The Kara Heritage Institute
By: Letlhogonolo Ndhlovu
“If you do not know where you come from, you will not know where you are going,” a cliché quote that holds a heavy truth.
The Kara Heritage Institute is a school located on Corner Kgosi Mampuru and Madiba Street in Pretoria that was established with the aim to teach society the rich knowledge of African history, African spirituality and traditions.
Kara, meaning light or sun is a word derived from Karaism which is ancient African theology. Former ANC Chief Whip Dr Matole Motshekga is the founder of The Kara Heritage Institute which also includes skills development as part of their learning programme so that people are free and confident in the mind through knowledge of their heritage and financially free to depend on themselves.
This school is unique because Kara feeds the curious learner information that traditional schools do not teach even though we are Africans living in Africa. Over time, because of the lack of knowledge and lack of African pride, our dialects and cultures are slowly becoming extinct. There has been talk in South Africa about implementing African languages as an additional language subject in all schools.
Platform to engage
The Kara Heritage Institute is a platform to engage on African matters and solutions. On the 2nd of March 2014, Kara held a talk about the 1896 African victory of the battle of ADWA over the world empire which is seen as a critical battle for the entire continent. It was an engaging in-depth talk on the reasons why Ethiopia was not colonized between the famous poet Pitika Ntuli, Dr Matole Motshekga, Professor Mammo Muchie and a diverse audience of Ethiopians and South Africans.
When we go into the classroom, they do not teach anything about Ethiopia or other parts of the continent accept images by the media of children dying from kwashiorkor…
“South Africa and Ethiopia have a lot in common; diverse people, diverse religions, languages, colour, and they do not discriminate amongst themselves which is Ubuntu, a model that the world should follow,” highlighted Dr Matole Motshekga. He continued to note that; “When we go into the classroom, they do not teach anything about Ethiopia or other parts of the continent accept images by the media of children dying from kwashiorkor.”
When the audience was finally given a chance to share their thoughts on what they learnt about the 1896 Ethiopian victory against fascist Italy, an old man from Mamelodi said that it pains him that throughout his lifetime vital information about Africa has not been easily accessible. Another man said that if he had not read up on information like Queen Nefertiti of Egypt, he would have believed the distorted information the media is feeding society.
Dr Matole Motshekga has written a number of publications on African roots like The Modjadji Dynasty which can all be found at The Kara Heritage Institute in Pretoria.
Visit The Kara Heritage Institute on Corner Kgosi Mampuru (Potgieter) and Madiba (Vermeulen) Street. Go to www.kara.co.za for more information.