The function aimed to welcome the new students from China and celebrate the Chinese New Year as well as the new academic year of 2006.

The CSS was established in May last year with 120 registered members. The object of the CSS is to assist the Chinese students at UWC, make them feel at home and provide them with a comfortable environment to study.

CSS plans for this year include inviting guest lecturers to teach local students Mandarin (Chinese official language). An English course will open to all foreign students at the Iilwimi Centre of Arts. A Chinese take away is also planning to open a brach on campus.

Ms Wu Changhong, chairperson of the CSS, said: “At the beginning of this year, a help desk was set up by the CSS next to the registration office to assist the new foreign students and help them to settle down in residences.

“We organised a badminton team on campus to encourage more students to get more exercise to release the academic pressure and give them a chance to make new friends.

“All the Chinese residents on campus will be able to watch the Chinese programme from the Chinese international channel (CCTV4) 24 hours in this year,” Wu said.

Prof Jan Persens, director of international relations at the UWC, spoke at the function:

“As the second biggest international student society at UWC, besides the Botswana Student Association, the CSS did an excellent job in the past year.

“They knew how to work together and this made them stronger.”

Prof Persens, who studied in America for four years, said:

“When you are at home, you will never realise how big the world is and how many things you can complete by yourself. When you leave home and lose all the support from family and friends, you will find it is also a chance to develop yourself and it allows you to become independent.”

“The responsibility of each international student is not only to complete your studies, but it is also an opportunity to exchange culture and religions,” Persens said.

Prof Stanley Ridge, acting vice-rector (academic) of the UWC said: “I feel proud of their achievements. The Chinese students inspire me with their hard work and strong life skills. Some of them find it difficult to communicate with others when they come to the UWC, because of the limited language skills. Now you can see them chatting with local students around campus. They get positive feedback about their studies because of their hard work.”

Ridge also mentioned that the foreign students need to communicate more with the local community and work together to provide a good study environment in South Africa.