FI Community Partnership Programme Addresses the Needs of Three Partners in a Unique Way

Die proses vir die daarstelling van ‘n gem eenskapsontw ikke lingsprogram tussen drie vennote , te wete die gem eenskap van M angaung, die Universiteit van die Oranje-Vrystaat en die Departement van Gesondheid van die Vrystaat word van meet af aan bespreek. Die fases van die proses, die verbandhoudende struikelblokke, die redes vir sukses, die omvang wat die program aangeneem het, sowel as die mate waarin die drie vennote daarby gebaat het, word uitgewys. Rbstrcict


Introduction
In order to develop a strong and power ful South Africa, it is very important that we develop strong and powerful com munities, partnerships and regions.The concept of community development in health programmes emerged from the 1978 Alma Ata Declaration of primary health-care.The declaration projected com m un ity involvem ent as the pivot upon which the success of the primary health-care approach to health-care de livery rests (Chimere-Dan, 1996).This Declaration provided the world with ethi cal precepts, political imperatives and technical direction.What was not given was th e co n c e p tu a l fra m e w o rk and p olicy guidelines on how com m unity d e ve lo pm e nt in health pro gram m es would operate.
The University of the Orange Free State was also faced with this dilemma when a call for proposals for funding of com munity developm ent/partnerships pro grammes was announced by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 1991.The Foun dation placed a high priority on the es tablishm ent of innovative, com prehen sive, affordable prim ary care oriented health-care centres.The assum ption was made that this long-term strategy depends on partnerships between insti tutions and communities that will adapt health personnel education to better pre pare personnel for delivering such serv ices."The absence of academic, com munity-based, primary health-care cen tres which can integrate the functions of care, research and teaching and that would balance the excellent tertiary-oriented models which already exist" was stated as an overriding problem by the Foundation.
Related to the abovem entioned senti ments, but at a later stage, the White Paper on Higher Education (1997) sum m arized the transform ation of higher education in the country as: • increased and broadened partici pation; • responsiveness to social interests and needs; and • cooperation and partnerships in governance.
According to the Finai Report on Com m un ity Service in H igher E ducation (1998) the benefit yielded by community service programmes in higher education depends on the following factors: • The articulation between the pro grammes and the curricula with which they are associated.

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The orientation of leadership in the higher education institution towards being more socially re sponsive through teaching and research. • The extent to which the

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programmes provide a site for the realization of teaching and re search goals.
• Programme design and manage ment.
Although the abovem entioned educa tional approaches were not co m p re hended to the same extent in the early ninenties, the academic staff of the then Faculty of Medicine (Faculty of Health Sciences since 1997) and Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of the Orange Free State were keen to become involved in an initiative that could ad dress the shortcom ings in health-care delivery, as well as the education of health-care professionals.To this effect the development of the Mangaung-University of the Orange Free State Com m u n ity P a rtn e rsh ip P ro gram m e (MUCPP) was envisaged.
With hindsight on the progress made, it becomes clear that the initiatives of the University in the early nineties related closely to the determining factors of ben efit to partners.

Partner-related Problem Statement
The Free State is the central inland prov ince of the Republic of South Africa with Bloemfontein/Mangaung as the provin cial capital with an estimated population of 300 000 people in 1991.As a conse quence of the historical development of Bloemfontein and the policy of apartheid, m ost of the black population lived in Mangaung, a geographically separate area a d ja ce n t to B lo em fo nte in.The name Mangaung means "the lair of the leopard."The town has been in exist ence since 1861 and is the largest and closest residential area for black people who had a significantly lower standard of living than the majority of the white population then living in Bloemfontein.
The lack of appropriate infrastructure in Mangaung together with a lack of provi sion of adequate basic health and pri mary health-care services, created a situ ation in which a very high percentage of p atients in need o f even very basic health-care services utilised the services of a tertiary referral teaching hospital.In addition to the relative unavailability of appropriate primary health-care facilities, research also indicated that the percep tion of the com m unity generally was negative, particularly with regard to ac cessibility of services as well as the sen sitivity of staff to the health-care needs of patients (Pretorius 1991).Rapid ur banisation took place after the removal of regulations restricting the free move m ent of black people.The resultant population influx and an increase in in formal settlements in Mangaung created an increased dem and for health-care services.
The policy of the local Universtiy of the Orange Free State excluded black stu dents until the late eighties.In addition to this restriction the language of tuition until 1993 was predominantly Afrikaans, which is the third language of most black students.Primarily for these reasons the University was not accessible to the com munity of Mangaung and its credibility was jeopardized.Besides these draw backs m ost of the black candidates came from disadvantaged school back g ro u n d s and w ere th e re fo re not equipped to meet the selection criteria of the University.
The training of health-care profession als at the University was primarily hospi tal-based and students therefore had lit tle exposure to primary health-care serv ices to patients or to taking care of their total health-care needs.
Past policies also created a situation in which mutual understanding between race groups and communities was lack ing.Academics and health profession als as well as disadvantaged communi ties therefore required development.The development of all role players was con sequently crucial to support the philoso phy of and to become involved in com munity partnerships and development.
The above disempowerment of the part ners which resulted from the historical realities of South Africa was important when considering the possibility of a true partnership between the black comm u nity of Mangaung, the University and the health-care authorities responsible for the rendering of health-care services in the area.

Programme Outline Rnd Development
The programme development was process-orientated including wide-ranging consultation with and involvement of the three partners, nam ely the academ ic staff of the University, the members of the community of Mangaung and the health authorities.A lthough the program m e developm ent is/was clearly phased it was apparent from the initial phase that the respective processes would follow the lines of horizontal strands and would be ongoing, and would therefore over lap.Evaluation of the programme and legal advice to the partners commenced during phase 2 and was ongoing there after.The five phases and aims of the programme were: PHASE 1 -Explora tion; PHASE 2 -Building a partnership; PHASE 3 -Ensuring ownership and gov ernance of the programme by the part ners; PHASE 4 -Building of an infrastruc ture; and PHASE 5 -Operationalization, including development of portfolios cou pled with the im plem entation of pro grammes.
The prinicples and values that were op erative during the various developmen tal phases of the programme were: par ticipation, representation, com m unica tion, sharing of information and respon sibility, consultation, joint decision-making, identification of the tasks and roles of partners, and sharing in planning and implementation.

PHRS6 1 -€xploration, fipril 1991 to September 1991
The program m e was initiated in April 1991 w hen, at th e in v ita tio n o f the Kellogg Foundation, the academics of the Faculties of Medicine and Social Sci ences were invited to a meeting by the Head of the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health at the University of the Orange Free State, to discuss the possi bilities of a project proposal involving the University in rendering a primary health care service to an identified community.An Academ ic W orkgroup was consti tuted and after a series of meetings a proposal was subm itted at the end of May 1991.At this stage the input of the academics was dominant.The initial pro posal was accepted, and seed funding was provided for developing the final proposal for full programme funding.

PHRS6 2 -Building ci partnership, September 1991 < ongoing
The community members and commu nity leaders of Mangaung were invited to a series of meetings in order to par ticipate in the project.The aims of a pro gramme related to community empow erment and involvement were explained, discussed and debated at length.Gen eral mistrust of the community members dominated the course of the meetings.This was to be expected in view of the historical factors outlined above, and was an obstacle to be overcomed.

Needs identification
The purpose of community partnerships is to address problems/needs by mak ing people more aware of the realities of the communities around them.The iden tification of the needs of the partners is not a one-off process.It is continuous since new needs are continually identi-tied as the programme develops.The initial needs assessment took place over a period of months and was character ised by a growing awareness of the mu tual needs of the partners.

Needs of the community of Mangaung:
A workshop was held in September 1991 with participants from 42 organisations in the Com m unity of Mangaung, aca demics from the University and existing state structures, who identified health care and related needs in the commu nity and prioritized them.This step taken at an early stage of the process was suc cessful, spelt out direction and gave the beneficiary community the opportunity to state their case.In all probability such an opportunity in their community was highly exceptional, and they accepted it with enthusiasm.
The problems and needs identified by th e w o rk s h o p s w ere as fo llo w s (prioritized): poverty and disempowerment; basic needs such as housing, roads, water, sewerage disposal and electricity; recreational facilities; social services for women, children and the aged; social problems such as teenage pregnancies and substance abuse;, lack o f e a rly le a rn in g o p p o rtu n itie s and school readiness and adult illiteracy; and unsatisfactory health services relating to the unavailability and inaccessibility of services and the insensitivity of health care personnel.
In addition to the needs identification w orkshops, a com m unity profile was compiled early the next year.This was done by means of rapid assessm ent from existing resources as a significant amount of research had already been undertaken in M angaung.Where the data was not generated by means of re search or surveys, a uthoritative and knowledgeable persons in the commu nity were consulted by means of inter views.This activity which involved mem bers of several University departments and m e m b e rs o f th e C o m m u n ity Workgroup was a valuable activity for the extension and confirmation of the health care needs of the community, an oppor tu n ity to expand kn o w le d g e on the strengths and weaknesses of the larger com m unity in the area, as well as an opportunity to enhance communication between groups and establish linkages with the community.In contrast to their attitude to previous research projects undertaken in the area, the community was enthusiastic and cooperative re garding the research effort.
At this stage it was apparent, in view of the disadvantaged nature of the commu nity of Mangaung, that it would not be possible to engage the community in a program m e that adressed only their health-care needs.As indicated, the community perceived their urgent needs to be wider and higher in priority than health-care.
Needs of the Academic Workgroup: The needs of the Academic Workgroup were never formally identified, but crystallized as the programme developed.It became clear that a need had developed to be come involved in com m unity develop ment within the framework of the pro gramme philosophy and that knowledge and understanding of the community of Mangaung was a necessity.As partners, academics were in need of development to enable them to adapt their manage ment style to the bottom-up participatory approach.Academics also expressed a desire to become more involved in sup port program m es fo r black students which had already been instituted in cer tain departments of the University, and to adapt the training of health-care pro fessionals to meet the health-care needs of the community.

Needs of the health-care professionals:
The health professionals welcomed the o pp o rtu n ity to becom e partners and were extremely enthusiastic about be com ing involved from the outset and about learning more about the commu nity, the processes of community involve ment and participation.This programme opened up avenues that were previously unknown to them and presented an op portunity to enhance the credibility of health-care delivery and to get commu nities involved in the promotion of their health.As was the case with the academ ics, they also felt the need to adapt their management style.
In this phase of the program m e the needs identification for all the partners culminated in the setting of clear objec tives for the programme by the partners eigthteen months after the first meeting was called:

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To establish an effective partner ship between the community of Mangaung, the University of the Orange Free State and the health services in the area.

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To establish an effective primary health-care service for the com munity of Mangaung through intersectoral collaboration.

Establishing organizational structures
Although an Academic Workgroup was constituted at the onset of the initiative, a need for liaison structures to drive and structure the process further and to rep resent other stakeholders had been felt since the onset.Arising from this, a steer ing committee was constituted with two lecturers of the Medical Faculty, one nursing lecturer from the Faculty of So cial Sciences and two members from the community of Mangaung.The process was further structured when a Commu nity W orkgroup was constituted at the end of the first year, after several meet ings with the community.Since its con stitution this group has been meeting monthly, and serves as a means to pro vide the comm unity with a platform to deliberate on all issues that affect the partnership and the community.Prior to the establishment of the Trust in Octo ber 1994, the b u s in e ss of the p ro gramme was handled by an acting di rector, the steering committee and the two workgroups.
During 1992 the MUCPP further devel oped an organizational structure and operationalized its activities by means of a series of working committees that re mained responsible to the steering com mittee.A liaison committee was estab lished between the University and the programme to facilitate decision-making and reporting.The appointment of com munity, training and health services co ordinators as well as a secretary as per manent staff during this period was an important step to ensure the growth of the programme.

Involvement, participation and partnership
Although the community meetings were extremely well attended by the comm u nity and staff members of the health-care facilities in the area, the community ini tially responded cautiously to the con cept of a partnership with the University.It was clear from the beginning that re lationships of trust would have to be es tablished prior to the establishment of partnerships.This process was slow and required a spirit of mutual respect and sensitization to the needs of the various partners.It was equally important to es tablish values such as commitment to a common task and ongoing commitment at all levels of community activity; sacri fice of individual interests if inconsistent with the ideals of the partners; sharing of a common vision leading to a contract and developing a common identity.This process had to be fostered and two suc cessful workshops on community devel opm ent and com m unity partnerships, involving all partners, was held in the early stages of program m e deve lo p ment.
Involvement and participation were also further strengthened by consultations with all University departments involved and regular meetings of the Academic Workgroup.The same strategy was fol lowed for other community organizations and health-service providers in the area.Visits to other projects by the partners and attendance of workshops on part ner-related issues by the members of the steering comm ittee also proved to be very useful.
In these early phases it was already ap parent that the involvement of the com munity of Mangaung would be one of the strong assets of the programme and that this commitment could become one of the major building blocks in its success.
The strong element of com m unity in volvem ent b uilt into this program m e comes from the strong feelings that de velopment and upliftment of the people is essential if the project is to succeed.It is a simple philosophy that puts power in the hands of ordinary people to en able them to control their own future and deal w ith th e ir ow n p ro b le m s .The g ro u p 's n egotiating skills and co n fi dence in their own abilities have devel oped strongly.This was demonstrated when the community insisted on a logo for the programme, which with the vision statement of " HEALTH FOR ALL!', was solely designed by the communty and approved fo r im plem entation by the other partners.
However, during this period concerns w ere e xp re sse d th a t a la ck of transparancy and possible unknown fac tors might hamper progress.It was also felt that the community must be m obi lized and should becom e a pressure group to advocate change and increase involvement of its members.Community members felt that they should be repre sented on the boards and structures of the University and that the influence and p ow er o f the e du ca tio n a l in stitu tio n should be directed to the needs of the community.The importance of commu nication and liaison, which includes the co m m unication of inform ation, good m anagem ent and strategic planning, was also emphasized.
Although the health services have been enthusiastic in principle from the outset, th e p ro g ra m m e d e v e lo p m e n t w en t through a phase where community de velopm ent and participation were fos tered to such a degree that they (the health services) became marginalized to a certain extent.Uncertainty of the im plications of the developm ents in the programme for their respective organi zations could also have played a role.This was also true of the academ ics when members of the com m unity be came more and more involved in the developm ent of the second proposal, which was submitted in July 1992 and approved for funding.During the devel opment of the programme more funders came on board, and hence provided sustainablilty to the programme.

PHRS6 3 -insuring ownership and governance of the programme by the partners, July 1992 to November 1994
During all stages of programme devel opment it was assumed that significant control of the programme would rest with the community.The challenge was to create a structure that would not ham per the sensitivity of the process of pro gramme development to the needs of the most vulnerable partners -those at grassroots level who use the service.This is extremely important, particularly for professionals who are inclined to im plement strategies they regard as essen tial and logical and scientifically based.
A pattern of relationships and a struc tured legal basis for the programme to ensure the autonomy, unique and sepa rate identity, and local ownership of the programme had to be created.Several partner consultations with University le gal advisers concluded that a trust would be a suitable legal entity for a comm u nity development programme.
The process of establishing a trust was an evolutionary and purposeful process characterized by wide consultation with the partners, and took 18 months.The establishment of a pattern of rela tionships among partners is indicated in Figure 1.The matrix structure is a bal anced compromise between functional and product organisation by superim posing a horizontal structure of author ity, influence and communication on the vertical structure.In the arrangem ent shown, people assigned to the fu nc tional units on the vertical level not only belong to the functional unit, but also to a particular task group on the horizontal level.This kind of structure enables the units on the vertical level to utilize the services of specialists on the horizontal level, to adapt or respond to a rapidly changing and uncertain environment, to achieve optimum autonomy, and to com municate efficiently with one another.
With these organizational structures in place the steering com m itte e w hich stood at the helm for three and a half years, was dissolved.

PHRS6 4 -Building an infrastructure -1994 ongoing
The serious lack o f infra structu re in Mangaung made the building of a multi purpose comm unity health centre at a strategically placed site in Mangaung imperative.It w ould house a prim ary health-care service com ponent, a pri mary health-care training and develop ment component, and a community re source centre.It has been decided to ap p ro a c h g o v e rn m e n ta l as w ell as nongovern-mental sources for the fund ing of the centre.The University is also involved in other community-based re search projects.
A centre/building committee was set up to determine the architectural needs of the respective partners.The concepts of building and planning were explained to the partners at a successful workshop.
In addition the students of the Depart A matter that put the partnership to the test was the issue of ownership of the centre after the Provincial Administration undertook to build it.After a number of meetings, penetrating discussions and debating, the partners accepted that the Provincial Adm inistration would retain ownership and that control of the centre would be vested in the Board of Trus tees.This decision was a breakthrough in the attitude, nature and continuation of a true partnership and served as a watershed.This was also demonstrated by the Provincial Adminstration's agree ment to appoint the architect chosen by the community.
Building of the multipurpose centre com m enced early in 1997.In die interim phase tem porary structures including offices, com m ittee rooms, com m unity hall and a kitchen had been erected on the site, w hence the activities o f the MUCPP, which were previously housed in the Medical Faculty of the University, are conducted.A temporary clinic was also erected on the site and was later expanded to a comm unity health cen- Apart from these facilities, the physical presence of the MUCPP in the commu nity is of crucial importance in order to m aintain contact with the beneficiary community, to remain sensitive to their needs and to enhance their participation and involvement.

PHRS6 5 -Operationalization, including the development of portfolios coupled with the implementation of programmes -July 1994 ongoing
Putting plans into action comm enced early in the programme, but progressed slowly as they were handicapped mainly by the energy absorbed by the essen tial process of structuring, as well as by the lack of infrastructure which had to be created first.
Eight staff m em bers were appointed over a period of three years to assist and realize the implementation of the objec tives of the Trust.The portfolios of the staff included community development, health services, education and training, youth development and administration.During this phase it was proven that a p artne rship co uld be m anaged with great success with the staff and the structures constituted through the Trust.

Community development projects
The aim of the various projects is to em power community people with skills and knowledge in order to create em ploy ment for themselves.This was done in a spirit of selfreliance, and in collaboration with a num ber of departm ents of the University and the Department of Trade and Industry where the necessary exper tise was available and where clear com mitment to become involved in commu nity developm ent was shown.These activities also provided an opportunity for intersectoral and interdisciplinary coop eration among departments.Examples of such projects are: neurodevelopment for preschool children; emergency care; perinatal exercises and care of mother and baby; treatment of minor ailments; health workshops for the youth; geriat ric care; life-skills training; economic and small business skills development; train ing in entrepreneurial skills; coffin-mak ing; welding; basic taxi service/car serv ice skills; chicken-farming; food gardens and sewing and knitting club.
Through the com m unity developm ent programme, com m unity members are also encouraged to participate in the various structures of the MUCPR to at tend workshops in the development of leadership skills, to learn how to conduct meetings and to learn about the roles of office bearers.
The idea of starting cultural development at the MUCPP was born out of the reali zation that the people's way of life influ ences their perception of the future as well as their personal development.Af ter consultation with community mem bers the MUCPP Youth Choir was estab lished.Preparations are under way for starting an Afro-band.
The basic p hilosophy of rendering a health service to th e c o m m u n ity of Mangaung is that of a partnership be tween the health-care w orker and the service recipients.The community was brought in as a partner through the struc tures of the MUCPP and the establish ment of community health committees, which have now been formed through the different areas of Mangaung.The area committees determine the respec tive needs and problems of the areas involved, and have so far embarked on a number of projects, e.g.clean-up cam paigns and assistance to the aged.The following subcommittees have been es ta blishe d th ro ug h their involvem ent; Health Education, Traditional Health, Referrals, Perinatal Committee and the Committee for persons with disabilities in the community.
The Youth Forum of the MUCPP felt obliged to contribute constructively to the normalization to the education in the country.To this effect a Student Repre sentative Course was instituted, which focused on the building and develop ment of mature sound leaders amongst the youth.Other youth activities include workshops on relevant health problems am ongst the youth, a speech contest and the development of entrepreneurial skills.
In 1996 a full-time Recreation and Sports Officer was appointed to facilitate the institution of a Sports and Recreation D evelopm ent Program m e.This p ro gramme is now offered at four different sport centres in Mangaung.The school children and community all benefit from the activities offered at these centres.S port sp ecializatio n is also done to m ould identified talented players into possible national competitors.

education and training of University students and research
Although some departm ents have al ready made curriculum changes in or der to ensure more comm unity-based training, the lack of clinical facilities in the community, and logistical problems were viewed as challenges.
A continuing education programmes for midwives, conducted through self-study modules in conjunction with skills work shops, commenced during 1994.Sev eral d e p a rtm e n ts c o m m e n c e d p ro grammes on Video Supported Instruc tion in the same year to address the lan guage problems of disadvantaged stu dents.
The p aradigm sh ift to w ards prim ary health-care, necessitated a change in e d u c a tio n a l strategy.The p ro b le mbased teaching and learning strategy and community-based approach to edu cation is advocated internationally as suitable to support the philosophy of primary health-care.This m ethod was sucessfully implemented as a pilot sur vey at postgraduate level in 1995 and was instituted in the nursing undergradu ate programme in 1997.implemented to accommodate the lan guage needs of non-Afrikaans speaking students.Bursaries are awarded to dis advantaged students to take care of their financial needs and encourage further development.

Sustainability Through Continuing Evaluation
During the first three years of the pro gramme, external evaluation was done by a part-time University industrial soci ologist, but this task was later taken over by national and international consult ants, appointed by the respective donors of the programme.This process is on going.
The aim of the performance evaluation is to initiate and develop an evaluation process by means of which performance could be assessed and corrective ac tio ns could be taken.In this respect evaluation is not seen as the sole respon s ib ility o f the external evaluator, but should be seen as a process of selfevaluation and developm ent, and the role of the evaluator in this regard as a facilitator of the process of evaluation.The phases and activities of the evalua tion process consist of: Phase 1 -Ongo ing data-gathering and establishing a criterion.(This includes the development of a conceptual model with special ref erence to elements of the management subsystem and organisation culture); Phase 2 -Performance appraisal and analysis; Phase 3 -Feedback to all stake holders, elaboration by these groups, discussions and work on information; and Phase 4 -Correction such as action planning and action intervention (Fischer 1994).

Concluding Remarks
The programme was initiated during the socio-political transition in the country and proved to be congruent with the philosophy of the health-care policies of the new government which came into power in 1994.We therefore believe that the program m e could be a model for partnerships and the planning of future health-care and other services.Although the needs of all the partners are being addressed to a greater or lesser degree as the programme progresses, the time is now ripe to pay more attention to them as the structure has been consolidated.
From this programme key messages for possible success which emerged were: early vision and understanding; address ing the real needs; assuring ongoing p a rticip a tio n ; invo lvem en t o f all the stakeholders; ensuring sustainability of the programme through the implemen tation of realistic time frames and fund ing cycles; the integration of other edu cational institutions, fields and Depart ments at the UOFS as well as building upon identified strengths and assets of the respective partners.The use of an integrated m odel w ith a h o listic a p proach, contributed to this success (see Figure 2).
Deriving from this, the MUCPP was nomi nated and elected Institute of the Year in 1996 by the Bloemfontein Publicity As sociation.Five other projects have also received honours.The expansion of the programme on a subregional/regional basis remains an important challenge and opportunity in the future of the programme.
There is no d ou bt that institutions of higher education, such as the University of the Orange Free State, are well suited to play a major role in national and com munity service and should be comm it ted to do so.In its mission statement the University of the Orange Free State em phasises community service and devel opm ent through its core functions of education, research and the implement ing of com m unity developm ental pro grammes.The MUCPP is one of our best examples of such and integrated serv ice.

Figure 1 :
Figure 1 : MUCPP organogram Figure 2 : In te g ra te d m odel for developm ent

Since 1997 ,
with the organized input of c o m m u n ity m em bers w ho o pe ra te d through the health street committees, in collaboration with academic staff of the School of Nursing, first-year nursing stu dents have been doing community pro files during the first-six months of their training, and spending the next eighteen m onths in com m unity health settings.The Departments of Social Work, Occu pational Health, Physiotherapy, Human Nutrition and the School of Medicine are planning and im plem enting a sim ilar approach in the training of students.Where appropriate, students and aca demic staff are also involved in the com m u n ity d e v e lo p m e n t p ro je c ts m e n tio ne d, and in rendering health-care services to the beneficiary community.Selection criteria have been adapted to address the potential of disadvantaged stu de nts.S u p p o rt p ro gram m es and supplem ental instruction through the CAREER PREP PROGRAMME of the Academ ic Development Bureau of the University, the Educational Development Division of the Faculty of Health Sci ences, as well as through academic de partments, were introduced to give stu dents the opportunity to develop to their full potential.In addition the University has adapted its language policy and parallel-m edium instruction has been Curationis March 2000 67

A
formal agreement of research collabo ration and community development was signed by the MUCPR Centre of Behav ioural Sciences of the Departm ent of Psychology of the UOFS and the Insti tute of Families in Society at the Univer s ity o f S o uth C a ro lin a in the USA.Through this agreement vital research information is exchanged and relevant community-based programmes are fa cilitated.