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24 September 2024
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Story Aimée Barlow
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Photo Supplied
Louzanne Coetzee, who made history by clinching South Africa’s second medal at the Paralympics, earning a bronze in the T11 1 500 m women’s final with a personal best time, received a warm reception when she recently returned home.
The celebrated Paralympic bronze medallist Louzanne Coetzee returned home to a warm welcome at the Bram Fischer International Airport on 10 September 2024.
Family, friends, colleagues, Arista students, and media gathered to celebrate her remarkable achievement and show their support.
Coetzee – KovsieSport Coordinator of Parasport at the University of the Free State (UFS) – made history by clinching South Africa’s second medal at the Paralympics, earning a bronze in the T11 1 500 m women’s final with a personal best time. Her dedication and hard work have not only brought her personal glory but have also inspired many in her community.
Among those present to welcome her was Jerry Laka, Director of KovsieSport, who expressed his pride in Coetzee’s accomplishments.
"We as KovsieSport are so proud of our colleague Coetzee. It is amazing to see a product of KovsieSport achieving greatness on the world stage. She is truly an inspiration to us all," said Laka.
“I am so glad to be back, and to have Laka and my colleagues here. It means the world to me. Having Laka here shows his commitment to my career and ParaSport and his staff in general,” shared Coetzee, her gratitude evident.
She further expressed her appreciation for the support she received, stating, “I don’t have the words to describe how thankful I am for the support from the UFS community.”
Coetzee’s return is a proud moment for South Africa and the University of the Free State (UFS) community. Welcome home, Louzanne! Your achievements have made us all proud!
UFS provides sign language skills to locals
2016-02-12
Susan Lombaard teaching at one of the sessions
Photo: Valentino Ndaba |
The public and private sectors are becoming more aware of the need for effective communication between employers, employees, and clients who use Sign Language. Given that Sign Language is the first language of approximately 600 000 people in South Africa, competence in the language means taking the first step towards more inclusive service delivery.
Shout Out Loud - a project that promotes Sign Language - has signed up Bloemfontein Celtics, Centlec, Beyond Boundaries, and the Mangaung Municipality on a Basic South African Sign Language course at the University of the Free State.
No miscommunication
Susan Lombaard, the Acting Head at the Department of South African Sign Language, was one of the lecturers who presented the 40-hour accredited course every Friday from 15 January-12 February 2016. Other lecturers who were responsible for training were Emily Matabane and Tshisikhawe Dzhivani.
Lombaard believes that learning Sign Language bridges the gap between the hearing and those who have impairments. “The benefit is that there will be no miscommunication. It happens that a deaf person walks into a bank or municipality offices and there is no communication. They need to write which is humiliating for that person.”
Towards a promising future
According to Goodwill Mokoena, Project Manager at Beyond Boundaries, the project will continue annually, and a larger intake of government departments and non-governmental organisations is expected in 2016.He also indicated that Shout Out Loud has achieved substantial success in its involvement with the Bartimea School for the Blind and Deaf.
Shout Out Loud selects one pupil every month, and flies them to Johannesburg to interpret on Bloemfontein Celtics’ magazine show. It is the only magazine show in South Africa that has a sign language interpreter. “The school has been achieving 100% in matric results because the pupils are selected on merit. This has enhanced their academic performance in such a marvelous way,” said Mokoena.