This is a story about a kid just like you who's learning new things all the time.
Find a cozy spot so you can listen while I tell you about a mache.
Are you comfortable?
Great!
Now close your eyes and take three deep breaths with me.
In and out.
In and out.
In and out.
Now let's begin our story.
I'm Amashi,
An 11 year old girl from Cape Town,
South Africa.
Come join me as I tell you all about my wonderful country on my favorite holiday,
Heritage Day.
My city is near the ocean that shines bright blue in the sunlight.
From the water,
I can look up and see our huge mountain called Table Mountain.
I live in a neighborhood full of different languages and races.
Every home has a family with a different color of skin and there are five different languages spoken by my neighbors.
In South Africa,
We have 11 official languages,
Which is the fourth highest in the world.
We are proud of having so many different people living together.
Even though we are all different,
We get along and have tolerance and respect for one another.
My family is Zulu,
Which means we come from Africa and have black skin.
When I went to school,
I met Angel and she became my best friend.
She is white and doesn't speak Zulu,
So I've taught her some phrases like,
Sowabona,
Hello,
And Ikabe,
Watermelon.
Mmm,
Delicious Ikabe.
We love to eat watermelon together.
But did you know that here in South Africa,
About 30 years ago,
Angel and I wouldn't have been allowed to talk to each other,
Let alone be best friends.
Back then,
Our country was divided by apartheid,
Which meant that blacks and whites were to be separated and the white people were in charge.
All of the different races were kept apart and couldn't get to know each other as equals.
Can you imagine not being allowed to get to know your neighbor just because of their skin color and because they had a different culture than you?
That's what apartheid meant.
It makes me angry and sad to think about it.
I'm so grateful that our people knew this was wrong and fought to change it.
They knew the best way to live was to connect with one another,
No matter their culture,
Their skin color,
Or their language.
Leaders like Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela worked hard to end it peacefully.
And it worked!
Now we can all be friends and we celebrate the many cultures of South Africa every September 24th.
Heritage Day.
Today,
My family is celebrating with Angel's family at a barbecue.
This is what our people like to do to celebrate.
I'm dressed in my family's traditional clothing with lots of beads in pink,
Yellow,
Red,
And light blue.
Angel wears a simple polo shirt in red,
And I think we look great together when we take a picture with our families.
We look different,
But our smiles are the same.
I'm proud to live in a country where we fought hard for what is right and we work hard to remember kindness.
I love living here because there are many types of people who work together to make our country a beautiful place.
Maybe in the future,
The penguins from the south and the lions from the north of our country will learn to get along too,
But I doubt it.
Thanks for coming with me to beautiful South Africa and I hope you learned how important it is to look beyond someone's culture,
Language,
Or skin color to find a connection with them.
Maybe you can find someone who is different from you in the way they speak or look,
And you can create a friendship with them.
You'll be so glad you did.
Hamba Kashi!
