A partnership between SHAWCO (the Students’ Health and Welfare Centers Organization) and UCT’s Health Sciences Faculty is providing clinical-skills training for scores of medical students. The Site B Community Health Center provides essential health care to thousands of residents on the Cape Flats. It is here that UCT’s medical students get their first real exposure to community clinics.

Under the guidance of Dr. Biddy Buchanan-Lee and her two assistants, Ezzy Zozi and Khanyisa Ntwana, fourth-year students manage patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, learn the process behind X-rays, and assist in HIV clinics.

With a BSc from UCT and medical training at Cambridge and Newcastle Universities, Dr. Buchanan-Lee has worked in Khayelitsha for 12

years—and she’s a “big fan” of community service. “It’s essential to train students in the sort of environ-ment they have to work in,” she says.

Such is her belief in this experience that, when her teaching space came under threat in 2008, instead of just packing it all up, she dug in her heels and got creative. The solution to Buchanan-Lee’s space problem was “Big Mama”, SHAWCO’s largest clinic. It’s a win-win-win situation in which SHAWCO’s mo-bile clinics, used by volunteers to provide medical services by night, double up as sites for the manage-ment of patients by day.

Said Buchanan-Lee: “Without SHAWCO, our stu-dents would not have the experience of working in circumstances close to what awaits them in their community service.”

Providing Medical Training in the Heart of Communities

INSIDE

Activist Wins Alumni Award, page 2

Spring Events, page 5

Institute Enhances Creative Cape Town, page 3

UCT News Update is a twice yearly publication of the UCT Fund that provides informa-tion about developments at the University of Cape Town to Alumni and Friends in the United States.

NewsUpdate

S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 9

(from left) Interpreter Ezzy Zozi, health sciences student Raphaella Stander, Dr. Biddy Buchanan-Lee, and interpreter Khanyisa Ntwana at work in the SHAWCO mobile clinic in Khayelitsha Site B.

2 a l u m n i i n t h e n e w s

UCT graduate Golda Schultz (right) has won the inaugural Jan Kaminski Bursary to support her graduate studies at the Juilliard School in New York. Soprano Magdalene Minnaar-Venter (left) has been offered a supporting grant to study at the New York City Opera this year.

Both alumni are former members of Cape Town Opera.

Activist Wins Alumni Award

Dr. David Russell’s decades-long fight against apartheid was honored by UCT when he was awarded the President of Convocation Medal at the June graduation ceremony.

The medal is awarded to UCT graduates who have brought credit to the university by their contribu-tions to the wider community.

As a young priest in the 1970s, Russell made headlines as a prominent anti-apartheid activist, long before churches spoke out strongly against the apartheid regime.

Who would you like to see receive the Convocation Medal? Submit motivations to Monde Mjebeza at Monde.Mjebeza@uct.ac.za, by September 30.

High Honors for Opera Graduates

David Goldblatt at the New MuseumThe New Museum has compiled over 100 images taken over the past 50 years for ac-claimed photographer David Goldblatt’s first major New York exhibition in over a decade.

Photographs in “Intersections Intersected” examine the relationship between the past and present. Black-and-white photographs from the beginning of Goldblatt’s career are paired with his more recent color work. Goldblatt, who was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Art from UCT in 2001, has documented the changing political land-scape of South Africa for more than five decades. He has won the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography and the Henri Cartier-Bresson Award.

“Intersections Intersected: The Photography of David Goldblatt” will be on view until October 11, 2009. Related events include the African Film Festival, a series of documen-tary and fictional films exploring contemporary representations of South Africa, on show at the New Museum on August 29, September 19, and October 10. For more info, see http://www.newmuseum.org

i regard myself as an unlicensed, self-appointed observer and critic of south african society which i continue to explore with the camera.

— David Goldblatt

Lulu Gebashe and Solomon Mlutshana, Mofolo Park, Soweto, Johannesburg, January 1973. 55.5 x 55.5cmCourtesy the artist, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, and Howard Greenberg, New York.

c a m p u s c o n n e c t i o n s 3

South Africa Tests AIDS VaccineTwo HIV vaccines developed by UCT’s Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine have begun clinical testing at Crossroads in Cape Town and in Soweto.

The trial was described by Medical Research Council President Anthony Mbewu as a “giant leap” for science and technology in South Africa. The country is one of the few developing nations, and the first in Africa, to have developed an HIV vaccine and put it forward for human clinical trials.

The vaccines are the culmination of eight years of research and development. They are being con-ducted jointly with the HIV Vaccine Trials Network and U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

“An effective vaccine against HIV/AIDS remains a top global health priority,” said UCT’s Professor Anna-Lise Williamson, leader of the vaccine devel-opment team. “We hope that evaluation of these vaccines will bring us closer to this goal.”

Bridget Oppenheimer with Professor Salazar (middle) and Professor Wieland Gevers (right), secretary-general of the Academy of Science.

Salazar Wins Oppenheimer Award Distinguished Professor Philippe-Joseph Salazar has been awarded the prestigious Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award.

The fellowship is granted to leading scholars to advance cutting-edge, internationally significant work. Salazar, who is a Life Fellow of UCT and Director of the Centre of Rhetoric Studies, is the ninth recipient of the award and the third from UCT.

“The award will enable me to begin research, while in residence at The George Washington University, on rare documents concerning George Washington—as a tem-plate for understanding what I call presidential ethics,” said Professor Salazar.

UCT’s newly-established Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts kicks into high gear this month with the start of a new set of public projects and the appointment of a new Director.

“What excites me about working with the Gordon Institute is that it embraces a breadth of disciplines,” says Director Rob Baum.

Launched last December, the Institute is underpinned by a R50-million chal-lenge grant from the Donald Gordon Foundation. It seeks to bridge creative disciplinary boundaries by bringing together creative writing, drama, dance, film and media, fine art, music and the Baxter Theatre.

In August the Institute launched “Great Texts/Big Questions”, a public lecture series featuring speakers such as AIDS activist Zackie Achmat, cosmologist George Ellis and world-renowned neuroscientist Mark Solms.

If you’re heading to Cape Town, check for details on upcoming events at www.gipca.uct.ac.za

UCT dancers perform at the launch of the Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts in December 2008.

New UCT Institute Enhances “Creative Cape Town”

4 e V e n t s

Barry Kassar with UCT Executive Director of Alumni & Development, Jim McNamara.

San Diego

Alumni met up with friends and colleagues over Sunday brunch and heard from Vice-Chancellor Max Price about new develop-ments at UCT and the role of the University in South Africa and abroad.

UCT alumni (from left) Wilma Jakobsen and Neil Kritzinger chat with Max Price in the courtyard of the UCLA Fowler Museum.

Los Angeles

LA-area Alumni and Friends enjoyed a guided tour of the exhibition “Continental Rifts: Contemporary Time-Based Works of Africa” at the Fowler Museum at UCLA, featuring the work of Cape Town art-ists, Georgia Papageorge and UCT alumna Berni Searle, followed by a reception with remarks from Vice-Chancellor Max Price.

Berkeley

Bay area alumni joined University of California Berkeley faculty and staff at an event co-hosted by the UCT Fund and the UCB Center for Africa Studies at UC Berkeley International House.

(from left) John Largier, Martha Saavedra of the UC Berkeley Center for African Studies who co-hosted the event, and Sebastian Kevany.

Lynn Reid (left) with Joy Brown.

UCT in Californiaseveral alumni and Friends gatherings were held in california in may, during a visit to the u.s. by the Vice-chancellor Dr. max price.

Law Dean in New YorkAt the end of May, Law Dean PJ Schwikkard hosted a reunion for law graduates and friends at the South African Consulate in New York City. The Dean spoke informally about developments in the Faculty and progress of the Law 150 Campaign. She was followed by alumnus Nicholas Haysom, Director for Political Affairs in the Office of United Nations Secretary-General, who spoke about the current challenges facing the UN.

e V e n t s 5

Palo Alto

UCT alumnus Robert Berman and his wife Lucy hosted an event for Dr. Max Price at their home in Palo Alto. This gath-ering drew a broad cross-section of alumni, from graduates from the 1950’s through the past few years and students from California colleges who studied abroad at UCT.

Lynn Reid (left) with Joy Brown.

Mark Setzen (left) with Robert Berman.

Max Price with alumni Shehnaaz Suliman and Vivek Veeraraghavan, with Grant Parker in the background.

(from left to right) Saras Jagwanth with Justin Goldblatt and Lindiwe Vundla.

Laura-Lee Atkinson-Hope and her husband Eugene Smit.

6 G i F t s at w o r k

UCT’s goal to attract more students from disadvantaged communi-ties received a boost recently when the Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) program, a partnership of top U.S. corporations and graduate business schools, launched its global program in South Africa.

High school students from around Cape Town took part in an intensive 10-day program at UCT in July. LEAD Global’s aim is to expose students to global career opportunities in commerce, engineering and science so that they make better informed decisions about university study.

LEAD will rely on its proven model for delivering youth career de-velopment in a collaborative effort involving youth, universities and

businesses. UCT and the University of the Witwatersrand are the South African university partners, while U.S. multi-national corporations and South African-based businesses will provide operational support.

“South Africa was chosen to host the inaugural class as the country has been a leader in social innovation,” said LEAD Consultant Timothy Webster.

JP Morgan is the inaugural corporate sponsor, having pledged $1 million for the launch of LEAD Global programs.

Students Emma Mlanga of Cosmocity High School, Olwethu Rwairwai of Masiyile High School, Nosiphiwo Kabane of Harry Gwala High School, Kesle French of West Haven High School, and Aletta Matakanye of Cosmocity High School took part in the launch of the LEAD program at UCT.

south africa was chosen to host the inaugural class as the country has been a leader in social innovation.

— leaD consultant timothy webster.

New Global Career Program Launches at UCT

G i F t s at w o r k 7

Starr Scholarship Student Succeeds Against All OddsDetermination and the realization that education is the key to success motivated Michael Tladi to move from selling goods on street corners to the graduation podium at UCT.

Tladi, who grew up in Dipompong in the North West Province, lived on the streets after his mother abandoned him at the age of five.

In Grade 11, he was taken in by a shelter in Mabopane, run by American volunteers, who helped put him through school.

Michael joined the Faculty’s Foundation Program in 2001. “My studies were not easy. My English was not good and if I had to solve a problem, I would write it in English, translate it into Tswana, solve it in Tswana and translate it back.”

But Michael persevered. He was awarded a C.V. Starr Scholarship on the strength of his success in his first of study. He currently works for Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works, and is set to graduate with a BSc in Electro-Mechanical Engineering in December.

This past Spring, Robert Gould (UCT Commerce Exchange Student ’04) led a successful U.S.-based fundraising campaign to provide scholarships for University of Cape Town students in ac-cordance with the Link-SA Fund.

Link-SA provides scholarships for academically talented, but financially

disadvantaged students to study disciplines such as Engineering, Law, Commerce, Sciences and Medicine. Its aim is to equip South Africans with skills that will create employment, raise living standards and uplift communities.

Link-SA currently provides scholarships to 30 disadvantaged students at UCT. Link-SA also assists students at University of the Witwatersrand, University of the Western Cape, Rhodes University and Stellenbosch University. Since its inception in 1999, Link-SA has grown from the sup-porting 4 students in 1999 to 168 in 2009.

Scholarship recipients are selected strictly on academic ability—Link-SA targets South Africa’s brightest disadvantaged students. The trustees

review candidates’ performances annually, and only those who meet or exceed Link-SA’s standards are eligible to have their grants renewed. This carefully supervised funding of hand-picked individuals, supported by a comprehensive mentoring scheme, ensures that donations have maximum impact.

Link-SA was set up by two young South Africans who studied at UCT and Wits and later at Cambridge in England. As white students under the apartheid regime, they received educational opportunities denied to many of their fellow South Africans. Upon entering the workforce, the founders recognized the quality and value of their South African edu-cation and quickly realized that this academic foundation had been an exclusive privilege. Eager to rectify this imbalance and make available to others these educational opportunities, the founders established Link-SA, a vehicle for those with South African affiliations to contribute to the tertiary education of underprivileged students, many of whom were disadvantaged by apartheid.

If you are interested in learning more about Link-SA or supporting stu-dents at UCT through Link-SA, please contact Robert Gould (robert.gould@gmail.com) or Tina Barsby (uctfund@comcast.net).

Former Vice-Chancellor Mamphela Ramphele presents Michael Tladi with an award at the inaugural Engineering Award Ceremony.

Giving Back to Help Students Succeed

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDS. DEERFIELD,

MAPERMIT NO. 8

Remembering Kennedy’s Historic Jameson Hall Speech

Using never seen archival footage, filmmakers Larry Shore and Tami Gold tell the story of Robert F Kennedy’s 1966 visit to South Africa during the height of apartheid in a new documentary, “RFK in the Land of Apartheid”. The film evokes the connections between the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.

“RFK in the Land of Apartheid” follows Senator Kennedy to the site of his famous “Ripple of Hope” speech, delivered in UCT’s Jameson Hall as the NUSAS Annual “Day of Affirmation” speech.

With an original sound track by American musician Jason Moran and voices from the University of Cape Town Choir for Africa, the film tells an unusual story through the words and actions of a U.S. politician whose legacy continues to evoke hope for a more just world.

Watch a sneak preview of “RFK in the Land of Apartheid” at BAM, Monday September 7th. The filmmakers will be present for Q&A.

More info at www.bam.org

1383 6th Ave #114New York, NY 10019