Hemang Desai, Executive Director of the Amrut Foundation, expressed his enthusiasm for the event: "Amrut is proud to co-host the Free State leg of the inaugural Innovation Challenge with the UFS. Supporting students with entrepreneurial ambitions that align with societal care is one of our key focus areas."
Dr Grey Magaiza, Senior Lecturer and Deputy Director for the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies at the UFS, highlighted the importance of social entrepreneurship: “Social entrepreneurship is a collaborative effort towards creating sustainable and ethical business processes. The two winning projects embody these principles, and we look forward to their continued growth. In line with our Vision 130, social entrepreneurship can serve as a critical lever for university-community engagement.”
Congratulations to Biofly-Pro and Root Rescue on their well-deserved achievements!
Community workers, activists and scholars to discuss Gender-based violence
2012-10-03
The Gender Studies Programme and Gender Initiative attached to the Dialogue between Science and Society Series at the University of the Free State is holding a one-day symposium titled African Gender Perspectives on 23 October 2012. Activists, scholars and community-based workers will speak at the symposium about their work in the field of gender and gender-based violence.
Keynote speakers include Cheryl Potgieter (University of KwaZulu-Natal), Bette Dickerson (American University, Washington, D.C) and Jennifer Fish (Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia). Dickerson and Fish will be speaking about their participatory action research with the group Grandmothers Against Poverty and Aids (GAPPA) who are based in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Fish will also talk about her experience of setting up a gender centre in Rwanda.
The women’s support network Sisters for Sisters from Woodstock, Cape Town will give a presentation on their community work with women from various parts of the African continent that have experienced multiple forms of gender-based violence, and they will expand on their experiences of participating in an academic research project.