Nomfundo in her own words

My name is Nomfundo and I’m turning 15 in July. I grew up with my grandmother and uncle in a township called Kwa-Dabeka D, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. My mother and grandmother use to fight a lot, so she left and took my brother and sister to their father. He did not want to return them at the time, but currently they are back home with us. My father lives in Umlazi BB section where he grew up. And on his side I have a brother, sister and stepsister whom I love very much. The hardest thing I face is not living with her mother. My grandmother and uncle mean so much to me, I don’t know where I could be if not for them, I hope to one day return the favour.

About 2 years ago I join the Drama group after doing a drama project in class. It was scary at the beginning, but now it’s fine. We are dealing with a lot of things together. Our biggest challenge is a place to rehearse, now we are using a classroom but are restricted by only one hour even when we have a competition, then we need to just use any space we find like the playground. We participate in Love Life competitions, which include drama and poetry about Life educations e.g. teenage pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, relationships. We are perfect and won a lot of times and received certificates.

We are very close friends, like a family. Last year we lost a brother, through suicide, and that taught us that we have to become even closer than before because we are now doing things in memory of him. The group changes members depending on what we do as we include drama, dance, poetry, visual arts and music! Some have finished school and others are very busy with final year exams. Maybe I and some of the other members could step up and find younger students who might need a place to run to - to continue the legacy of the drama group. We also need to look for sponsors to go to places for competitions.

Out of 1770 students in my school I’m one of only 30 students who were selected to participant in the Digitals Arts programme. This means that there are people who actually believe in me, who believe that I can do something much better with my life and want to see me successful in life. First of all I did not know how to write a script or do storyboards. I had never used a laptop in my life, but now I know how to edit, add music, add videos and titles... which will create a very beautiful full movie!

Being part of this programme has changed my career choice... from becoming military pilot ... to movie editor. Anything that has to do with movies – I like it... it is so interesting, exciting. It keeps a smile on my face, feels like home. I want to go to university and study arts! So with 2 more years at school, I need to focus on my studies to qualify for a bursary.

Thanks to the Caversham and Pearson Foundation Teams for this opportunity that they have given us, it meant a lot and God bless. (I am on the left in the photo attached.)