The end of another day. Today 17th October was an uneventful day. Great day at work, finished off some queries, gave students advice, both prospective students and current ones. A young student came into my office during the morning to chat. Students like to do that. She saw me on tv last week and wanted to come and talk about her heritage. She said that she was absolutely sure that she was Khoisan. Her grandfather was from Kimberley and she wanted to go there and find out more. She stays in Delft, one of our communities where poverty and crime rule. This student was worried about our youth of today. Their aimless wandering and don't care attitude had a root I told her. Our people were not told or were not allowed to know who they are. Some of our old people died never knowing where they came from. We should break this cycle I said. We should make an earnest effort to find out and educate others about it. Then I told her about Dawid Stuurman and how he fought as the last chief of the Khoikhoi for their land, for their sanity. Captured by the British after defying them twice (he escaped from Robben Island twice), he was sent to Australia where he died in 1830. I told her about the slaves who came to the Cape from as far as India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Ghana and Angola. We talked about the names that were given to our people, the names of the months in which they were sold in, Mr January, Mrs October!
She told me that some of her friends tell her that we have no culture, no roots. I told her that those friends obviously have no clue about the history of our country. Such statements show their ignorance. She should tell them that, tell them that they are suffering from a lack of knowledge and that is dangerous, rather than making her feel inferior with false knowledge they should go for a history lesson.
In this country we need to tell stories of our ancestors, although nothing much was written and the little bits that were written were banned or ridiculed. We should unearth our true story and tell it to our children. We desperately need to claim our "self", the rich self, with diverse roots, a mixture so "pure"! Ha, ha, ha! So much for the purists who define us as products of the "crossing of a sacred boundary"!

Our Dept had a photo-shoot. Postgraduate students and colleagues posed with their most beautiful smiles. Hopefully our website will look much better with our smiling faces on the walls!

My godson is studying sound engineering. I am glad that I could help him. He needed some instruments for one or other project. I bought a small marimba at the festival in Grahamstown a few years ago and he was delighted to hear its sound. I also borrowed him my drum and shaker but forgot to tell him about my rainstick!

Whilst visiting my friends tonight my nephew and his wife and daughter came around with their cute little son, Uthmaan who is nearly a month old. It was so good to see him, he has the cutest dimples and long legs! Although he is so young I managed to get a smile out of him by talking to him in baby language! What is that?

Tonight will be the first night that I will not eat after eight. I am punishing my body unnecessarily. So toast, jam, chocholate, tea, cooldrink get out of my way! I will report on my progress!!

Goodnight my friends.