Celebrating Heritage Month
by Alfred Ndhlovu, Net Blazer
September is a significant month for South Africans to celebrate our heritage, acknowledge our beliefs and cultures, and come together as a nation, despite our historical differences. It is especially important for our Net Buddies as they are slowly learning the importance of knowing one’s culture.
We live in diverse communities where most people speak their traditional language first. Most of the people I live with speak two or more languages and we can interact very well. Most of our Net Buddies can speak one or more language and they help other Net Buddies to speak their language. I am proud to say I can speak 6 languages!
24 September is known as Shaka’s day, celebrating the contribution he made to unite the Nguni clans into a cohesive Zulu nation. To commemorate that, we gather at the Shaka memorial to honor him and celebrate the day through various ways to express our joy. We celebrate through traditional dance and music, wearing traditional cultural attires, and cooking cultural food to embrace our heritage, convey where we come from, and not to forget our cultural roots. It is especially exciting to see a white person wearing Zulu attire – it gives me a feeling that we have finally reached to Desmond Tutu’s dream of Rainbow Nation. |