Monday, December 04, 2006

Thanks from South Africa via Oklahoma

*Sanibonani nonke! (Zulu)
(I greet all of you!)
I'm a Zulu South African presently living with my wife and our two sons
in a town called Edmond in Oklahoma, USA from where I'm sending
this e-mail message.
While searching the Internet for information I needed for a project on which
I'm currently working on the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in my home country,
South Africa, I came across your informative web site.

On behalf of the AIDS orphans and their families you're helping in Africa,
I'm sending this e-mail .... of thanks.
Albeit an ordinary "Thank you" is entirely flat and inadequate in expressing our deepest gratitude.
With deep gratitude,
we say to all of you:-

SIYABONGA! (isiZulu, the language spoken by South Africa's largest tribe,
numbering +/- 12 million) The word, "Zulu", means: "heaven", therefore, Zulus are the children of heaven!
Zulus speak isiZulu and predominantly live in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
SIYABULELA! (isiXhosa, Dr. Nelson Mandela's vernacular)
[The Xhosa are the second largest group. They speak isiXhosa and live mainly in the Cape Province.]
BAIE DANKIE! (isiBhunu - Afrikaans) Afrikaans is a language similar to Dutch.
[During the difficult years of the former apartheid government, Afrikaans was a compulsory subject.]
May ...God bless you for the work you're doing for His beloved people in South Africa!
Sincerely,
John Mkhize

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