Reasoma High School Essay Awards

   We should all be writing in our home languages more often here in South Africa. I should be writing this post in Sesotho, for example. There is beauty in our African languages that we sometimes overlook because we tend to use English most of the time.

   This realization was brought home after I attended the Reasoma High Essay Awards ceremony this past Wednesday. Here the matric students were asked to write an essay on any subject using  four(out of 11) of our official languages. These were Setswana, Sesotho, Isizulu and English. The top 8(two from each language category) were to be given prizes at this ceremony. The students not only had to write the essays but they also had to read them out to us.

   Yours truly - as the appointed adjudicator - had the unenviable task of deciding which of the 8 essays should win the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes. And I must say that it was such a pleasure to see that - in this age of  English smses, English Twitter posts, Model C/private schools that use English instruction, etc - our matric students can still write and read their home languages very well. 

   Therefore deciding who among the 8 should win the laptop(1st prize), digital camera(2nd prize), and cell phone(3rd prize) was a big challenge for me. What ultimately influenced me the most in choosing the best three was the universal message contained in each essay and the way the language was used to convey it. 

   The first prize winner was an essay written in Setswana by a lady student called Lesego Mathe. I loved how layered this essay was. It started off like a family history, then later turned into a sibling rivalry tale, then it was about a shattered dream for their mother's favourite daughter. This shattering  was actually not real. But was a wish by the narrator and her less favoured sisters that expressed itself in her sleep dream.

   The second winning essay was by Iris Majola and  was done in English. It dealt with the concept of beauty in women. Iris was saying beauty comes from inside. It was not found in a thin waist or pretty face. In the final analysis all women were beautiful. 

   The 3rd prize went to Precious Myaka, whose Isizulu essay was about children who were taking their newly bestowed rights too far. It has become difficult, as a result, to discipline kids at home and in school, Precious was saying.

   'Nice one' to all the matric students who took part in this competition. An even bigger 'high five' to the Sowerto group(bo-Zimbali, Lunga, Thokozani et al) who took the initiative to organize this essay competition.

                                     =================   

"Le saleng hantle. Hare kopaneng hape bekeng e tlang.(Goodbye. See you again next week.)"

                                   ====================

THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.

                                =======================

SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU FEEL

GOOD THIS WEEK?

                      

                                         







     

   
   
      
         
            

We Are The Champions!

   Who is 'we'? You ask.

Well, we are Kaizer Chiefs. We are Amakhosi Amahle. 

We are the winners of the South African Premier Soccer League title for the 2012/2013 season.

That's who we are.

   We have waited a long time for this. A whole eight years have passed since we last won the PSL title. In those eight years we watched with longing as the league title changed hands between our bitter arch rivals - Orlando Pirates(twice in a row) - and other teams( like Supersport United - three times in a row). And, yes, we did shed a tear or two as we waited on the sidelines. We wondered when our turn will come.

   That wait and longing is now over. Our new coach - Stuart Baxter( a Briton) - has delivered. Him doing so despite claims from certain quarters that he embellished his CV when applying for the Kaizer Chiefs coaching job. What mattered in the end was that he can do the job, CV inconsistencies or not. Credit must also go the players(bo - Shaba, Khune et al). Nice one guys. Big up, too, to our chairman - Kaizer Motaung - for sticking with our new coach when the CV controversy broke out early in the season.      

   And our 2012/2013 season could get even better after this coming Saturday( 25th May). That is because on this day we will be playing in the Nedbank Cup final( our own version of the FA Cup) against Supersport United. If we win this game we will end the year with a 'double'(i.e. League and Cup titles). Then we will truly be back as a Soweto giant. Be back, in fact, as a South African footballing giant.

                                           ============================

THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.

                                                =======================

SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU FEEL

GOOD THIS WEEK?

            

                  

The DREAMS DO COME TRUE Tour - Part 18, Reasoma High School, Protea North, Soweto

   In the past I have often raised concerns about the fact that students sometimes don't give one their full attention when there is no teacher present during the talk. But I have now come to accept that this aspect of the talks in schools is something that I have to live with.

   In fact, the more I think about it, the more I feel that this feature of school talks is what gives them their uniqueness. For a motivational speaker, this feature provides one of the best tests as to whether your presentation is interesting or not. If you can hold the attention( even if it is divided at times) of people who are tired and just want to go home - after a full day of classes - for 25 minutes(or so), then  it means you do have something of value to offer.

   What took my breath away about this DDCT talk to the matric students of Reasoma High were those  rare moments when the students went completely quiet during the talk, as if entranced by what one was saying. During these moments it felt like I had touched something inside their
souls. Such moments - when your audience is totally there with you - are what every motivational speaker lives for.

                                                     SOME THANK YOU's

- Ntate Sepuru(the Principal) - for authorizing this talk.

- Ntate Monedi(the HOD) - for marshalling the matrics, which included chasing down some of those students who tried to 'escape', so to speak, after the classes had ended for the day.

- Zimbali and Lunga(both of the Sowerto Facebook group) - for showing your appreciation by inviting me to the up coming Essay Awards ceremony at your school.

- Njabulo(the aspirant poet) - for your questions on how to publish your poems.

- Tebello - for requesting our website address in order to check out more poems.

- The shortish lady student in the front row - for having your hands permanently raised in readiness for the F-G clap. "That was very amusing sisi."

- The rest of the matric students - for coming reluctantly, but then deciding to stay with me until the end. And for those mesmerizing 'quiet moments' as well. "Much appreciated guys."

                                               ============================= 

THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.

                                                      =======================

SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU FEEL

GOOD THIS WEEK?

                      

   
              
   
             

An All-German Final

   So it is going to be a 'German teams only' Uefa European Champions League final after all. Bayern Munich are going to play fellow Germans Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on 25th May to determine the best football club side in Europe this season(2012/2013).

   This match up is not certainly what a lot of soccer pundits and ordinary football followers had expected. We all thought it was going to be a German team vs Spanish team final at the least. Or even an el clasico(Barcelona vs Madrid) at the most. But Bayern Munich, who annihilated Spanish giants Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate to reach this final, and Borussia Dortmund, who eliminated another Spanish heavyweight Real Madrid 4-3 on aggregate in the second semifinal, had other ideas.

   This all-German final has given all football fans a chance to see the much talked about rise of German football, in the form of the Bundesliga, up close. Some people are even going as far as to say the Bundesliga is currently the best league in the world. But the jury is still out on that one. One(and the first for that matter) all-German final does not necessarily make it so. What this 'German teams only' final has done, without doubt, is to make one want to watch more Bundesliga games next season(2013/2014).

   As for the final, here is hoping that each team rises to the occasion and that we see the best that German football has to offer.

                                         ================================ 

THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.

                                                  =======================

SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU FEEL

GOOD THIS WEEK?