Sisanda Ngqola 

31632025

The Mpondo or Pondo tribe is a Bantu speaking ethnic group that resides in the Eastern Cape Province.

As the young individual that I am today I was raised in a Mpondo house hold where our rich cultural heritage steeped in deep rooted beliefs and teachings that have been past down from Generations to generations. 

ANCESTRAL WORSHIP

Firstly as a Mpondo person I was taught the importance of ancestral worship. We believe that the spirits of our ancestors play a crucial role in our lives and we must respect and honor them as our elders who guide, curses and protect us and pray for their blessings, forgiveness and gifts they have given us in life. Our ways of showing gratitude, respect and apologies we do rituals, ceremonies where we slaughter a cattle, brew traditional beer, wear our traditional attire and call upon our clan names. They have installed the importance of reasoning for everything that happens in me that "everything happens for a reason. This belief has also led to our other belief traditional healers Amagqirha. We believe that these healers do have direct connections with the spiritual world and we are appreciative for their abilities to heal physical and mental illnesses. AmaMpondo have also taught me that illnesses are caused by spiritual imbalances and that traditional healers have the abilities to restore harmony and balance to affected individuals. 

CONNECTION WITH NATURE.

Mpondo people have a deep connection with nature. They believe that every living and non-living thing on earth has a spirit and should be respected. This includes animals, plans, rocks and even elements. This connection to nature reflects to our way of life. We have a deeper understanding of the land and its resources e.g we have knowledge of traditional herbs,  medicine and we know how to farm and plant. We use natural remedies for healing and believe that nature provides with everything we need. From a young age I was taught if I have a headache there is a tree leaf that I must burn to heal my headache. We used cows for planting and I was taught to respect everyone and everything in life.

Today people are being bombarded with technology and materialism, everything comes in a fast speed. I may enjoy this life as a young person that I am but I was taught respect my elder, respect my ancestors,  cherish my roots and live in harmony with nature.

My Ethnic group beliefs and teachings of ancestral worship and connection with nature may seem foreign to others, but they have valuable lessons for all of us. One might learn from my culture and I might as well learn valuable things from other people's cultures. 

As I reflect about who I am and what makes me the person I am I became aware of my social networks and how influence they have towards my personality and Identity. Social networking is not only about communicating and engaging with people but it is how various relationships we have build us as humans and who we are as individuals. I've noticed that family are the people that who gave birth to me, the people I'm born with, and those I share with my DNA, my genes. My family has been with me for a long time from the moment  I was in my mother's womb till date. They have given me a chance to live and be in age I am now, they have provided me with shelter,clothes ,food and Identity. They have witnessed my early stages in life. My parents who gave their all and best for me they gave me strength in my weakest moments and cheered in my achievements, have seen me in my ups and downs and they knew my flaws to show my love and appreciation for them I respect and love them.My siblings the people who where my cheerleaders in life wishing me great things in life,the first people to be my friends sharing the blood bond we have, we grew together , shared same beds and same parents. They were the ones who would listen to things that I was scared to share with my parents . We cared for one another and we have each other's backs.

I turned and look into my friends and I came to know that I have different kinds of friends,the friends that I had in my early childhood the are the friends I grew up with, we know each other from young age and we likely grew up together. The friends From school  I met them at school ,we had a school relationship and the ones I have now at university I met them at this age and at this environment. All my friends from different places have played unique role in my life and I'm grateful to experience such relationships with them. My friends are from different backgrounds, cultures and have different beliefs. They have different identities, personalities from each other but when we come together putting aside our differences we form a bond. We mostly relate to each other through same interests in things and life experiences we have.my friends are not in my life for fun activities only they are there for emotional support. We usually share advices,ideas and we motivate and inspire each to be the best in life. We show respect and respect each other's boundaries. When I'm with them I feel like I do belong with them and they have accepted me for who I am ,my flaws and I don't have to pretend with them. We do have some conflicts and disagreements but we communicate and try to fix the situation.

My social Networks have played a huge role to my personality.