Grade 9, 10 and 11 learners who obtained the 1st Prize award in the poster presentation. Together with) Mr D Matsebatlela (DoE District Director, front extreme left), Prof Z Dlamini (Deputy Executive Dean CAES, front extreme right), Prof MJ Linington (Executive Dean, CAES), Dr TS Van Eeden (COD Department of Life and Consumer Sciences, Back extreme right), Prof SR Magano (Project Leader, next to Dr van Eeden)
CAES staff members showing the wet wipes and pamphlets which were distributed to the Diepsloot community.
The Department of Life and Consumer Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences celebrated the World Health Day with Diepsloot Combined School on the 20th April 2011. Although the World Health Day is annually celebrated on the 7th April, this date coincided with the school holidays and hence necessitated deferment to the 20th of April. The 2011 theme for the World Health Day as determined by the World Health Organization (WHO) was “Antimicrobial resistance: no action no cure tomorrow”. Through this theme, the WHO’s goal is to create an awareness about the threat posed by antimicrobial resistance and its global spread to the effectiveness of many medicines used today as remedies against major infectious disease-causing agents such as bacteria and viruses and consequently launch campaigns to safeguard such medicines for future generations.
The celebration was held in the premises of Diepsloot Combined School and was graced by the presence of a delegation from the Department of Education (DoE) including the District Director Mr David Matsebatlela and the executive management of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (Unisa) including Dr TS Van Eeden (COD, Life and Consumer Sciences), Prof Z Dlamini (Deputy Executive Dean, CAES) and Prof MJ Linington (Executive Dean: CAES).
Although the event was primarily focused on promoting good health practices, Prof SR Magano (Project Leader), emphasized that the event must be viewed as part of a broader Community Engagement (CE) partnership which the Department of Life and Consumer Sciences (Unisa) is having with Diepsloot Combined School. The overall goal of this CE partnership is to allow sharing and transfer of skills and knowledge in a mentor/mentee type of relationship, leading towards improved output.
The highlight for the day was the poster presentations by grade 9, 10 and 11 learners. The posters were on the following aspects of the theme: Microorganisms and their effects on our daily life, importance of nutrition, drug resistant microbes/super-bugs causes and effects and world deadly epidermics: preventive and treatment measures. A total of 252 learners participated in this task. Posters were evaluated by a panel of judges constituted by Unisa lecturers (Dr SL Lebelo, Dr MA Nyila, Ms K Pandarum, Mr JJ Sibanyoni, Ms TL Makhobotloane, Ms P Khoza, Dr S Mahlo) and Diepsloot Combined School educators (Mr MJ Munakisi, Ms N Magwaxaza, Ms MD Mahome, Mr V Netshilonwe). Learners in groups which presented the best posters in each grade, were awarded scientific calculators by the executive dean of CAES, Prof MJ Linington. The deputy executive dean of CAES Prof Z Dlamini handed a Unisa blanket to the principal of Diepsloot Combined School, Mrs V Kgabo as a token of appreciation for good leadership.
Learners making a poster presentation.
The key-note address for the day was given by CAES executive dean, Prof MJ Linington who emphasized the importance of maintaining good health practices and also congratulated learners for working tirelessly, even during the school holidays, to develop the posters which were presented during the event.
In an effort to extend the message beyond the school yard, approximately 3000 wet-wipes and pamphlets containing information on good health practices, were distributed in the neighbourhood of the school by both learners and members of the Department of Life and Consumer Sciences.
The DoE District Director, Mr D Matsebatlela appreciated and thanked Unisa for the Community Engagement partnership it has with Diepsloot Combined School and expressed a wish that such initiatives could be extended to other schools.
