BCT: What would you say makes you a true Benonian?
NL: I make use of Benoni, which has many lakes, because it gives me the opportunity to make my terrariums. I use the soil from the lakes in the containers.
BCT: You have started making terrariums only this year, but for how long have you been living in Benoni?
NL: My whole life. I live in Farrarmere.
BCT: Where do you attend school?
NL: I go to Benoni Muslim School.
BCT: Tell us about your love for snakes and spiders.
NL: From a young age, I was not afraid of bugs and one day, at the age of three, I brought a rain spider into the house.
That’s when my father, Burti Lazarus, bought me my first tarantula; I named him 8 By 8.
My brother, Joey Lazarus, owns several snakes which I also take care of.
BCT: You had your own tarantula at such a young age and took care of your brother’s snakes, how was life growing up?
NL: I am the youngest of four children, Rafey (25), Nabeel (23) and Joey (21) Lazarus from my father’s side, and the eldest of three children, Muhammed-Aqib (3) and Ayyan (1) Saeed from my mother, Shaista Ismail’s, side.
I love taking care of my tarantulas – I own 30 now – and I enjoy making my terrariums on weekends, as well as putting insects under a microscope.
I have also enjoyed doing maths growing up.
BCT: Tell us about your newly found love for terrariums and why you are interested in them.
NL: It has always been something I loved making, and I want to share my knowledge of the micro-world with others.
BCT: Tell us about your future plans.
NL: I want to be the first female President of South Africa and, as a side job, I want to become a scientist.
BCT: This has been a busy and eventful few years for you, what would you say you have achieved so far?
NL: I have become smarter in maths, because I spend time learning and practising; I can now make my own terrariums and I have sold some of my snakes to fund my terrariums, so I have learned to negotiate with those who have bought my snakes.
BCT: We have learned so much about you, is there anything else we do not know?
NL: I do not listen to music in the car. My father and I do maths sums until we get to wherever we are going to.
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