RECEPTION

by Nontobeko Nkosi, University of the Witwatersrand

The African continent is well known for its vibrancy and colorfulness. We express ourselves and who we are in the different food we eat, the songs we sing and the clothes we wear. Though the continent has become very modern in its day-to-day attire, when it is time for us to dress up and show off our traditional clothes, we make sure all cameras flash their lights our way!

The 2018 reception did nothing less of what we have been known for, we all got dressed up in our different African attires; baTswana in Leteise, ema-Swati, ma-Zulu and the Yoruba people (to name a few) had their garments ready.

We had the privilege of being visited by our Consul General, George Monyemangene, who reminded us of the importance of carrying ourselves as ambassadors of the different communities, universities, South Africa and the entire African continent. This resonated well with me because of the reminder that as I walk the streets of Tuebingen, I carry with me reflections of these places. It was wonderful knowing that Prof Wolfgang Mekle can speak one of our South Africa languages, and he is quit informed in our music industry, his taste in South African music is way better than mine, he knows legends! (But don’t tell him we know this now, it’s our secret). Ms Lehlogonolo Sibisi shed some light with us on the importance of education and being active on campus outside of our academics so we become holistic individuals who do not merely exist but are active citizens of the world. These were merely the few amazing speakers of the night.

Right after the different messages of support were done and the thanks to the different stakeholders and sponsors, it was time for us to not only entertain, but bless the souls in the room with music and spoken word. This year we have been privileged to have Botswana join us in this program so we first sang the two countries’ national anthems. This blended well with the opening act where we recited our Former President Thabo Mbeki’s speech on “I am an African”. It was followed by the “decolonized” South African national anthem which is where the current national anthem originates from titled “Nkosi sikelela”, the song is in Zulu and Swahili, it is a prayer to God to bless Africa and her people. For God to strengthen the African people; bring unity and peace in the continent. As South Africa, and Africa as a whole, is undergoing decolonization, Willford Gwabeni wrote and recited his poem titled “Stand up African children”, he was encouraging all African children to rise up from the ashes of colonization, to “rise and shine like the sunrise”. The past has gone, and we now look towards the light and compete with the rest of the world.

The last performance was a song from “The soil – Joy”. This song is a joyous Xhosa song which brings life to any place it is sung and it is a song about spreading love and being joyful as a family. It filled the room and had our host families and our special guests singing along to “we are a family”. This song truly reflected how we felt as the 2018 exchange participants; from the sponsors, to our lectures, the program coordinators, our host families and the bus drivers, we felt like we are part of the Tuebingen family.

Words can never describe our appreciation for being part of this program; it stimulates and shakes our minds. We hope to not only take what we learnt here with us as individuals, but share it in our communities and university campuses.

Siyabonga

Ra leboha

Thank you very much!