Page 64 - SCAT Rural Voice II - 35 Stories for 35 Years

FOOD seCUrity
HOW My BIGGEST LOSS LED ME TO
mY lIFe’S puRpoSe
Tomatoes grown hydroponically by EPAC. Women farming cabbages.
AFTER TRAGICALLY LOSING BOTH HIS FATHER AND OLDER BROTHER AND BEING FORCED TO RELOCATE FROM CITY LIFE IN jOHANNESBURG TO RURAL VILLAGE LIFE IN THE EASTERN CAPE, KHUMBULANI YEKANI, DISCOVERED A CALLING FOR GIVING HOPE TO OTHER YOUTH LIKE HIM.
I was born in Soweto and grew up in Moroka Township Zone 6. My biggest struggle and life changing moment came when my father passed on in 1992. After the death of my father, we rarely had a rand in the house or barely could afford to pay rent. Meat became a treasure and bread a distant relative.
We had to relocate to the crowded and noisy inner city suburb of yeoville in Johannesburg, from Soweto. My mother was earning peanuts as a waitress and hardly had enough to sustain our family. My big brother dropped out of school to assist my mother. Luckily, he found a job at a local supermarket. Unfortunately, two years later, he was shot cold dead by a stray bullet.
As a result of this tragedy, I was forced to relocate to the Eastern Cape and move in with my aunt. It was not easy to adapt to the rural life. I had to walk long distances, fetch water from a borehole located about a km from my homestead, fetch firewood and till the field. Despite these challenges, I continued studying and ended up at MSC College in King William’s Town.
In 2002 I joined an organisation called Peace Afrika youth Centre as a volunteer. This was a social justice organisation funded by SCAT from 2002 till 2009. My struggles after the loss of my father and brother developed a desire in me to see young people excel and led me to volunteer there. I was tired of seeing young people walking up and down the streets hopeless and lost. Most of them had been unable to secure employment like me or at the very least finish high school. Alcohol and drug abuse had become a permanent lifestyle in our community.
Makhelikhaya Beke in the field.
khuMbulAni yekAni
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RuRal Voice ii: 35 stories for 35 years