I CARRY HOPE IN MY LUNGS

“I’m from a small village outside Pampierstad in the Northern Cape, where I lived with my aunt and grandmother. They raised me until I finished high school in 2006. In 2007, I moved to Joburg, and enrolled for an IT diploma at Damelin Business College. I lived with my mom, and graduated in 2009. During that time, I got to reconnect with her, which made me really excited about our future together.

It’s while struggling to secure an internship in 2010, that life changed completely. It all started with a cough, which we shrugged off as just a simple cold that would eventually clear on its own. But when it persisted, my mom sought opinions from