More than 5 000 new Matie students took part in the annual Social Impact Community Morning at Stellenbosch University (SU) during the official Welcoming Week programme for newcomers.
On Thursday, 30 January 2020, students had the opportunity to meet various community partners involved in Social Impact initiatives in and around Stellenbosch and the Tygerberg area (for students of the Tygerberg campus), where they participated in an array of engaged activities, planned in collaboration with the community partners and student leaders.
On Stellenbosch campus, Academia residence collaborated with the Stellenbosch Municipality Disaster Unit in preparing over a hundred sandwich lunch packs, which will be distributed to designated areas in the Cloetesville area.
According to Jessica Garschagen, a student leader at Academia, this was not a “once off activity" for Welcoming Week. They plan to help the Disaster Unit and other community partners throughout the year by having “Sandwich Sundays" once or twice a month, where they will put together lunch packs that can be distributed to those in need in the greater Stellenbosch area.
The Community Morning also links well with the University's vision of, amongst others, advancing knowledge in service of society, the University's mission of enriching and transforming local communities and the strategic theme of building purposeful partnerships and inclusive networks – in this regard within the surrounding communities of the University.
Students at Goldfields residence hosted Idas Valley Primary School for a day out playing fun games, face painting and handing out lunch packs. Social Impact HK at Goldfields, Ayrton Jackson, said their partnership with the school has been running for four years.
“This is one of the many ways in which Stellenbosch University opens its doors to the community. We want the first-year students to know that Stellenbosch is not only a university, it is a town and a community."
Deputy Director of Social Impact and Head of Maties Community Service at SU, Rene Hector Kannemeyer, said, “We want to make the University accessible to the people, especially kids within the Stellenbosch community."
As part of Helshoogte residence's Community Morning, they collaborated with Rietenbosch Primary School for a day at the sports ground. The residence's Social Impact HK, Christiaan Burger, said for them, community engagement did not end when the learners went back to the school.
“We will be doing a sandwich drive to the night shelter and we have book reading sessions included in our year plan for one of the schools in the community. We want the students to be aware of the difference they can make in society."
Majuba and Nerina residence had a chance to interact with 30 children from Hanna Charity and Empowerment Foundation. Social Impact HK at Majuba, Jacques Ceronio, said, “Our residence has a five-year working relationship with the foundation. We have plans of doing annual beach outings with the kids. We have secondary projects running like the making of sandwiches for the homeless. We don't just want to give them sandwiches, but we want students to sit down and have conversations."
Although some of the activities during the Community Morning were once-off visits, others are opportunities students can be involved in throughout the year.
Photo by Stefan Els.
