Stellenbosch University's (SU) Division for Social Impact ended off its Mandela Week activities on a fun-filled high at Stellenzicht Secondary School.

The Division has been hard at work spearheading and organising various projects and initiatives for students and staff at SU to help celebrate Mandela Day. The call to action draws attention to the Mandela Day goals of providing quality education for all children, reducing hunger, providing safe shelter for families to live and sanitation that is safe in every school and community, and dedicating more resources to supporting poverty eradication.

The Division for Social Impact had a fun-filled, interactive collaborative community event at Stellenzicht Secondary School in Jamestown on Friday, 26 July. Learners were exposed to a career fair, a soapbox debate facilitated by Words Open Worlds (WOW), six-a-side soccer games and an Amazing Reading Race, as well as a community entrepreneurship market in collaboration with Ranyaka and the Jamestown Business Forum.

Renee Hector-Kannermeyer, Deputy Director at the Stellenbosch University (SU) Division for Social Impact, said their Division wanted to step outside the University's academic space and move closer to surrounding communities.

“We want to create a presence and also position SU as a resource that is closer to the people. The learners need to know that we, at SU, are people and we are interested in them; their stories are important and their futures matter to us. We are here as a support team. In addition, we want learners to walk away today thinking about their futures. We wanted to zoom out of their day-to-day tasks, tests and assignments and focus on what Stellenbosch University offers and help learners position their subject choices to access our University," said Kannermeyer.

According to Lester Allies, Principal at Stellenzicht Secondary School, the partnership between SU and the school started in 2011 and has helped them tremendously. He believes that the Mandela Day activities organised at their school play an important part in building confidence in the learners, exposing them to new opportunities and helping them break the cycle of poverty.

“The school is situated in quite an affluent area, but 90% of our learners are the kids of farmworkers. The most important thing for me for our learners is that they undertake some tertiary studies in order for them to break the cycle of poverty. If we can get the learners to study after they leave school, then we have achieved our goal," said Allies.

Another important partnership for the school is the WOW project. WOW is a SU Woordfees education empowerment project that works with Stellenzicht Secondary School throughout the year. There are author visits to the school, a campus tour for selective learners during the Woordfees Festival in March every year and the school takes part in WOW's debate and spelling festival.

Fiona van Kerwel, Project Manager at WOW, said the school was like family to them and one of the focus schools in the Stellenbosch area.

“For us at WOW, it is an honour and privilege to actually support them because one of our mission statements is to discover potential, develop it and at the end of the day send a little jewel into the world. The impact that we hope to make is to really make the children think. They have an opportunity to step out of their comfort zone. To achieve new things, to discover their own potential that they didn't even know they have," said Van Kerwel.