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| Michelle Cocks Author of Voices in the Forest.
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In Africa, one of the repeated messages I've heard is to listen to your ancestors. Go to the Forest and listen! And that is what we did today. Of course there were many things that led up to that point. We started our day riding to Grahamstown and visiting the campus of Rhodes University. We met Michelle Cocks and Mr. Mluleki Nkosi. Michelle, the author of a beautiful book we've spent time studying before arriving in SA, gave a lecture on "Inkubeko nendalo" Bio-cultural Diversity in South Africa. We learned many traditional cultural practices regularly use wild plants, making nature inseparable from cultural identity. We went to Nombelelo Secondary School and listened to a lecture on South Africa's biomes. Afterwards, it was a walking lesson in the Medicinal Plant Garden at the secondary school. We returned to the university and visited the botanical garden and had lunch. We finished our day with a Walk in the Forest. We took the time to just sit and listen. It was an extremely windy day, so the sound of the wind actually made it sound as though a busy highway was close. It was not. Mr. Mlukeki Nkosi presented a lesson about the trees and the forest. He spoke to the Level 10 learners from Nombelelo Secondary School in Xhlosa language so I did not understand the lesson well. Overall, it was a wonderful lesson in African culture.
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| Learners from Nombelelo Secondary School |
In Africa, one of the repeated messages I've heard is to listen to your ancestors. Go to the Forest and listen! And that is what we did today. Of course there were many things that led up to that point. We started our day riding to Grahamstown and visiting the campus of Rhodes University. We met Michelle Cocks and Mr. Mluleki Nkosi. Michelle, the author of a beautiful book we've spent time studying before arriving in SA, gave a lecture on "Inkubeko nendalo" Bio-cultural Diversity in South Africa. We learned many traditional cultural practices regularly use wild plants, making nature inseparable from cultural identity. We went to Nombelelo Secondary School and listened to a lecture on South Africa's biomes. Afterwards, it was a walking lesson in the Medicinal Plant Garden at the secondary school. We returned to the university and visited the botanical garden and had lunch. We finished our day with a Walk in the Forest. We took the time to just sit and listen. It was an extremely windy day, so the sound of the wind actually made it sound as though a busy highway was close. It was not. Mr. Mlukeki Nkosi presented a lesson about the trees and the forest. He spoke to the Level 10 learners from Nombelelo Secondary School in Xhlosa language so I did not understand the lesson well. Overall, it was a wonderful lesson in African culture.
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