(Letter from dancer Mbongiseni Patrick Buthelezi currently studying at the London Contemporary Dance School after being jointly awarded, with Sandile Mbili, the Rio Tinto scholarship)

Dear Caroline - This is just to say hi and to let you know that things are going well here. I have settled into my daily routine very well. The hours we work are long and the work exhausting, but fun. I get to school at 08h00 every morning and warm up from 08h15 – 08h45. We have ballet class from 08h45 – 10h15, contemporary from 10h30 – 12h00, a lunch break 12h00-13h00 and in the afternoons we do academic work till 18h00. After that I am in rehearsals. I'm involved in two pieces for a workshop we are going to have just before we close for Christmas

I saw my face and read the story in Dance Expression. Thank you very much for it!

I'm in the process of looking for a job and am on the verge of getting one at Waterstone's Booksellers. I want to earn some money and travel at the end of the course before I come back home. Sandile is also looking for a job and is going to start auditioning for companies here soon. He wants to work here at the end of the course.

I think South Africa needs me and what I have to offer, so I want to head back across the seas. I do wish I could stay here for longer than the time I have here, but unfortunately I cannot. I need to come back and finish my degree. So I'll be on the plane to South Africa on the first of August 2001.

I hope all is well with you. Take care. Mbongiseni Patrick Buthelezi (e-mail: mbongiseni@yahoo.com)