NMMU pays tribute to students' acts of caring

CHANGE does not start on a grand scale but in those moments that make a difference.

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) students Callyn Bowler, 22, Tamzin Lewis, 21 and Velma Mora, 24, prove just that.

The psychology students received ALICE (A Little Innovation Changes Everything) awards on Friday for outstanding community service through NMMU's Beyond the Classroom programme.

Programme founder Kim- Marie Elliot said the university realised in 2009 that students often lacked values like caring for people other than themselves.

Today, the programme attempts to groom well-developed and caring citizens through an extra-mural programme that started with 29 students and this year saw 280 graduate.

Bowler, of Summerstrand, counsels at Life Line, facilitates a personal growth course and secures sponsorship for the Maranatha Trust for street children.

But it is her motor neurone disease campaign and involvement with the Sunflower Fund for the SA Bone Marrow Registry that truly set her apart.

Bowler comes from a family that is often exposed to charity work.

"The heartbreak and suffering I have seen led me to study psychology. It's about giving your time and energy and making sure you graduate from varsity with more than just a degree behind your name."

Lewis, of East London, and Mora, of Welkom, were given their awards for feeding hungry residence students.

"[During] orientation we noticed that some of the girls living with us [did not] have food or money," Lewis said.

"We raised funds to buy groceries to cook for them.

"I was taught that you take care of those less fortunate than you."

Elliot said the programme tasked students with doing 20 hours' community service in six months.

An end-of-year graduation breakfast for students was held at Bayworld on Friday.

Vice-chancellor Professor Derrick Swartz handed out the awards, saying: "You epitomise the philosophy of how the little things together can change the world." - Alvené du Plessis