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19 September 2024 | Story Anthony Mthembu | Photo Anthony Mthembu
GEADO donates sanitary towels to community development initiative 2024
From left to right: Morwesi Malebo, Founder of ‘Give a Flower for a Change’, and Geraldine Lengau, Senior Officer in the Unit for Institutional Change and Social Justice at UFS.

As part of its ongoing Dignity Kit Awareness Campaign, launched in 2023, the Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Office (GEADO) at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently contributed to a community development initiative titled ‘Give a Flower for a Change.’ A batch of sanitary towels was recently officially handed over at the UFS Bloemfontein Campus, facilitated by Geraldine Lengau, Senior Officer in the Unit for Institutional Change and Social Justice.

According to Lengau, GEADO has made several similar donations on campus, benefitting initiatives such as the ‘No Student Hungry’ (NSH) programme, staff members through the Office of Organisational Development and Employee Wellness, as well as student walk-ins, among others. This latest donation extends the reach of the Dignity Kit Campaign beyond the campus community. ‘’This forms part of our mandate to raise awareness, particularly in uplifting the dignity of women. It is essential for the university to provide these dignity kits, as it demonstrates its commitment to addressing gender-based violence, supporting survivors, and promoting awareness,’’ said Lengau. She further emphasised that such donations foster a broader effort by the university to create a culture of respect, empathy, and support for surrounding communities, thus advancing social justice as articulated in the UFS’s Vision 130 strategic plan. 

Supporting Give a flower for a Change

The sanitary towels were handed over to Morwesi Malebo, founder of ‘Give a Flower for a Change’. According to Malebo, the initiative works closely with Unity Primary School in Bloemfontein, aiming to uplift the lives of children, particularly those from previously disadvantaged households. ‘’I have heard of instances at the school where some learners resorted to using cloth during their periods because they lacked access to sanitary towels,” Malebo shared. The donation will now help provide the necessary supplies to these children.

The initiative relies heavily on donations, accepting sanitary towels, school shoes, toiletries, and other essential items. Malebo stressed the significant impact of these contributions, noting that the learners are ‘’incredibly grateful, and the positive change in their lives is visible.” Without such resources, learners often feel self-conscious, which affects their performance at school. Collaborations with partners like GEADO, Malebo added, are crucial to the development of communities like hers. Consequently, she hopes to expand the initiative to high schools across Bloemfontein and maintain a strong partnership with GEADO.

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Penny Siopis recipient of the prestigious Helgaard Steyn Award
2015-12-15

Vanya Terblance (ABSA Trust representative) hands over the award to Penny Siopis
Photo: Valentino Ndaba

On Friday 4 December 2015, Penny Siopis, the well-known Cape Town-based artist, who has been exhibiting her work locally and internationally since 1975, was presented with the 2015 Helgaard Steyn Award and a prize of R 550 000 for her painting entitled Swarm.

A quadrennial award lunch was hosted by the University of the Free State (UFS) Johannes Stegman Gallery in conjunction with the Helgaard Steyn and ABSA Trusts. The Helgaard Steyn Trust was established by the estate of Dr Jan Steyn and was named after his father and his brother who was the last president of the Orange Free State Republic.

Swarm, a 2011 painting using ink and glue on canvas, depicts a swarm of bees in a complex, dynamic, and intense manner. It earned the prestigious award that is dedicated to the promotion of artistic culture based on the adjudicators’ unanimous decision. Angela de Jesus, curator of the Johannes Stegmann Art Gallery at the UFS, Annali Dempsey of the University of Johannesburg Gallery, and Prof John Botha, Associate Professor in Art History at North West University, made up the 2015 panel of judges.

On receiving the award, Siopis thanked the Steyn family, the judges, and the people who nominated her. “I am struck by how fantastic it feels to be acknowledged. It is extraordinary when people are struck by what was your own world and the intensity buzzing in your head.”

According to Prof Botha, “Naturally the work of art is chosen on grounds of artistic merit and in the context of contemporary values with regards to both form and content.”

The award-winning painter studied Fine Arts at Rhodes University and Portsmouth University in United Kingdom. Apart from lecturing Fine Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand, she is an honorary professor at University of Cape Town Michaelis School of Fine Art. She has also taught at the Natal Technicon in Durban.

Siopis has received numerous awards for her work, including a British Council Scholarship, a Merit Award at the 2nd Cape Town Triennial, and the Atelier Award for a residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, in addition to the Alexander S Onassis fellowship for research in Greece.

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