Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Life on the Other Side of My Neighbourhood
    Life on the Other Side of My Neighbourhood
    Life on the Other Side of My Neighbourhood
    Ebook95 pages1 hour

    Life on the Other Side of My Neighbourhood

    By Angeleen Chenesai Magwizi

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Often, we traverse through life in a bubble, oblivious to the realities unfolding just across the neighbourhood. It’s not deliberate, but a common human tendency. Yet, when a sliver of life ‘on the other side’ catches our eye, it prompts a riveting realization: do we indeed inhabit the same world?

    This newfound perspective might send shivers down your spine as you grapple with the stark contrasts of life, especially in the landscape of Southern Africa. Here, countless souls are relegated to the status of ‘desperadoes,’ their lives shackled by the chains of poverty, a situation exacerbated by the haunting shadows of colonization.

    How I yearn for our leaders to don disguises, to walk a mile in the shoes of those on the other side of the neighbourhood. Such an experience could unveil the crushing repercussions of lacklustre governance on the future generations of Southern Africa. Perhaps then, they might reconsider their leadership ethos, valuing citizens as beings of emotion and aspiration, not merely as ballot ticks.

    Through the lens of an ordinary South African immigrant, this narrative unfolds a tapestry of daily challenges, endeavouring to offer you a deeper understanding. As you traverse through her journey, may it spark a transformation within, urging you to look beyond the familiar, and delve into the unseen narratives that share our world yet remain veiled in the mists of unawareness.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAustin Macauley Publishers
    Release dateFeb 2, 2024
    ISBN9781035825295
    Life on the Other Side of My Neighbourhood
    Author

    Angeleen Chenesai Magwizi

    Angeleen Chenesai Magwizi is a doting grandmother of two feisty boys. She grew up in Rhodesia—now Zimbabwe—and experienced the liberation war struggle in her teenage years. Having trained as a primary school teacher, she taught for over 20 years – before retiring. She has always been an avid reader and recalls writing articles to local newspapers about Southern African social challenges of the blind during high school and these went on to be published. With her increasingly growing concerns about the welfare of immigrant children, Chenesai has written a heart-felt story inspired by true events related by friends and family abroad.

    Related to Life on the Other Side of My Neighbourhood

    Related ebooks

    Politics For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Far From The MADDING CROWD

      Aug 19, 2022

      Far From The MADDING CROWD
      10 min read

    • Article

      Good Boy

      Sep 8, 2020

      I’ve always had a problem with introductions. To me, they don’t matter. It’s either you know me or you don’t—you get? If you don’t, the done. Simple. Kick me out of the house at fifteen—a main thing you need to know is that I am a hustler through and

      18 min read

    • Article

      Self-preservation

      Jun 2, 2021

      Self-preservation
      5 min read

    • Article

      Winning Letter

      May 10, 2024

      Recently we visited a place of safety. At security, everyone must sign in. The stone building looks like an ordinary residence with large lawns and a nice playground. A group of laughing children catch my eye. One little one introduces himself. The l

      5 min read

    • Article

      Monica Ali

      Feb 7, 2022

      Monica Ali
      5 min read

    • Article

      Planting Seeds

      Jan 4, 2024

      Planting Seeds
      6 min read

    • Article

      Creature Teacher

      Jul 9, 2019

      Creature Teacher
      1 min read

    • Article

      Letters From The Pandemic

      Apr 27, 2020

      Letters From The Pandemic
      8 min read

    • Article

      We Asked, You Answered: Have You Taught Your Children To Run Errands On Their Own?

      Apr 30, 2022

      Nearly 100 NPR readers gave their views on encouraging kids to do tasks on their own at home and in the community. Some are opposed to the practice for safety reasons. Others shared personal stories.

      6 min read

    • Article

      Jon Snow

      Mar 6, 2023

      Jon Snow
      5 min read

    • Article

      Winning Letter

      Apr 12, 2024

      Covid, the negative political climate, crime and high cost of living seem to have paralysed most South Africans into living in a state of zombie-like limbo. The public seems to be stuck in the mindset of that awful time when, clad in grey tracksuits

      5 min read

    • Article

      Anita Rani

      Jul 25, 2022

      Anita Rani
      5 min read

    • Article

      Jack Unfiltered Monroe

      Oct 29, 2021

      Jack Unfiltered Monroe
      9 min read

    • Article

      A Little Love

      Apr 5, 2023

      A Little Love
      7 min read

    • Article

      My #MeToo

      Jul 17, 2020

      My #MeToo
      6 min read

    • Article

      Tender Loving Care

      Sep 8, 2019

      Tender Loving Care
      10 min read

    • Article

      Jay Blades

      Mar 8, 2021

      Jay Blades
      5 min read

    • Article

      An Instant Darling

      Oct 21, 2019

      An Instant Darling
      3 min read

    • Article

      Drew Barrymore finding Home

      Dec 1, 2021

      Drew Barrymore finding Home
      5 min read

    • Article

      Winning Letter

      Aug 18, 2023

      AS A kid I spent many hours at the library, reading about interesting things and places. I devoured pretty much anything and everything, hoping to expand my world. Back then we didn’t have the kinds of amazing magazines like the ones the YOU team pro

      5 min read

    • Article

      CURES FOR heartbreak

      Jul 14, 2019

      CURES FOR heartbreak
      6 min read

    • Article

      FACING loneliness

      Oct 7, 2023

      FACING loneliness
      6 min read

    • Article

      What I Deserve

      Apr 13, 2022

      IN THE past two years I have opened a bookstore while keeping my day job; finished a novel draft and written another novel draft; grieved the death of a friend, and another friend; started and stopped multiple vitamin regimens; watched my mother slip

      8 min read

    • Article

      Overcoming Stigma

      Oct 25, 2021

      Overcoming Stigma
      5 min read

    • Article

      Alan Cumming

      Nov 1, 2021

      Alan Cumming
      5 min read

    • Article

      A Comma, Not A Full Stop

      Apr 21, 2023

      A Comma, Not A Full Stop
      8 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Life on the Other Side of My Neighbourhood

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Life on the Other Side of My Neighbourhood - Angeleen Chenesai Magwizi

      About the Author

      Angeleen Chenesai Magwizi is a doting grandmother of two feisty boys. She grew up in Rhodesia—now Zimbabwe—and experienced the liberation war struggle in her teenage years. Having trained as a primary school teacher, she taught for over 20 years – before retiring. She has always been an avid reader and recalls writing articles to local newspapers about Southern African social challenges of the blind during high school and these went on to be published. With her increasingly growing concerns about the welfare of immigrant children, Chenesai has written a heart-felt story inspired by true events related by friends and family abroad.

      Dedication

      Children are my haven. I marvel at their resilience, hope and innocence. This book is written in dedication to the forgotten dreams of all the displaced Subsaharan African children. This is not because of war but secondary to selfish governance that has landed them in a foreign South Africa illegally.

      Copyright Information ©

      Angeleen Chenesai Magwizi 2024

      The right of Angeleen Chenesai Magwizi to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

      Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

      The story, the experiences, and the words are the author’s alone.

      A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

      ISBN 9781035825271 (Paperback)

      ISBN 9781035825295 (ePub e-book)

      www.austinmacauley.co.uk

      First Published 2024

      Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

      1 Canada Square

      Canary Wharf

      London

      E14 5AA

      Acknowledgement

      I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the other side of my neighbourhood without whom I would not have written this book. I would also like to express my gratitude to a special friend who has supported me with encouragement in my journey of finding myself and writing. I am extremely grateful to Sinikiwe Makarutsa my friend who has stuck by my side in every season of my life for planting the idea of writing in my head. Lastly, I am deeply indebted to Roman and Charlene Chideme who made it possible with their nurturing support for this writing dream to be possible. To God be all Honour and Glory!

      Introduction

      Have you ever realised that you can live your life without ever imagining what it would be like on the on the side of the world? What am I saying? I’m not even talking about the other side of the world but the other side of your neighbourhood. It’s a thought that never crosses our minds. I don’t know why but when I ended up on the other side of my neighbourhood, my eyes were opened in so many ways that I decided to walk the journey by writing. Although not a long journey, the experiences changed me as a person and as a human being. Life is full of uncertainties. If you had asked me to write ten years ago, I would have laughed my lungs out and said, Are you for real? What’s there to write about? Today my answer will be, There are innumerable things to write about in this world and life. I have been a reader since my junior high school days. Through-out the previous years, I have used reading as a form of escape from the reality of my life in particular—and the world around me in—general. I found myself in this setting because I had made a decision to give myself a new face and identity. I had been privileged to stay in the Northern Suburbs where everything looks beautiful-, at least on the outside. Now I found myself in a new setting not far from where I lived before. This is where my story begins.

      Chapter 1

      Week One

      January 2020

      As I stepped out of the taxi at the Shoprite Plaza on 6 January 2020, I immediately had a sense of anticipation mixed with fear as this was totally out of my comfort zone. I looked beyond the horizon of the Shoprite Plaza in the Western expanse-; there before me were numerous houses and shacks; what was more visible were the shacks. On the other hand, the eastern side had beautiful small houses. They looked new. I knew that staying there was out of the question; I was supposed to be there for four months, maybe—five tops. There was no way I would put money into renting an expensive place. I had already made up my mind that I would stay in the ghetto for the few months that I was going to be in the country. However, I wasn’t prepared to stay in a shack. Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with living in a shack. I am a person who is overly particular with hygiene in the home, specifically the bathroom. I like to take a proper bath or shower twice a day, the one thing that is not readily available when you live in a shack. You have to use a big portable dish in a limited space to bathe. I will always marvel at one who comes out of these shacks looking immaculate, gorgeous or handsome, content and cheerful despite their circumstances.

      Prior to my coming, I had organised accommodation through someone. I thought it was just a matter of getting there, paying rent and moving in. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out that way; there was a minor detour from the original plan. The owner of the place where I was supposed to stay wasn’t picking up my calls for three days. I was left with no choice but to start looking for a place again, hence the reason why I found myself at Shoprite Plaza in Olievehoutbosch. It was a scorching afternoon. I went straight into Shoprite Supermarket because people normally post adverts for accommodation on the notice boards inside supermarkets. My intuition was perfect; there were a couple of rooms to rent which were affordable. I took down the contact numbers and dialled the first one. The man on the phone promptly gave me directions to go to Marabastad and then call him from there. Actually, looking back, I should have walked. It’s not that far from the plaza. Nevertheless, I jumped onto a local taxi and asked to drop off at Marabastad. Quickly, I made inquiries from a young lady I had met and she informed me that the whole place was called Marabastad. Shocked, I immediately called the person who had directed me. I had assumed Marabastad was a name of a shop. I tried calling the guy but the call was not going through. I am a nervous wreck if things don’t work out as planned, I easily go into a panic mode. I had to stop at a Spaza shop (South African name for small, convenience shop usually located in front of someone’s residence.) and do some calming exercises that a special friend of mine had taught me a year prior. I breathed in and out slowly until I was steady. As I tried to call him again, my phone registered zero phone credit. I bought it from a Spaza shop. That was another shock! When you buy airtime at a Spaza shop, they charge you an extra fifty cents on every R5 worth of airtime. You would like to think this is what they should do in places where people have money, not where people struggle financially. Anyway, eventually he picked up his phone and managed to direct me to his place. I couldn’t help but notice how dirty the streets were and how run-down

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1