Everyone has a name and everyone’s name has a meaning. I have a name that carries a deep meaningful message. My father, an over creative mastermind, gave me my name.

Growing up I never knew what my name meant – it was a big mystery to me. Of course my school teachers always said it wrongly. But due to my lack of knowledge as to how exactly to go about pronouncing it, I accepted it.

There is a story behind my name. This story is a deep one. It is a historic movement – a rallying cry of the FRELIMO movement during Mozambique’s wars of independence. The phrase behind my name is in a foreign language – Portuguese.

My name was chosen for me because when I was born my parents were students. They didn’t have anything, because they were still in tertiary. They knew that raising me would be a struggle, a beautiful one. They knew the struggle would be over soon. They knew they weren’t perfect. They also knew that victory over their struggles was certain. Things soon got better for them because they started working.

I will always take my name seriously because it is very important to me. I truly don’t understand when a person says they hate their name. Your name is part of your journey throughout your life. Aluta Continua. Victory is certain. I am Aluta Ntuli.

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This piece of writing was created as part of the WritingMe Writing Clubs with Youth Interactive, KZN. Find out more here.