Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • GADRA and Mobile Science Lab launch new science project
  • Almost 50 GADRA alumni graduate from Rhodes this week!
  • How it feels to go without water for seven days
  • Cleaning Kowie River and Fairview Spring for World Water Day
  • Local soccer teams avoid SAB Regional League relegation!
  • Bongani Fule: new Eastern Cape Junior Lightweight champion!
  • Bathurst Book Fair is back with a bang!
  • In the words of Nelson Mandela, “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity”
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Grocott's Mail
You are at:Home»OUR TOWN»Humans of Makhanda»When a girl child grows up here
Humans of Makhanda

When a girl child grows up here

Linda MkazaBy Linda MkazaOctober 25, 2022Updated:October 25, 2022No Comments3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Zandile Jilana
Zandile Jilana. Photo: Mpho Magidi

By MPHO MAGIDI

Being a girl child is one of the most difficult things you could possibly be in the South Africa we live in. Being a girl child in a small town filled with different faces every year is a different story. Today we take a look into the life of a Makhanda native, Zandile Jilana.

Growing up in a university town such as this means you meet a lot of people older than you who either guide you or lead you astray. On top of that, the people in your community and your family influence the type of person you become. 

“The people I have met from Rhodes University have greatly influenced the person I am today,” says Zandile, who refers to “relationships I choose to maintain and the type of person I am attempting to grow into”. 

She claims that the greatest thing she ever could have done for herself was to make friends with people from Rhodes from the time she was still in high school at Nombulelo Secondary. She says joining youth programmes that Rhodes provides for local residents was the best thing she could have done for her growth as a girl child and a young person in South Africa

“I have found that there is less confusion in me compared to the friends that I have here due to the fact that I have had great influence all my life,” she says. For instance, Zandile feels she has more direction in life than many of her friends.

We know that people in their 20s are prone to be confused about their life and where they are heading. I have interviewed people of all ages and from different walks of life for my blog and they agree on one thing: life is tough, chaotic, and confusing. This is why Zandile’s clarity of vision made an impression – she seems to have more direction than many people older than her.

Is the key to living a less chaotic, less confusing, less dramatic life to grow up in a small town? To grow up around people older than you? To be groomed by the older youth who come from different backgrounds?

Or is Zandile one of the lucky ones who found the right people to lead her in her journey to becoming the woman that she wants to become? She found people from Rhodes.

See also: https://peaceinbedlam.wordpress.com/

Previous ArticleLights. Camera. Advocacy.
Next Article NPA’s case against solar geyser thieves withdrawn
Linda Mkaza

Comments are closed.

Tweets by Grocotts
Newsletter



Listen

The Rhodes University Community Engagement Division has launched Engagement in Action, a new podcast which aims to bring to life some of the many ways in which the University interacts with communities around it. Check it out below.

Humans of Makhanda

Humans of Makhanda

Weather    |     About     |     Advertise     |     Subscribe     |     Contact     |     Support Grocott’s Mail

© 2023 Maintained by School of Journalism & Media Studies.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.