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24 July 2025 | Story Lunga Luthuli | Photo Supplied
Mandela Day event at Heidedal Child and Youth Centre
Attending the Mandela Day event at Heidedal Child and Youth Centre, from left to right: Prof Joseph Pali, Associate Professor in the Department of Practical and Missional Theology; Bishop Billyboy Ramahlele, Director of Community Engagement; Jeannet Molopyane, Director of UFS Library and Information Services; Prof John Klaasen, Dean of the Faculty of Theology and Religion; Caroline Nombula, Heidedal Child and Youth Care Centre; and Kegomodicwe Phuthi, Assistant Director for Marketing and Community Engagement at UFS Library and Information Services.

In a powerful display of its commitment to societal transformation, the University of the Free State (UFS) marked Nelson Mandela International Day on 18 July with a collaborative outreach initiative at the Heidedal Child and Youth Care Centre (CYCC). 

Driven by the theme of empowerment through education and creativity, the Faculty of Theology and Religion, Library and Information Services (LIS), Community Engagement Office, School of Financial Planning Law, and UFS Makerspace partnered to officially launch a library at the centre – a milestone aimed at fostering a love of reading and academic development among the youth.

Jeanette Molopyane, Director of LIS, emphasised the lasting impact of the project. “The establishment of this library is about making a meaningful and enduring difference in the lives of these children. Through regular interaction with books and the reading club, we aim to inspire a love for reading that will enhance intellectual growth, build confidence, and open doors to a brighter future,” she said. 

Molopyane added that the initiative reflects UFS’s broader mission to empower communities and support the development of future leaders beyond the borders of its campuses. 

Prof John Klaasen, Dean of the Faculty of Theology and Religion, underscored the importance of engaged scholarship in meaningful research. “This was not just a day of service but a demonstration of what is possible through collaboration. It reflects a theology and religion that serves beyond the classroom and affirms our collective role in shaping a better future for all,” he noted. “Mandela Day reminds us of our calling to reconciliation, compassion, and shared responsibility – values that must anchor our teaching, research, and outreach.”

The initiative left a profound impression on the Heidedal CYCC. Carolina Nombula, representing the Centre, shared the gratitude of the staff and children: “Mandela Day brought a deep sense of joy, belonging, and dignity. The library, especially, is life-changing – it provides a safe, inspiring space for learning, imagination, and personal growth. It reminds our children that they matter, their dreams are valid, and they are not forgotten.”

Through collaborative efforts such as this, the UFS continues to give tangible expression to its mandate as a caring institution – one that champions opportunity, nurtures potential, and works towards a more equitable and inclusive society. 

News Archive

UFS cardiologists and surgeons give children a beating heart
2015-04-23

Photo: René-Jean van der Berg

A team from the University of the Free State School for Medicine work daily unremittingly to save the lives of young children who have been born with heart defects by carrying out highly specialised interventions and operations on them. These operations, which are nowadays performed more and more frequently by cardiologists from the UFS School of Medicine, place the UFS on a similar footing to world-class cardiology and cardio-thoracic units.

One of the children is seven-month-old Montsheng Ketso who recently underwent a major heart operation to keep the left ventricle of her heart going artificially.

Montsheng was born with a rare, serious defect of the coronary artery, preventing the left ventricle from receiving enough blood to pump to the rest of the body.

This means that the heart muscle can suffer damage because these children essentially experience a heart attack at a very young age.

In a healthy heart, the left ventricle receives oxygenated blood from the left atrium. Then the left ventricle pumps this oxygen-rich blood to the aorta whence it flows to the rest of the body. The heart muscle normally receives blood supply from the oxygenated aorta blood, which in this case cannot happen.

Photo: René-Jean van der Berg

“She was very ill. I thought my baby was going to die,” says Mrs Bonizele Ketso, Montsheng’s mother.

She says that Montsheng became sick early in February, and she thought initially it was a tight chest or a cold. After a doctor examined and treated her baby, Montsheng still remained constantly ill, so the doctor referred her to Prof Stephen Brown, paediatric cardiologist at the UFS and attached to Universitas Hospital.

Here, Prof Brown immediately got his skilled team together as quickly as possible to diagnose the condition in order to operate on Montsheng.

During the operation, the blood flow was restored, but since Montsheng’s heart muscle was seriously damaged, the heart was unable to contract at the end of the operation. Then she was coupled to a heart-lung machine to allow the heart to rest and give the heart muscle chance to recover. The entire team of technologists and the dedicated anaesthetist, Dr Edwin Turton, kept a vigil day and night for several days.

Prof Francis Smit, chief specialist at the UFS Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, explains that without this operation Montsheng would not have been able to celebrate her first birthday.

“After the surgery, these children can reach adulthood without further operations. Within two to three months after the operation, she will have a normal active life, although for about six months she will still use medication. Thereafter, she will be tiptop and shortly learn to crawl and walk.”

Mrs Ketso is looking forward enormously to seeing her daughter stand up and take her first steps. A dream which she thought would never come true.    

“Write there that I really love these doctors.”

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