Matie Buddy Programme

Moving from familiar surroundings to a new country with new people and new cultures is not always easy. Our Matie Buddy programme provides international students with an opportunity to connect with a local student even before they arrive in South Africa. This will help them settle into life at Stellenbosch University.

Inviting local SU students to apply as a Matie Buddy

The Matie Buddy Programme is an exciting cross-cultural buddy programme that allows you to connect with international students before their arrival and also during their time in Stellenbosch.

The Matie Buddy programme consists of two tiers. There is the voluntary programme and there is the more formal co-curricular programme. Both programmes allow opportunities for intercultural engagement with International Students.

The voluntary programme is a loosely implemented programme in which students are able to engage with the international students at their own convenience throughout the year and also participate in various events and activities. Only 70 students will be selected for the voluntary positions.

By signing up as a voluntary Matie Buddy, you commit to:

Make contact with your International Buddy prior to their arrival in Stellenbosch
Attend the compulsory welcome and orientation programmes of each semester
Attend the compulsory training sessions at the beginning of each semester
Maintain contact throughout the semester
Offering help with various other integration programme such as ISOS, International Food Evening, campus tour and other events throughout the semester.

The more formal aspect of the Matie Buddy programme is known as The Cross-cultural Intelligence Training. The Cross-cultural Intelligence Training is an experiential learning programme that is formally structured and aimed at developing students' intercultural competence. The Cross-cultural Intelligence Training is a collaborative initiative between SU International and the Co-curricular office at Stellenbosch University. In this leg of the programme students need to complete several compulsory electives, this includes participating in various intercultural activities that are designed to intentionally develop the student's cross-cultural intelligence. The student will also need to complete compulsory assessments to measure whether they have attained the learning outcomes of the programme. Only 30 students will be selected into the co-curricular programme. Students who have successfully completed the electives and assessments ultimately achieve the learning outcomes will receive the recognition that will reflect on their academic transcript.

By signing up for the Cross-cultural Intelligence leg of the Matie Buddy programme you commit to:

Make contact with your International Buddy prior to their arrival in Stellenbosch
Attend the compulsory Welcome and Orientation programmes of each semester
Attend the all-training sessions
Maintain contact throughout the semester
Participate in various intercultural electives/activities that are designed to intentionally develop your intercultural competence.
Make use of the SUNLEAN platform by engaging and interacting in various discussion threads, quizzes and other intercultural activities.
Complete all the assessments.

If you are interested in joining the Matie Buddy programme please do follow our Instagram pages the calls for applications are announced there.

Please note that all Matie Buddies (Voluntary or Formal) need to attend the Welcome and Orientation of International Students each semester.