Speaking Xhosa, Zulu, English, and Math

April 18, 2007

The Herald, of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, recently ran a feature on one of the top Rhodes University students, who proudly proclaimed, "I speak Xhosa, Zulu, English, and mathematics."

Siyabuela "Sabz" Nomoyi lives in a poverty-stricken township overlooking the university on the other side of the valley. Sheltered from the rough streets by his parents — they enforced an after-dark curfew — Nomoyi studied hard "because my family is poor," he said.

He grew up "having a conversation with my books," Nomoyi recalled. "I was never lonely. I have enjoyed maths and science since Grade 8," he affirmed. His teachers drove him hard, pushing him to achieve. At Rhodes, Nomoyi came to love mathematics. He was encouraged to study it, he said, "until it becomes an ordinary language."

Now a young man, wearing the simple but elegant uniform of a Xhosa man, Nomoyi says he doesn't seek "excess" in life, just that he and his family be "comfortable."

To achieve this, he's striving to get to the top of the academic ladder, hoping to earn a Ph.D. But since he's unsure which direction to take, Nomoyi is majoring in statistics, computer science, and of course, mathematics.

Source: The Herald, Port Elizabeth, South Africa