More than 5 000 new Matie students will get an
opportunity to take part in the annual Social Impact Community Morning at
Stellenbosch University (SU) on Thursday, 31 January 2019. The students will
visit several of the social impact projects in and around Stellenbosch and the
Tygerberg area (where the Tygerberg campus is situated) and take part in an
array of engaged activities.
The Social Impact Community Morning forms part of the
Welcoming Programme and offers the opportunity for newcomers to interact with
the partners within their proposed community initiatives. The Community Morning
links well with the University’s 2040 vision of advancing knowledge in service
of society and one of its key strategies of building purposeful partnerships and
inclusive networks including within the surrounding communities
of SU.
The aim of the Community Morning is
for newcomers to form meaningful connections with communities outside of SU in
order to collaborate on joint volunteer project initiatives to be implemented
throughout the year. The focus will also be placed on sharing innovative ideas
and solutions in terms of the challenges identified by community partners.
Students are invited to form part of a
structured volunteer programme managed by Matie Community Service, which is an
NGO housed with the Division for Social Impact.
Besides support offered to various
initiatives, students have documented the following competencies gained by
participating in the programme:
- Development of self-awareness and interpersonal skills
- Understanding of the concepts and principles of community engagement
- Understanding of leadership in context and engaging actively in community partnership formation.
This year, student societies will take part in the
activities alongside the residences and private wards. Although some of the
activities are once-off visits, others are opportunities in which students can become
involved throughout the year.
Erica and Huis ten Bosch residences will, for example, be supporting
The Ark Educare Centre, where newcomers will interact with learners through
different activities.
The private student organisation (PSO)
Olympus is partnering with Rise Against Hunger for our
Community Morning, where they will pack 10 000 meals at the Simonsberg
residence for their initiatives. They have also offered to donate another 10 000
meals to the Move for Food initiative – an initiative which focusses on
creating sustainable food banks for
students who need it at SU.
Even though the Tygerberg campus has already started with
their academic programme, newcomer students are also involved in various social
impact initiatives. Here, Osler, a PSO, is focusing their efforts on improving
the environment within Tygerberg Hospital. The Huis Francie van Zijl residence
acknowledges the importance of education and will be visiting a primary school.
Activities include the creation of a campus vegetable garden and visits to the
old-age home and MES Night Shelter.
- Liaise with Michelle Pietersen (Stellenbosch campus) at tel. 021 808 3643 and Avril Whate (Tygerberg campus) at tel. 021 938 9310 for more information.
Programme
| Stellenbosch campus Community Morning 2019 | | |
| Residence/Ward | Community partner | Activity |
| | | |
| Academia | Jessie Keet Crèche | The learners at the Jessie Keet Crèche will be treated to a fun activity and delicious treats. Academia students will introduce themselves to the children and hopefully this will be a meaningful start to their relationship for the year-long project. |
| Aristea PSO & Pieke | Kayamandi Primary School | Newcomers and House Committee members will engage in sport and art activities with the children on the Coetzenberg fields. |
| Aurora PSO & Helderberg | On campus | Students will be placed into groups; each group will then go around campus collecting plastic bottles. The group that brings back the most bottles will receive a prize, and afterwards first-years will build bins from these plastic bottles. These bins will be used for recycling plastic during the year. Approximately 320 first-years are expected. |
| Capri PSO | Strand beach | Seniors and newcomers will have a beach clean-up day. After the clean-up, there will be a picnic and beach games related to a theme will be played. |
| Erica & Huis ten Bosch | The Ark Educare Centre | Huis ten Bosch will be hosting children from The Ark Educare Centre. They will be playing sports and games and participate in educational activities. They will also decorate masks that are made from paper plates. |
| Erica & Dagbreek | The Ark City of Refuge | Newcomers will be heading to The Ark where they will interact with the children and engage in various activities. |
| Eendrag & Lydia | Rietenbosch Primary School | Newcomers will be introduced to Grade 1 learners with whom the project will be run throughout the year. The morning will start with everyone learning a dance together. The children will be divided into groups and will rotate through various activities. |
Equite PSO & Huis Marais | Strand beach | Newcomers will be given a bin bag and gloves to use to pick up litter from the beach. Community partners will also be given the opportunity to interact with one another. |
| Goldfields & Huis Visser | St Idas
Primary School Stellenbosch Animal Shelter | Students will be asked to bring one book each, which will be donated to the primary school. Before the collection, there will be a short presentation on the main social impact project for 2019. Students will also be given the option of going to the Stellenbosch Animal Shelter to play with abandoned animals. |
| Harmonie & Oude Molen PSO | On campus | Students will interact with children from Weber Gedenk primary school by doing various activities with them. |
| Heemstede | AWSS Vision Afrika | AWSS:
Students will assist with feeding and walking the animals. Vision Afrika:
Students will assist with schoolwork and classes where necessary. They will also engage in various activities with the children. |
Helshoogte & Serruria
| Stellenbosch Night Shelter Youth Outreach Centre | Half of the students will stay behind to make sandwiches at the residence, while the other half will spend time with the youths at the Youth Outreach Centre. |
| Huis Neetling & Venustia | Stellenbosch Night Shelter | An informative session will be hosted by a community partner on how to get involved at the Night Shelter. |
| Irene | Stellenbosch Night Shelter | A sandwich drive will be held at Irene. These sandwiches will be donated to the Night Shelter. Newcomers will be divided into groups to sell coupons for the Night Shelter in town and on campus. |
| Majuba & Minerva | Hanna Foundation | A group of 60 children from the Hanna Foundation will be brought to the Jan Marais park. They will be split into groups of three, where they will rotate between stations with a different activity. After this, the children will be given snacks and be allowed to play freely with first-years and House Committee members. |
| Metanoia | 9Miles project Beacon Hill High School Silverstream Secondary School Legacy Centre Hospice shop, Stellenbosch | Newcomers will be divided into three groups of approximately 70 students each. Activities are as follows: At Metanoia:
Students will welcome high school learners from Cape Town as well as children from the 9Miles project. Here there will be a motivational talk followed by a fun day. Legacy Centre:
The students will visit the Legacy Centre and do maintenance such as window cleaning, sweeping, etc. Hospice shop, Stellenbosch:
Students will assist with sorting through donations. |
| Monica & Wilgenhof | Strand beach | Students will participate in a beach clean-up. |
| Nemesia & Simonsberg | Ikaya fun day | Students will interact with the children in the community through various sports activities. |
| Nerina | Maties PAW Hanna Foundation Serendipity Project | Students will rotate between these three activities on the day: Maties PAW:
The chairperson will give a short speech about the organisation, after which students will be able to interact with puppies and kittens. Hanna Foundation:
Students will interact with children at three different stations with various activities. Serendipity Project:
Suzanne Loots will give a short speech about her project, whereafter students will make 'creative creations' (small cards with messages of love and inspiration). |
| Olympus PSO | Rise Against Hunger | At meal-packing events, stations are set up with various ingredients for the pack and volunteers will work together to make, seal and pack meals into boxes. |
| Silene & Vesta | Bricks for youth | Four groups will be rotated to pick up litter, make eco-bricks, work at the recycling craft station and play outside. |
| Sonop | Stellenbosch Night Shelter Old-age home | Students will participate in a sandwich drive for the Night Shelter and visiting the old-age home in Stellenbosch. Students will also be making party packets with personalised messages for the staff's children to spread some positivity. |
Tygerberg campus Community Morning 2019 | | |
Residence/Ward/Committee | Community partner | Activity |
Kerkenberg & Osler PSO | Tygerberg Hospital outpatients | Students will participate in a sandwich drive and will take sandwiches to patients waiting in outpatient departments. |
Francie van Zijl | Kalkfontein Primary School | A few activities will be facilitated that engage with Grade 6/7 learners. The aim is to encourage learners to remain active and have a healthy lifestyle. |
Hippocrates | Tygerberg paediatric wards | Students will go to paediatric wards at Tygerberg Hospital and read to children to encourage a love for reading. |
Meerhoff | MES Night Shelter | Students will assist in building green boxes/crates that will be used at the Night Shelter to grow vegetables. |
MGD Committee | Sarepta Old-age Home | Students will interact with residents, play games and do pedicures. Another group of students and residents will do maintenance in the garden. |
Sustainability Committee | Tygerberg campus | Students will be working on the green plan for the campus. They will clean vegetable patches and create more vegetable patches for students in need of food. |
