Our ethnic groups and identities, along with culture, play a crucial role in creating the way we see the world and shaping our understanding of the worldview. The key questions are , “ where do I learn from” or “where do I know from”. Our ethnic identity can provide an answer to these questions because ethnicity is one of the most crucial aspects in shaping our worldview and understanding of the world. It can influence how we interact with others, how we perceive information, and how we make decisions.

I like to consider myself as a proud Pedi woman but one can consider that to be ironic because I know very little about my ethnic group. I was born in Limpopo, where you can find majority of the Northern Sotho or also known as Bapedi or Pedi group. My twin sister, mom and I had to move to Gauteng as my dad found employment there, I was 2 years old by then. The Pedi culture and heritage had not be rooted in me yet. All I knew was a few Sepedi words and phrases that I learned by mimicking what I heard from everyone around me. When we got to Gauteng, I was exposed to people from a wide variety of ethnicities but mostly from the Zulu ethnic group. From there on I went to a primary school situated in a Muslim dominated community, where they were various backgrounds, countries of origin and ethnicities but we, myself and most of the black learners generalized them into one group and labeled all of them as “Indians”. Throughout my life, I have been exposed to different groups and had to adapt and to an extent conform to some of their practices, beliefs and ways of doing things in respect to their religious or cultural beliefs in order to maintain peace and promote social cohesion.

With all that, they are two beliefs/ teachings that have contributed in shaping my worldwide that I still remember are that we should always take care , respect and value our parents. There is a stereotype that Pedi males are mama’s boys because they are known to listen and obey their mothers a lot and are “controlled “ by them. Secondly, hospitality is very important to us. My grandmother and mom always make sure that a guest doesn’t leave without being fed food. Even at our weddings, we make sure that we make enough food to cater for the uninvited guests to.

In conclusion, our ethnic and cultural lens is simply what we know or consider to be “normal” or “familiar” . It feels much easier to just rely on what we already know and believe to be true for us. This is why it can become so easy to make assumptions and judgements about people from other cultures and ethnicities. I need to be aware of my assumptions, prejudices and biases in order to avoid creating othering, or promoting negative stereotypes about individuals from other ethnic group. Mostly, I have learned, through the saying that anthropology is about “ making the strange familiar and the familiar strange”.

Kinship, exchange and network play a crucial role in our lives. Kinship refers to the sharing of human relationships between family members and a study of the patterns of social relationships amongst those members of the family. Social network is the network of social interactions and connections and personal relationships. Exchange is the act of giving something and receiving something else in return.

Some of the networks I move through everyday includes the relationships I made with my friends, classmates, lecturers and continue make with some of my acquaintances and individuals I meet during my subcommittee events. How I go about doing that is by us sharing and exchanging knowledge and information, providing advice and contacts. What I exchange through these networks differ as every relationship has something different to offer although they all have something in common. Networking helps to build relationships, both professional and social ones, opens doors to new opportunities and also helps to with personal growth. For example my lecturers provide me with knowledge and information regarding their respective modules and in exchange I have to use that knowledge to do well in their modules, which is a win-win situation because I can get good results and they get their salaries. My friends and I exchange social, emotional psychological support by being there for each other having fun together.

Kinship provides a safety net in places where there is no social security by government or anyone or anything outside of your family. “ Kinship is the primary means through which individuals generate social support” ( Ross, 1996: 59-60). The reading by du Toit and Neves emphasizes the central role of extended network of reciprocal exchange within the informal social protection system. During the class discussion , our lecturer mentioned the three modes of exchange and reciprocity. I realized that for example, when my friends and family buy me gifts for my birthday or gifts in general, or when my mom and grandmother used to change my diapers, feed me, walk me to the taxi in the morning, they were practicing generalized reciprocity. This is giving without expecting anything in return. Balanced reciprocity, on the other hand takes place among people who know each other. In other words, complete strangers would be unlikely to engage in balanced reciprocity because they would not be able to trust the person to reciprocate within an acceptable period of time. Lastly negative reciprocity, an attempt to get something for nothing; exchange in which both parties try to take advantage of the other. For instance, when I get to the street vendors and bargain for a lower price but the vendor wants to charge me more for packet of snacks.

We learned about networks of kinship and exchange, in South African context. After going through the prescribed reading /literature, Domestic fluidity in Die Bos, Social Dynamics (Ross, 1996: 55-71) and the working paper by du Toit and Neves( 2009), Informal Social Protection in Post – Apartheid Migrant Networks :Vulnerability, Social Networks and Reciprocal Exchange in the Eastern and Western Cape, South Africa and the class discussion, it has motivated me to reflect on the networks I move through on a daily basis, how and what I exchange through these networks. I had to evaluate and introspect who forms part of my networks and how I’m related to those people and mostly, what exchanges occur.

Bzzzt bzzzt bzzzt. Yep, you've guessed it right. That was four o'clock alarm waking me from my slumber. All I could remember is his mesmerizing, hazel green eyes , his prominent piercing gaze and sharp jawline. You could cut an apple with that jawline.What upset me was the fact that I was a fingertip away from getting my hands on veiny hands as he wa about to give me a handshake. 

I got ready for my lecture at 9:30 with a broken heart. It reminded me of that morning my puppy passed away, when I was in grade 8 and I had to go to school. I couldn't hold in the tears so I cried my eyes out and a senior RCL had to comfort me. Her hug was as warm as my mom's. 

As I'm seated in my SANL lecture I get a notification reminding me of my interview for the humanities subcommittee. I make my way to the library, where the interview was held after my lecture. As I enter the first floor, I'm overwhelmed by the loud laughs and small chats each group seated had. My heart is beating fast, it got was when one of the SAC members called me into the interview room. I literally felt seperated from everyone and everything that was taking place outside when I entered that isolated room filled with intense silence. I felt and seemed like an interrogation room or one of those meetings my parents used to have when I was misbehaving or failed at school. The panel of interviewers maintained their position of authority, especially the Chairperson, he didn't even smile, not even once. 

I felt powerless as I held no position in the room, considering the fact that I held his position in high school as the Deputy Chairperson of my school representative council of learners. 

 I felt better when I saw my name listed with the applicants that where also chosen, later on in the evening. Now, I'm a step closer to getting in their shoes and occupying their position. I had to sleep earlier that night because I had a lecture at 7:30. 

The use of our language and words has great power and influence in shaping not only our perspective of others but also of themselves. I recently realized that I’m just as guilty for othering, stereotyping and distortion as the European authors and writers who twisted the original stories of Non-Europeans, when we discussed the work of authors and listened to TED talks , but my blog will be based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk, The Danger of a Single Story, as I spotted similarities in it.

Coming from a lower-middle class household, in an urban area, Gauteng, the City of Gold , life was easy compared to my cousins from Limpopo, in the villages, well, that’s what I thought. When I listened to Ngozi’s TED talk, her story about Fide, their house boy, reminded me of my cousins, who I looked down upon because I lived more comfortably . I was constantly reminded by everyone around me about how privilege I was to have my basic necessities satisfied and enjoy some luxurious and how other children in the rural areas lack that. I was exposed to the typical idea of how European and Non-European children lived trough Media .The fact that I’m lighter in complexion and I look mixed race, coloured to be specific, was the cherry on top. Compared to them, I lived and looked like the Europeans, and I stereotyped them as poor forgetting their richness in our culture and traditions, which I’d lost.

 After listening to Ngozi’s TED talk , I learned the dangers of stereotypical and inaccurate representations of people. This affects the inferior group as it dehumanizes them and takes away their dignity. It also makes it harder for people to connect and understand each other because of otherness the “us vs them” mentality.