From the 4th to the 6th May 2015 the Rhodes University held a “Community Engaged Learning Symposium” at the Gavon Relly Post Graduate Village. As a local NGO the Village Scribe Association was invited to join the audience and the discussions after each lecture. The topics ranged from “What university staff and schoolteachers can learn from each other” and “Implementing a community based learning initiative within a rural setting” to “Let’s talk about sex and gender”. Representatives of the University of Johannesburg and Vale, the Vaal University of Technology, the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and the Rhodes University Community Engagement were invited to participate as well as local NGOs like AMP!, GADRA and Rhodes Volunteers.
Each evening a gathering was offered with the opportunity of networking and following up on discussions from before. There were a couple of good ideas, new perspectives and lots of input which could be of advantage for VSA. Additionally to that we were able to promote awarenet and meet some new people of the social work realm.
We would like to thank the Rhodes University and especially Diana Hornby for inviting us and the wonderful and informative symposium.