Mutual feelings of inspiration and gratitude were apparent at the Ukwanda Community Partnership Function where students and their community partners presented the projects they collaborated on during 2016.

"I'm so grateful for the opportunity to work with amazing people that want to make a difference and be part of the change in rural communities," one of the students commented.

The annual function was held at the Rural Clinical School on the Worcester Campus in September, where medical and allied-health students from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences presented their research and community engagement projects. It was attended by Stellenbosch University students and staff, representatives from the South African Police Service, the Department of Health, Department of Education, schools, religious bodies, the media and civil society.

There were nine oral presentations and seven electronic poster presentations. A new addition to the programme was a 30-minute opening lecture entitled the 'Hoffie Conradie Address', which was named after Ukwanda's founding director, Prof Hoffie Conradie, to honour his contribution and love for the community. Prof Conradie himself delivered the inaugural Hoffie Conradie Address.

Health promotion and disease prevention stalls were set up in the atrium at the Worcester campus on the day. The stalls were run by students, and members of the audience could have their blood pressure measured, their body mass index (BMI) calculated, or taught how to make developmentally appropriate educational toys for children using recycled and low-cost materials, or obtain information on socio-economic and culturally relevant healthy shopping alternatives.

The annual RCS student award for Community Engagement and Transformative Learning was shared between Emma Loubsher (Occupational Therapy IV) and Rulanda Pretorius (Physiotherapy IV).

Photo: Final-year occupational therapy students at the Rural Clinical School with teachers from PJB Cona Primary School in Zwelethemba.