I live with both my parents and my eldest brother in a small area around Welkom called Hani-park. My father is South African, my mother is from Lesotho, my brother and I were born in Lesotho. We grew up there and attended school until my father decided to take us in 2013 to start a new life with him. We only go to Lesotho to visit some of our relatives during the holidays.

We started adapting to the lifestyle and attending school. I remember my first day at school in Grade 7. I was feeling so lonely because I did not know anyone except for my brother who had already made friends. I felt like I did not belong there and I started missing my old school in Lesotho. It was so hard for me to try and make friends because I was a very shy and quiet person. Also, the only languages I knew were Sesotho and English but everyone was speaking their own language. I was so astonished to hear all those different languages that I couldn’t even understand a single word of.

Time passed and I became friends with three girls, two Basothos and one Zulu. We got along so well that I started to enjoy going to school knowing that I also hand friends. The year came to an end and the four of us all made it to high school and that’s where we had to depart from one another and take different paths. Luckily me and the Zulu friend, Mbali, went to the same high school and continued being friends until we completed our high school days.

Tell us: Have you ever moved to a new place and struggled to make friends?