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Minenhle from Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa – April 2007)
My name is Minenhle, Minenhle Xulu. I am 12 years old. We are eight in our family: my mum, 6 sisters and 1 brother. My father died in 2002, when I was 8 years old. My father didn’t have a job and was very ill. I don’t really know what was wrong with him.
My mum has no job and no income but thanks to the financial support of my foster parents, Mr and Mrs Van der Biest, we can manage. Later I want to be a social worker to help needy and poor children like myself. I don’t know if my dream will come true, considering my home situation. Right now I’m in the 7th grade of the Umalalazi Primary School. I love my school and the teachers too. My favorite classes are Life Orientation, Natural Science and English. At home we speak isiZulu. The Life Orientation classes are interesting because they discuss many topics such as health, family, work, friendship and social life. I do my very best at school so that hopefully, I can fulfill my dream in the future. My favorite sports are netball and Zulu dance. I also like reading. At home I help with many chores such as fetching water, cooking, cleaning, washing up and cleaning up the yard, washing clothes,… I like to help my mum. I admire her because she’s so strong and so kind.
On school days I get up in the morning at 5 AM, I clean up my bed (I sleep on the floor) and get ready for school. It’s about a 20-minute walk to school. Lessons start at 7:30 AM and school finishes at 2:30 PM. My teacher’s name is Miss Gumbi. She’s very nice and loves children very much. Some children at school are too poor to buy shoes. Because they come to school bare-foot, they are sometimes laughed at by the other children. I don’t like that. I don’t like insults and neither fighting, stealing and deceit.
Our neigbour’s name is mister Mhlongo. He has a car and is always very friendly to us. When we go to church, he sometimes gives us a ride, at other times he gives us some money for the bus. I hope I will be able to finish my studies and that I will find a good job so I will be able to help my family and other poor people.”
Minenhle
