I’ve been raped to a point that I stopped counting. Is being raped because of my sexuality luck? I’ve been abused numerous times. Yes my name is supposed to tell a story about my life but I guess mine doesn’t. My name says the opposite whilst my life says the other. An interpretation of my name is not an interpretation of my life’s story. Was it luck that I got raped at the age of 13? Was it luck that I was gang raped, turned to a wife while I was supposed to be a child and enjoyed my teenage years? If so, I fail to explain the word luck. Yes I was named Nonhlanhla (meaning ‘lucky’) and this name may seem to tell a story about me but it doesn’t. You may know my name but not the struggles I’ve been through, and the obstacles that I have overcome. Knowing my name doesn’t mean you know me.

They believed I would never walk in my whole life but that was their belief, not mine.

They believed it was luck I managed to walk at the age of 5 when the doctors had lost hope and thrown the towel saying my spinal-cord was damaged. My parents named me Nonhlanhla because they believed that it was luck that I made it to the world after the complications my mother faced during her pregnancy, during labour and after birth. Yes some cultures believe that a name describes a person’s past, present or future but my mine doesn’t! My culture also does believe in that myth. My name neither defines me, my past nor my future. People tend to think that they know you if they know your name.

U know my name not my story