I grew up in a small, run-down house on the village outskirts of Thohoyandou, a town where hope often felt like a luxury we couldn’t afford. Money was always scarce. My mother, a single parent with no steady job, worked tirelessly, taking whatever odd jobs she could find, just…
You know how they say when you grow up in a burning house, you assume the whole world is on fire? Well, I didn’t grow up in a burning house. Instead, I grew up in a home where we hid the flames. We were all secretly burning inside, but…
My name is Zinhle Ndyike, and I’m from the Vaal Triangle, specifically in Meyerton/Highbury-Henley on Klip. I want to take a moment to share my story in the hope that it reaches those who have ever felt overlooked, belittled, or underestimated. I understand how isolating those feelings can be,…
I vividly recall the awe-inspiring wonder of my early years, when becoming an adult felt like the ultimate goal. I used to watch my parents, aunts, and uncles, convinced they had everything figured out, and I admired them with a mixture of reverence and envy. Life, however, had other…
Trees of life
The sweet smell of oranges
Their juices trickling and dribbling down our cheeks
Wetting our throats
Quenching our thirsts
Its nectar tickling our buds
Providing of needed vitamins and great health
Beautiful and majestic indigenous trees
Nourishing earth
Soothing the ozone layer
Giving us life
So we can breathe again
Engulfed in their shade
Toxic fumes tampered by their…
If you had told me a decade ago that I’d become a voice of creative influence in Uganda—while raising two sons, surviving the chaos of post production, and working on studying human rights law in Japan—I probably would’ve laughed, spilled tea on your shoes, and gone back to sketching…