Our teachings/beliefs from our different ethnic groups shape our worldviews and also affect us individuals. I have learned to value the importance of my ethnic group and two out of their many teachings that are endogenous to my ethnic group as a member of the BATSWANA group. I am deeply rooted in the Tswana culture with my maternal grandmother born and raised in BOTSWANA, their lessons and teaching have a very big impact in my life.

KGOTLA

This belief centers on the traditional Batswana gathering place, held at the king's place, where community members come together to discuss issue, resolve conflicts, and make collective decisions. It represents the value of dialogue, and inclusive decision-making. This influences my worldview by making informed decisions. It also contributes to how I resolve conflicts and how I also face challenging issues. It also helps me to have respect for diverse perspectives and opinions. Our elders and community leaders share valuable lessons and insights during these meetings, by witnessing how conflicts and issues are resolved in a peaceful manner, I get to learn the importance of communication and reconciliation in maintaining peace.

BOGADI OR LOBOLA ( DOWRY)

Lobola in Tswana is referred to as Bogadi or Magadi. It is seen as a token of pledge, commitment, and appreciation from deep within to the family of the woman whom a man intends to marry. Traditionally, in the olden days the offering was in a form of cattle, and it varied from family to family as to how many cattle would be offered. The groom's family writes a letter to the bride's family to inform them of their intentions and the bride's family accepts and responds to the proposal and give them a date to negotiate. During the negotiations the elderly women and men give the bride and groom tips on how to run a home and what marriage is. It emphasizes the importance of marriage and the commitment that comes with it. It shapes my cultural identity and reinforces the importance of traditional practices and also contributes into appreciating women being acknowledged and having value and also recognizing their contributions to society.

Mair Lucy (1972) sees kinship as the expression of social relationships in a biological idiom. It describes and establishes a network of enduring relationships between individuals and groups on the model of biological relationships between parents and children, between siblings and between marital partners.

Reflecting on my networks I find myself in a web of relationships that extends beyond my immediate family. These networks consist of friends, acquaintances, teachers or lectures or even casual encounters. They each play a role in shaping my interactions and exchanges.

At the core of my network, it includes my family. They are my family, and they play a very important in shaping who I am and how I interact with different people or even them. My sister is the nurturing one. She offers me with any kind of support whether it be emotional or financial, while my is more on the financial side. They not only provide me with emotional support but the offer me guidance and support. They provide me with affection and companionship which breeds a sense of belonging. They provide me with love and care, and we are connected by shared experiences and a sense of familiarity.

Followed after my family is friends and acquaintances. Our connection is based on shared interests, offering companionship and a sisterhood. Our friendship offers a deep level of emotional connection and support. There is an exchange of empathy, and a non-judgmental space to share experiences, thoughts and feelings. We all offer each other a sense of belonging and acceptance. We all go through challenging times at some point in life and having friends that are there for you to offer any kind of support is truly amazing. While acquaintances are surface level connections, they offer an exchange of information or ideas in social settings or potential people for forming deeper connections overtime.

In addition to my relationships, my daily network consists of lecturers and class/groupmates in which the relationships are forged through academics. Exchanges are transactional as our relationships revolve around the sharing of knowledge, resources, skills to that we can achieve a common goal. From the lecturers providing us with their knowledge to brainstorming ideas on how to tackle assignments with the classmates, these exchanges offer us a chance to enhance our knowledge and polish our skills for growth.

Reflecting on my networks, it reminds me of how my relationships with either my family members, friends and acquaintances, lecturers and classmates all play a significant role in my life. They are all involved in shaping who I am and also, how I view the world. They all provide me with a sense of belonging, offering support and care in many different ways. They remind me of what is important and what society needs.

As I wake up in the morning I am greeted by the bright light coming through the window, so bright it could blind your eyes. I find it very difficult to open my eyes, trying to adjust to light so bright as a lightening strike. I eventually force myself to do so when the smell of freshly brewed coffee hits my nostrils. The aroma so strong it could wake up the entire neighbourhood. As my feet hit the floor I could feel the hairs in body stand as my feet touch the cold ceramic floor. I take a moment to process everything in and eventually drag my feet across the floor as the aroma leads me to the kitchen to get a caffeine boost for the slow yet busy day ahead.

I get in the kitchen and go straight to the reason why I woke up. I take the kettle with its contents inside and immediately salivate at the mere thought of how deeply rich in taste/flavour it will be. I pour myself a cup and I am immediately hit by the sweet taste of just the right amount of coffee and sugar. Right there and then I knew my day had just started. After I have gulped down the coffee in a matter of minutes I quickly rush to bathroom and turn on a cold shower to awaken all my senses to get ready for the day. I realise I only five minutes to get ready and jolt out of the door to at least make it on time for my first class. 
 

That didn’t really work out too well as I was 15 minutes late and trying to understand and catch up with what my lecturer was on about seemed like yet another mission. Nothing seemed to be getting in and no matter how hard I tried to make sense of everything I seemed to get even more lost. I eventually got lost in thought and all I could think about was the sweet aroma of the coffee I had in the morning and couldn’t wait to get a taste of it again. I attended the rest of my lectures with eagerness and couldn’t wait till the last minute to rush out and head home.

All I could think about on my way home is what I could pair the coffee with to seal my day and call it a day. I don't think I have ever experienced so much pain as to the pain I felt when I found the kettle empty with no coffee inside and not even a single trace of the aroma. I could feel my heart die just a little bit and decided to retire to my bedroom and nurse my heart from the heartbreak. I went to bed with a heavy heart and drifted off to sleep thinking about the coffee I had in the morning.

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What is stereotype? A stereotype is an often unfair and untrue belief that many have about all people or things with a particular characteristic. Stereotypes about Nigerians or Nigeria can often include positive and negative perceptions, which can vary depending on the context and the cultural perspectives through which they are viewed, which can create otherness.

Nigeria and Nigerians are always associated with negative stereotypes that are mostly generalized due to the actions of a certain group of people who are responsible for prolonged negative stereotypes. They are always associated with being scammers and fraudsters, corrupt and dishonest, aggressive and confrontational. These stereotypes are a result of many different factors such the media portrayal, historical context and socio-economic issues, and the actions of the minority of people.

The TEDTalks by Adichie and Selasi," danger of a single story" emphasizes the importance of embracing multiple perspectives. We are responsible for shaping perceptions and challenging dominant narratives that perpetuate stereotypes and stigmatizations.

Reflecting on my assumptions, I realize that they are shaped by societal norms, media portrayals but mostly personal experiences. I recently had an encounter with two ladies who are from Nigeria. They came to South Africa for business, so they said. One did not seem to understand how the currency in South Africa worked and she asked for help from my friend and I and also offered us money if we would go with her to the bank. At that moment I did not think much about the situation but only after the encounter had happened, I thought back to how they might have been scammers because of the many fraudulent activities committed by their fellow citizens.  These assumptions created a sense of "otherness" by reinforcing distinctions between us and them due to superficial characteristics.