My community is the type that has all sorts of criminals like murderers, drug dealers, thieves and rapists. Each day I witness ludicrous and frightening things. Even when I am just walking in the streets I fear for my life. Thoughts of me being killed or kidnapped roam in my mind.

There are incidents that make me doubt people and make me think they are bad. I remember coming back from school day dreaming about my future when then I heard a voice behind me. “Eitamabebezahowzit”a man’s voice said. As I looked back I saw a tall buff man smoking weed. I could not concentrate on what he was saying as I kept stealing glances. The smell of the weed was so bad. His appearance screamed out “rapist”, he was so scruffy. As he came closer to me I swear he sent shivers down my spine. I tried by all means to keep my distance from him. He then realised I was not paying attention to him and he started raising his voice and becoming aggressive. He picked me up using both of his hands, I still avoided eye contact. He put me down and took my bag pack. He searched till he found my cell phone and a few rand.

He had a smirk on his face. I started to shiver and prayed in my heart. He then had a malicious look on his face. Just then a thought hit me. I remembered that this filthy man had a reputation of molesting children. The only thing I thought about was running and never looking back. He put my back down and started to caress his filthy beard as he looked at me from head to bottom and licked his lips in a creepy perverted way. As soon as I saw that he was distracted, I grabbed my bag and ran for it. His words were, “I will get you one day” followed by evil laughs. I got home safe and explained everything. The community is protecting him.

Half of the people here are suffering from a “pull her down” syndrome. They do not want others to succeed more than them. They say and do all sorts of things to make a person give up on his or her life. They are the kind of people that would rejoice when someone’s teenage daughter is pregnant or son is addicted to drugs. The meaning of Ubuntu is slowly fading.

My long term goal is to work hard in school, get a well paying job and then get my parents out of this community. I do not want their last moments to be in an inhumane place.