In a world where i was never taught nor told how bad or good things could get, a world that defined and continues to define success by the clothes or cologne one wears, by the houses or mansions one occupies, by the expensive cars one drives etc.
I was forced to make my own luck and define my own success. My only wish is to reach out and let a student from Emadadeni know that life is not as glamorous as we were made to believe, and that hard work is not a thing of the past but a reality especially for young black students.
Unlike most of my peers I don’t only wish to make money, but i also wish to touch lives, touch lives with my words, spoken or written. Now I’d get asked the following questions, How do you plan to touch people’s lives? [No one knows you]. How sure are you that people want to hear your story? Do you even think that they’ll want to listen to it? And i’d answer and tell them YES,YES,YES.
Well here goes nothing, My name is Nkosana Prince Mokoena, I’m a seed of the late Thami Nhlapo and Doris Mokoena, The name “Nkosana” was given to me since i was my fathers First born, And I was to somehow make or better my parents lives. That dream or wish was short lived when my mother died when i was only 5 years old. With my dad in and out of prison I was raised by my fathers siblings, (Mostly my Aunt’s). I can’t really say that i had a bad upbringing however it wasn’t the best, Of-course i had great people walk into my life and try to better it, but due to the decisions one made i once again lost everything, At the age of 17 I was diagnosed with a chronic illness which i would have to live with for the rest of my life,and I almost failed the year. When I was 19 my dad died from an illness widely known as AIDS. I remember that day as if it happened yesterday because that same year I was wrongfully accused for a crime I didn’t commit and was awaiting trial at the Johannesburg Correctional Services [A jail famously known as “Sun City”] and I found myself staying two months in there.
It’s was in there, that i can truly say i met God and that’s when i had the revelation to help others like me not to make the same mistakes that I made.
When I got out,It was then that I decided to call on an old school friend of mine and propose an idea that I planned while I was in prison.
I now co-own a company, That is all about teaching and motivating young Black kids/students the importance of going to school and becoming better people in their society.
So Yes, I know how it’s like to loose your loved one’s and want to give up, Yes, I know how it’s like to be terminally ill, To go to bed on an empty stomach and to have your back up against the wall.
So, NO i can’t afford to have another young black man go to prison or even have another young black woman sell her body ”just to get by”. Long story short I was born to touch people’s lives and until i attain or achieve that dream, I CAN’T AFFORD TO GIVE UP [THAT’S MY ONLY WISH]!!!-Nkosana Prince Mokoena
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