RECEPTION II
by Pieter Heckroodt

What a night it was, a celebration of diversity in Culture. With this I mean a diversity in the context of the diverse group we are, the different backgrounds that individuals are coming from. 

And the energy that each person of the group brought to the evening. Proof of this could be seen in the way the national anthems was performed for our guests, the host families and the different organizers involved making this programme possible. 

After the national anthems were sung each individual moved up to the front to describe their context and attire that they were wearing. This was done to celebrate and expose to the people the variety of cultures within the South African and Botswana context. Each person gave a short sentence of what they were wearing and what group it represents in South Africa or Botswana. I feel this was interesting for all that participated as well to remind us of our diversity as a country and the diversity we have in the world. This switching of individuals describing themselves, made it more clear for everyone to see how diverse and full of vibrancy each person’s context are. It was funny for me to experience that it takes a whole group of complete randoms to go into another setting (country) to really appreciate its own diversity. 

Further on the night, the time was given for individual members of the group to express some personal messages. This came in the form of a great song by Clementine and Annita. Following up next was a spoken word by Annita and a book transcript by Karabo giving a person, the bits of view from a village boy’s perspective in South Africa. 

Lastly a big thanks was given to all the important people making this programme possible each year. And the night was danced away in the company of great food wine and even richer conversations and some interesting dance moves.