The sun streamed into the Fynbos Hub Coffee Shop at the Monument last week Wednesday, as 25 senior citizens from the Ethembeni Service Centre in Joza gathered there for a tea-time treat. The outing was organised by the Lillian Britten and Chris Hani residences as part of Community Engagement Week at Rhodes.
The sun streamed into the Fynbos Hub Coffee Shop at the Monument last week Wednesday, as 25 senior citizens from the Ethembeni Service Centre in Joza gathered there for a tea-time treat. The outing was organised by the Lillian Britten and Chris Hani residences as part of Community Engagement Week at Rhodes.
Gathered around colourful tables appropriately decorated with small fynbos arrangements, the group was able to take in a panoramic view of Grahamstown while enjoying tea, coffee and delicious slices of cake. Dr Sizwe Mabizela, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes was on hand to welcome them, and he was followed by Griffiths Sokuyeka, long-standing receptionist and tour guide at the 1820 Settlers' Monument, who gave their guests a bit of background information about this “living monument”.
This tea party for the elderly formed part of an extensive CE Week programme that saw a large number of departments, residences and societies at Rhodes involved in celebrating Community Engagement as an integral part of university life. Di Hornby, Director of the CE Office, said, “We deliberately went for ‘mass participation’, because CE is everybody’s business.”
Activities during the Week ranged from workshops, talks and documentary screenings to fun outings for preschool children, a cultural exchange that involved teaching each other to cook traditional dishes and a tour of Rhodes’s community partners in Grahamstown. On Monday evening, Mr Mandla Gagayi of the Sports Admin Department at Rhodes will give a lecture in celebration of being the third recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Community Engagement Award.
