Liyema Jacobs is a medical student at Stellenbosch University's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. He attended an engagement session for students on the Hardekraaltjie Cemetery and provided a first-hand account of his experience.

While taking a walk or jog along the Eco-Route on the Tygerberg Campus, you may have noticed a barren piece of land next to the sports field. As it turns out, this area is not so empty at all, but instead is filled with countless stories dating back to a dark time in the faculty's history.

As students, we've heard rumours of there being a cemetery on campus, but I for one have never taken it seriously, and labelled it among the many myths we are told during welcoming, like how Hippokrates used to house psychiatric patients.

Therefore it was a real eye-opener, when I was invited to attended an internal engagement session on the Hardekraaltjie Cemetery on 21 July.

As someone who was born in post-Apartheid South Africa I could not fully relate to the pain and trauma that staff members of colour carried when they shared their stories of relocations. However, seeing the raw emotions on their faces, the picture of Mr Dietrich (a former staff member) holding a picture of his forefathers (who are buried here), and visiting the actual site on campus, made this real. I could not help but tear up thinking about where black families like mine would have lived, if we were not forced into townships, and our history abruptly erased.

The engagement then moved on to discussions of how staff and students would like the cemetery to be commemorated. Several ideas, such as having a memorial park with a monument with all the names of the known people buried there were raised. Another idea was a scholarship for students in the communities that were affected by this.

A suggestion that stood out for me was made by a student who recommend making a video of a family member telling the story of a relative who is buried there. In this age of social media, this would be far more effective in reaching out to the current students on campus, than just a well-written article by itself. This video along with guided visits to the cemetery during welcoming, would really open the eyes of all students and allow them to have a greater respect for these hallowed grounds.

All in all, the engagement left me with hope for the future. A future where people from all walks of life can come together and be vulnerable with each other about the wrongdoings of the past and can discuss a way forward in a way where we respect each other's views and experiences.