Omphile Bele, he is a soul that’s full of scars. But the day he overcomes it all, he will join the stars. Life around him seems confusing and takes a while to understand. But if anything, he’s a survivor.

Back at the 84 skool Straat, they had everything they wanted. And their needs were taken care of. They were comfortable to say the least. But as they rode along with time, red flags started showing up on the side of the road. They had family problems. The “atmosphere” outside was fun, but on the inside, they were not happy.

Bad decisions could be the title of his story. It started six years ago when his father had a conflict with a colleague at work. Then for unknown reasons he wanted to leave the mine. The mine gave him 2 options, either he buys their home and keeps the change or don’t buy the house and receive the whole cash. And he chose the money.

Now they had to leave because the house they spent 12 years building a life in was no longer their home. He remembered feeling “Frustration..” And he “couldn’t understand” what was meant when he was told they had to leave the house. And soon enough, a gang of depression, anxiety, blame and anger attacked him 4 in 1. As he puts it, “.. I was losing myself”. The moving out situation had a terrible impact on him, because of how he was. As he said “.. I had a lot of pride.” And just like that, they had to move to the nearby township. From Hero to Zero.

They had nothing under their names and seemingly nowhere to go. “We had to start from scratch.” Their family bond was already weak and moving out made it even worse.. They grew distant for a while, because the more he spoke, the less he was taken seriously, and that fuelled his deep-rooted anger.

The same moving-out episode changed the way his siblings saw life. “They were young,” he said. The life they once knew was no more. They always got whatever they wanted. “They used to go on trips.” But as soon as they moved to the hood, everything dried up.

Now they had to square up with hunger, debt and unnecessary arguments. “We struggled to adapt.” At that point everyone minded their own business. And after a few years in, his little sister fell pregnant.

About moving out, all he said was “It’s not what we wanted,” and he made sure to include it within a heart-to-heart conversation he had with his mother.

The pain and stress was too much, so everyone had to find an outlet. And that’s how smoking and drinking became the chosen way to remember what happiness and freedom felt like and forget totally about their problems, doing their best to erase the memory of elders making poor decisions. Now they were deep in the hood, and couldn’t be comfortable. Because the moment they were they were told they had to move again. It was so bad, they moved in and out of 2 houses in a single year. Issues were still present and they still couldn’t communicate.

Although having gone through one adversity after another, Omphile said he was healing. And he is reassured to have connected his mind and heart in order to heal his soul. He strives to live peacefully. Having gone from the top to the bottom “motivates me”, he said. He has experienced a lot to a point where he couldn’t recognize what pain is anymore. But he believes if everyone around him grows to be peaceful and understanding then everything will be fine.

Now he’s on a process of eliminating “bad habits”. And also to think before he acts. That in return has created a chain of positive thoughts for him. But more importantly, he’s motivated to be a Hero again. And to change his family’s situation, he first said “I need to change how I think. And be honest about how I feel”. Maybe those around him might understand him better. “So, at the moment I would say, things are going well. I’m much better than before.”

And the advice he has for those who relate is. “Be patient, don’t punish yourself, when things don’t go your way. Hang in there and keep on pushing. Learn how to fight!. God lives through your mind. And listen to your intuition.”

This was written as part of Fundza’s Fellowship Programme.