Young writer pens morality story
Although it has been a struggle to get his book published, this writer refuses to give up on his passion
LIMPOPO – Mbava dzo tangana is 22-year-old Vhahangwele Netshivhambe’s first book, which he hopes will inspire his peers to stay in school.
Born and raised in the deep rural village of Tshitavha in Sambandou outside Masisi, his journey to write started while he was at Tombolagole Secondary School.
“I realised that I had a passion for writing while I was in high school, so I decided that I would start writing books that would help people who stay in rural areas,” said Netshivhambe. He explained that a number of youths in his area drop out of school because of poverty and a lack of knowledge, and this is one of the reasons he decided to write a book.
“Instead of going to school to better their future, they only think of drugs and alcohol which destroys their future.
Some of the youths in rural areas steal people’s belongings such as cash so that they can buy drugs and alcohol, and the youths are spending time with older people in the taverns drinking alcohol, rather than studying in order to build a better future for themselves,” he said.
The book is a short story about three young boys aged between 15 and 17 who are expelled from school due to misconduct, unruly behaviour, and theft.
“Instead of learning from their mistakes, the boys rather opted to drop out of school and continue their behaviour of taking other people’s property without their permission, and began using drugs and alcohol,” he explained.
The police become involved as the community had enough of the behaviour of the three boys, which leads to the death of a police officer. The boys are subsequently arrested and their future goes down the drain.
Self-publishing, he explained, is not an easy thing, as he used his phone to write the book because he doesn’t have a laptop. “It takes time to type using a phone and it is difficult for me to publish the book because I don’t have money,” said Netshivhambe.
He added that he is from a poor family and he has asked many business people for funds but they are not willing to assist him, and if it was not about money he would already have published many books.
His advice to the youth is that they shouldn’t worry about their background but should worry about their future. Netshivhambe practices what he preaches and is now a mechanical engineering student at Capricorn TVET College.
