Culture Day 2024
Culture Day
By “Whitney”
This year’s Swazi Cultural Day was one to remember. The day wasn’t just filled with traditional clothes, food, and music. It was also the first day of construction on our new girls’ home! Here is a note from one of our recent graduates:
“For several years we’ve had culture day events, but this one was so special and full of blessings. Many of our prayers as an organization were finally answered, bringing so much joy into our hearts. All these amazing things occurred on the day of celebrating our origin and true identity.”
What is Culture Day?
Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican activist, once said, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” This is the reason why we celebrate Culture Day. To honor our country by sharing cultural food, traditional clothes, and reminding ourselves of who we are.
The event’s main purpose is to celebrate eSwatini culture and encourage the pupils to embrace their culture and traditions. It also educates them about our traditional values.
This year we were honored by the presence of Mr. M. Mamba, a member of Parliament under the Khubuta community, and 2 Manzini region Social Workers, Make Bongiwe and Make Ngwenya. There were even some parents there to support us and motivate our learners.
The highlight of the day was the presence of the MP, Mr. M. Mamba, because it brought smiles to our faces. He was really impressed with what he witnessed and experienced in our home and promised that as a man who is working under the government of eSwatini, he is going to make sure that Hosea’s heart grows to a higher level, which is something we’ve been looking forward to for so long.
Our teachers, who put so much effort into teaching us and coping with our differences, were finally noticed and were given an appreciation of E500 (our local currency). I personally saw that as the beginning of everything for this ministry. With the help of our teachers on culture day we can eat Swazi food. Here are 2 traditional Swazi dishes that we prepared:
SISHWALA: a thick porridge normally, served with meat or vegetables.
UMNCWEBA: Dried uncooked meat, also known as “biltong”