Cultural Day teaches ‘there’s no place like home’
MIDRAND – Blue Hills College motivates learners to know their cultures through Cultural Day.
Blue Hills College celebrated National Heritage Day by having a Cultural Day at the School on 19 September.
Learners in Grade 8, 9 and 11 came to school dressed in clothes representing their tribes and later performed dances and praises from their cultures.
Event organiser and head of co-curricular at the school, Ben Mwamba explained, “We have the bigger tribes – the Xhosa, Zulu and Swati learners – which will come in and do a longer presentation. All tribes are to perform dances, show us their greetings and introduce us to their cultures.
“All in all we have, Ama-Zulu and AmaSwati, Ama-Xhosa and then Basotho, Bapedi and Batswana combined as well as the coloured culture, and lastly, MaTsonga and Vhavenda combined.”
School principal Bekithemba Ndlovu said that they realised that as Africans they needed to be proud of their cultures and their African-ness.
“We are coming from a very bad week in the country where we had Africans fighting other fellow Africans, which we really regret, but such events as the Cultural Day really bring us together and we realise that we are actually one as Africans.
“These types of activities also help build the self-esteem of a child and it is good for self-motivation and for togetherness and the acceptance, just like sports brings the academic side up as well. We as a school do not just want to focus on the A, B, C’s but also such activities which motivate our learners.
The Midrand Reporter asked one of the learners, Zukiswa Ngxazana, how important her culture was to her.
She explained, “I think since it’s the only thing that defines who I am, it is important because if you do not know your culture you don’t know who you are as a person.
“If you do abandon your culture, you are not being real and are not portraying who you really are, then you should do introspection and go back to your roots.”
She also shared her thoughts on those who do not know their mother tongue, “They should put extra effort in knowing their culture and language because there is no place like home.”
