Ayanda Borotho

"I honestly don't want anyone feeling judged by this post, these are my personal views and no one has to do what I prescribe to in my life. Anyone that knows me well will know that I have a zero English policy in my house. I went to model c schools from standard 1/ grade three and I never spoke English at home"

"A few years ago my now 5-year-old son was ready for nursery school. After 2 weeks of going, I took him out. The fact that English had begun eroding his mother tongue freaked me out. I have delayed nursery school for this reason"

"I've had issues with my own people (black) look at me like I'm weird when they speak to my kids in English and I kindly ask them to speak Zulu or Sotho. I don't understand this attitude. Isingisi asinanhlonipho for one. 'hi mom' and 'sawubona ma' are two very different things (again, my opinion). Language is our first point of connection with who we are"

"If I'm to be honest, I've had the worst body insecurities. Three kids later and being told 'you've gained weight' (because somehow the body of the 20-year-old you should match that of the 42-year-old you). The things people have said to you can stick so much that they become an invisible wound"

"Sometimes, no matter how emotionally intelligent you have become, it affects you. At the end of the day we are human. Some days I'm more confident, other days not. Some days I care, others I don't. Yesterday was one of those I didn't care what anyone has ever said. And I wanted to own that moment. It was mine. Mine to appreciate and to embrace"

"For me, what failure was growing up was not being able to make a mistake and disappointing my parents. We are taught that it's not OK to make mistakes"

"Failure is a stepping stone, it's about how you see it. See it half-full. When you feel like you are buried, it doesn't necessarily mean you are buried, maybe you are planted, and that is something I had to teach myself. I see things in harvest rather than lack in seasons where I feel like I'm failing"

"It doesn't mean that I have mastered it. It means that I have awakened to it. I’m walking the journey, but it doesn’t mean that I have mastered it"

"It talks to raising girl children in our era and the system put in place to suppress their power ... my daughter is one such queen. Train them young to own their power responsibly"

"There can be no rebirth without healing. Healing (after the burning season) is a return to complete, infinite, unconditional love and divine order"

"As we enter this season, may we be intentional about healing the childhood wounds that stagnate our growth. The wounds that hinder us because the promise of infinite, pure and unconditional love for us as children was broken and the divine order of the inner child disrupted. Sakhubeka. If we didn't love the inner child, we best believe we will detest the manifest adult."

"I'm on a journey to heal my ‘father wound’. Sometimes I wonder if it will ever heal. But I am committed to the journey. No day is the same. Some better than others but in my healing, I have surrendered to vulnerability. It is where I have found strength. And I know in my healing, I will find my power again"