I was born in Gauteng in 1984 - a very difficult time. As a baby I was taken to my grandmother in Nieu Bethesda and she brought me up. I was very happy at school with my friends, and finished primary school aged seventeen, but my grandmother had no more money to send me to high school. When I was eleven my mother came to Nieu Bethesda and asked me if I knew her. I said no. My mother asked me to go back with her to the Transvaal but I refused. She went away without me and died a few months later. It was very difficult for me.

In October my friend Millie told me about the Arts Centre and I felt very welcome there. I met Julia Chamberlain, a volunteer from overseas and she taught us to make bags and skirts. I am very happy with my work at the Centre.