A group of students from the Faculty of Health Sciences participated in an “Africa By Bus” cultural tour to Lesotho from the 1st to 8th July 2022. The group consisted of 11 students from the Department of Nursing, 8 from Emergency Medical Care, 5 from Optometry and 10 from Complimentary Medicine. Two staff members from the Department of Optometry also accompanied the students while a further three staff members (EMC, Nursing and Complimentary medicine) travelled separately with a vehicle.
The aim of the third UJ “Africa by Bus” project, was a cultural tour within the SADC region of Lesotho; focusing on exposing UJ staff and students to the culture and health care system of a SADC country.
The students had an informative and exciting itinerary which included a visit to Thaba Bosiu Cultural Village, located 24 km outside the city of Maseru. The village is recognised as a national monument and the birthplace of the Basotho people. Further visits took place to the National University of Lesotho Simulation laboratories, the 425-bed world-class Queen Mamohato Memorial Hospital in Maseru and Tebellong hospital in Qacha’s Nek.
“The Africa By Bus programme was created in 2017 to provide a unique experience for UJ students to travel on the continent and enjoy both a cultural and educational experience. The programme started primarily as a cultural tour but has developed to provide structured trips for students in different faculties with a strong academic component included.
Students have thus far had the opportunity to visit Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zambia, Mozambique. We intend developing the programme further by including other destinations and constantly improving on both the cultural and academic aspects of the experience,” said Mr Lebethe Malefo, Director: Study Abroad, Division for Internationalisation.