First-year students in the Management and Project Management Department leant a lot from a cultural day they hosted on the District 6 Campus recently.
According to the department’s Communication lecturer Nobuhle Luphondo, the idea came out of a discussion the class had about Intercultural Communication and the significance of diversity in workplace.
“As managers they need to learn how to manage diversity and its value in the organisation,” said Luphondo.
Having initiated the project, the students came donning traditional regalia on the day and served traditional dishes from different cultures.
“This was a platform for them to share and exchange their cultures, the objective was for my students to learn to embrace and appreciate other cultures.”
They also managed to convince others to taste their dishes at costs of between R2 and R5 and their sale proceeds could either be used to donate to an organisation of their choice or to use as a budget for their upcoming Community Engagement Project.
“The event was a success and I am very proud of my first year students, they have coordinated this event not for marks but for them to learn.”
Students could not contain their delight at the different cultures which were exhibited. Nwabisa Madywabe said it felt amazing tasting different traditional dishes such as Indian soup and traditional ginger beer.
Fruda Pumbulu enjoyed the pleasure of serving her Congolese delicacy, Pondu (cassava leaves), with bread. “Some of my fellow students had never tried the dish before, it was a nice idea for us to come together as Africans to celebrate our cultures.”
Tania Jacobs said the family spirit that the students showed each other during the event was inspiring as the students truly embraced each other’s cultures.
Mark Muyumba said he was excited to see the different cultural outfits donned by his classmates as he was used to only seeing such outfits on TV.
