Reception at the Neue Aula

The Reception: What a glamorous night it was.

On Thursday 20 January we as the South African group was invited to join Prof. Assmann, Pro Rector for the University of Tübingen, Nicole Sauer from the Ministry of Science and Riedmann Ahmed, the political counsel from South Africa, in an evening top celebrate the South African culture and to thank the sponsors for making this programme possible.
Dressed up in traditional South African clothing, to illustrate the rich cultural heritage from back home we walked into the reception hall, not really sure what to expect from the coming evening. To describe all the different clothing pieces would take more than a couple of pages, but each and every one of the participants looked stunning.
The evening started with a speech from Prof. Assman, followed by speeches from Nicole Sauer and Riedmann Ahmed, with one message coming through in each of the short speeches, to enjoy our time in Germany and to take the experience home and to use it to the benefit of all.
After the speeches we, as the SA group, sang four songs to thank our hosts. Firstly our national anthem, N'Kosi Sikeleli, with our heads held high, proudly South African. After that we sang The Peacock song, Viyo-Viyo and to finish off, Shosoloza. Singing like only true South Africans can sing.
Nwabisa Wali and Winile Mkhawanazi then sang a beautiful duet, followed by a speech given by Constance Magalula, completely in German and to finish an already wonderful evening Ahmed Mponda sang a song, that he composed himself, about friendship and that it is a gift from God to be cherished and not be taken for granted.
After the songs, we had some time to talk to the guests, the sponsors and most of the people that are part of the programme in any shape or form and with it we enjoyed some brezels and whine.
That night I realised that even though we are all from different backgrounds and universities, with different personalities, likes and dislikes, one thing shone through, we are all South African and proud of it!

On behalf of the SA group 2011, I would like to thank everyone that worked so hard to make this programme possible. It is an honour and an awesome privilege to be part of it.

by Hannes Koegelenberg