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Education
HIV/AIDS programme hailed by communities
O
ne hundred community members reaped the rewards of months’ of dedication when they recently received certificates of participation, commemorating their part in the UWC/USAID HIV&AIDS Programme. Overseen by UWC’s Dr James Lees, the programme is run in a number of Western Cape communities, including Eerste Rivier, Kuilsriver and Mfuleni . The project sets out to provide training and workshops for community members – some 500 at the moment – infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. Among those at the ceremony were representatives from USAID, a longstanding supporter of this and related programmes. Speaking at the event, executive assistant to the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Mr Larry Pokpas, hailed the programme as a breakthrough in university-community relations. “This programme speaks to the kind of impact that this University wants to make in our communities,” he said. “This is what universities should be about – relevance to the social challenges facing the communities.” He also praised Lees, an American who has been at UWC since 2002, for his vision and persistence. “Dr Lees is a deeply passionate person and anybody can see the communities in which he works appreciate his work,” said Pokpas. For his part, Lees thanked the communities for their efforts and devotion to the programme. It is these communities which give life to universities, he said, and that community members must take ownership of their universities. “Your devotion to this programme is what brought us here today. This is your university; your programme.”
Dr James Lees shares his passion for the HIV/ AIDS Programme.
Learners put their paper-jet engineering skills to the test at the 2013 SLCA Sakhikamva Paper Jet Competition.
SLCA Paper Jet Competition: Learners fly further with STEM
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nyone who’s ever made and tossed a paper jet knows that it’s not as easy as it might look. A decent paper jet employs principles of engineering, mathematics and aviation, taking into account design, shape, size, wind, and sometimes just the obstacles likely to get in its way. To celebrate this special brand of knowledge, the University of the Western Cape’s Science Learning Centre for Africa (UWC-SLCA), together with the NGO the Sakhikamva Foundation, hosted its annual Paper Jet Competition at Victoria Park Primary School in Worcester on 12 October. Grades 6-9 learners from 15 schools in the Breederiver-Overberg region participated in the event, with up to three teams from each school vying for honours in three categories. Fatima Jakoet, SAA pilot and founder and CEO of the Sakhikamva Foundation, was on hand to give encouragement and advice. The paper jet competition was a way to encourage learners to do research, to learn to think outside the box and to work in teams, to develop as individuals, to fulfil UWC-SLCA’s objectives of promoting science education in schools, and expose the learners to careers in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. At the same time, it also met Sakhikamva’s aims to encourage aviation awareness. “Through this competition we strive to improve the collective interest of learners in science and mathematics in order to improve the culture of learning in those learning areas that are currently in crisis in South Africa,” Professor Shaheed Hartley, director of UWC-SLCA, explained. Hartley was impressed with the effort and initiative of the schools involved. At Worcester RC Primary, for example, the principal and science teacher staged trials to identify the best students. “Needless to say, this school did extremely well in the competition,” reported Hartley. But the school, which took home the prize for the jet that covered the longest distance, didn’t have it all its own way. Team 2 from FJ Conradie Primary won the honours for the longest flight duration, while its Team 3 was judged to have the best design, following a presentation by learners on their research and development process to a panel of adjudicators.
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