Location: South Africa
Member Since:
Jan. 25, 2018
Vimbela Benedict
Publisher info
My name is VB Kubheka and I live in South Africa. The nearest city is Durban while my suburb is Avoca Hills which is situated in Durban North.
I have a house and live with my family of 4 children. Basically my home language is Zulu. English is the second language that I first encountered in Grade 3 when I first come across English words. In Grade 3 and 4 I was introduced to sentence formation. In Grade 5 and 6 I was taught to write essays in English. However, the disadvantage was that the teachers were also not English speaking. Their accents were totally different from original English speaking people . It is therefore possible to come across sentences that leave much to be desired. Biza grew up in deep rural area under the jurisdiction of Nongoma magisterial district. The specific area he grew up is at KwaMusi reserve as it was previously known. The area is between Black Umfolozi river and Mbhekamuzi river . This is located between Mahlabathini and Nongoma.
When he grew up no development was observed in the area. There was no formal roads. The roads going through the village were impassable during some seasons especially during the rainy season.
The nearest bus stop was close to 12 to 15 km away. To catch the bus people used to travel about an hour to an hour and a half before the bus was expected to arrive. There was only one bus per day that connected Nongoma and Mahlabathini. It used to pass around 7 am and came back around 2 pm. If a person missed that bus that meant the journey was postponed for the following time. A bus did not travel daily. One had to wait for the day the bus assumed it's journey.
However, there were buses run by the South African Toad Transport service that linked Nongoma and Durban. Those two buses travelled from Durban to Nongoma on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays while they went back to Durban on Tuesday and Thursdays. When the
busses came from Durban they passed at KwaMusi around 3 pm and at 7 am when they went to Durban. During those days there were compartments reserved for White passengers just behind the driver while at the rear the compartment was for Blacks. Normally few Whites used the busses and that led to the compartments to be vacant of any passenger.
There was no railway line in the nearby vicinity. As children we grew up not knowing the train. In order to board a train a person needed to either travel to Vryheid town or Eshowe. Vryheid was usually used because people travelled frequently to Ladysmith to visit relatives . In order to be able to reach Vryheid one was supposed to board a bus that passed at the bus stop around 7 am and arrived at Vryheid around 5 pm. Due to long distance no prior booking was done. Anyway people used 3th class during the journey. No prior booking was needed when one used 3rd class. First was strictly reserved for Whites while 2 Rd class was mainly Coloureds and Indians. Very few Blacks used 2nd class. That segregation was taken as a normal. Nobody ever lodged any complaint about it. One would invite trouble if one raised that issue. Police would get an option to harass such a person under treason act. To voice any opinion against the status quo was
like causing an invitation by the secret agents of the state. Once the secret agents paid a visit to a particular individual that individual became a target for victimization. Biza is very proud of his personal achievement. Before he retired Biza employed as a lecturer at the Mangosuthi University of Technology.He worked at the Department of Community Extendion.He served at Mangosuthi for 25 years. He first assumed duties in 1990.
He cherishes the years he spent at the University.. He created a healthy and sound relation with his students.There were times when he went to work in order to interact with his students.That relationship drove him to do his best when imparting knowledge to students. It could be observed that students appreciated their relationship.Students expected Biza to enter an annual competition to find the best lecturer according to students. Biza on several times relentlessly decline to enter. Yo Biza people who had won that competition were far better him.
One of his main objectives of writing this biography was to highlight that it is possible to rise from destitute environment and be able to live a far better life. It is normally " what you are as a child is due to your parent influence but as adult whatever you are is your own making." In that manner upbringing should be an excuse for the lack of personal development.
My favourite hobbies were watching and playing soccer, watching boxing fights, playing lawn tennis and table tennis. In addition I am bookworm. I read any book which I deem to contain significant information. That is why it was easy to write this biography. There has been unprecedented catastrophes that have taken place. The most eventful was the occurrence of the tropical cyclone Dimone that occurred in 1984. The other event was the tsunami that took place when I was in Japan in 2004. There was mild tsunami that hit Japan. On that day Biza was coming back from town. He was riding a bicycle. With his left hand he held the umbrella and the right hand was holding the bicycle handle. Heavy rainfall with gushing wind was coming from the front. The wind was making riding difficult. It took more than an hour to cover the distance that was normally cover half an hour
The other eventful experience was the day there was an earthquake while Biza and his friends were in the 8 the floor. The whole building shook and people were told to evacuate the building and converge in the open space.
The exciting times were the days of weddings. To the whole community a wedding was a celebrating ceremony. The other event that was followed with excitement was the Christmas celebrations held on the 25 the of December of each year. As children Christmas period was the most exciting time each looked forward to. It was characterised by wearing new clothes and receiving gifts .
It is interesting to note that when my mother passed away I did not felt anything. She passed away in 2009. However, three later in 2012 it stroke my mind that I won't see her again. I felt devastated and shattered. I ended being admitted for depression. Seemingly when it occurred my mind did not assimilated it. When it became evident that she was really gone my mind started to take it into account. That was the first time that I was informed I was under depression.
It is interesting to note I wrote this book with an aim to provide first person testimony. People are more interested in first person testimony.
I have a house and live with my family of 4 children. Basically my home language is Zulu. English is the second language that I first encountered in Grade 3 when I first come across English words. In Grade 3 and 4 I was introduced to sentence formation. In Grade 5 and 6 I was taught to write essays in English. However, the disadvantage was that the teachers were also not English speaking. Their accents were totally different from original English speaking people . It is therefore possible to come across sentences that leave much to be desired. Biza grew up in deep rural area under the jurisdiction of Nongoma magisterial district. The specific area he grew up is at KwaMusi reserve as it was previously known. The area is between Black Umfolozi river and Mbhekamuzi river . This is located between Mahlabathini and Nongoma.
When he grew up no development was observed in the area. There was no formal roads. The roads going through the village were impassable during some seasons especially during the rainy season.
The nearest bus stop was close to 12 to 15 km away. To catch the bus people used to travel about an hour to an hour and a half before the bus was expected to arrive. There was only one bus per day that connected Nongoma and Mahlabathini. It used to pass around 7 am and came back around 2 pm. If a person missed that bus that meant the journey was postponed for the following time. A bus did not travel daily. One had to wait for the day the bus assumed it's journey.
However, there were buses run by the South African Toad Transport service that linked Nongoma and Durban. Those two buses travelled from Durban to Nongoma on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays while they went back to Durban on Tuesday and Thursdays. When the
busses came from Durban they passed at KwaMusi around 3 pm and at 7 am when they went to Durban. During those days there were compartments reserved for White passengers just behind the driver while at the rear the compartment was for Blacks. Normally few Whites used the busses and that led to the compartments to be vacant of any passenger.
There was no railway line in the nearby vicinity. As children we grew up not knowing the train. In order to board a train a person needed to either travel to Vryheid town or Eshowe. Vryheid was usually used because people travelled frequently to Ladysmith to visit relatives . In order to be able to reach Vryheid one was supposed to board a bus that passed at the bus stop around 7 am and arrived at Vryheid around 5 pm. Due to long distance no prior booking was done. Anyway people used 3th class during the journey. No prior booking was needed when one used 3rd class. First was strictly reserved for Whites while 2 Rd class was mainly Coloureds and Indians. Very few Blacks used 2nd class. That segregation was taken as a normal. Nobody ever lodged any complaint about it. One would invite trouble if one raised that issue. Police would get an option to harass such a person under treason act. To voice any opinion against the status quo was
like causing an invitation by the secret agents of the state. Once the secret agents paid a visit to a particular individual that individual became a target for victimization. Biza is very proud of his personal achievement. Before he retired Biza employed as a lecturer at the Mangosuthi University of Technology.He worked at the Department of Community Extendion.He served at Mangosuthi for 25 years. He first assumed duties in 1990.
He cherishes the years he spent at the University.. He created a healthy and sound relation with his students.There were times when he went to work in order to interact with his students.That relationship drove him to do his best when imparting knowledge to students. It could be observed that students appreciated their relationship.Students expected Biza to enter an annual competition to find the best lecturer according to students. Biza on several times relentlessly decline to enter. Yo Biza people who had won that competition were far better him.
One of his main objectives of writing this biography was to highlight that it is possible to rise from destitute environment and be able to live a far better life. It is normally " what you are as a child is due to your parent influence but as adult whatever you are is your own making." In that manner upbringing should be an excuse for the lack of personal development.
My favourite hobbies were watching and playing soccer, watching boxing fights, playing lawn tennis and table tennis. In addition I am bookworm. I read any book which I deem to contain significant information. That is why it was easy to write this biography. There has been unprecedented catastrophes that have taken place. The most eventful was the occurrence of the tropical cyclone Dimone that occurred in 1984. The other event was the tsunami that took place when I was in Japan in 2004. There was mild tsunami that hit Japan. On that day Biza was coming back from town. He was riding a bicycle. With his left hand he held the umbrella and the right hand was holding the bicycle handle. Heavy rainfall with gushing wind was coming from the front. The wind was making riding difficult. It took more than an hour to cover the distance that was normally cover half an hour
The other eventful experience was the day there was an earthquake while Biza and his friends were in the 8 the floor. The whole building shook and people were told to evacuate the building and converge in the open space.
The exciting times were the days of weddings. To the whole community a wedding was a celebrating ceremony. The other event that was followed with excitement was the Christmas celebrations held on the 25 the of December of each year. As children Christmas period was the most exciting time each looked forward to. It was characterised by wearing new clothes and receiving gifts .
It is interesting to note that when my mother passed away I did not felt anything. She passed away in 2009. However, three later in 2012 it stroke my mind that I won't see her again. I felt devastated and shattered. I ended being admitted for depression. Seemingly when it occurred my mind did not assimilated it. When it became evident that she was really gone my mind started to take it into account. That was the first time that I was informed I was under depression.
It is interesting to note I wrote this book with an aim to provide first person testimony. People are more interested in first person testimony.
Books
The Memoirs of Biza
by Vimbela Benedict
Price:
$7.99 USD.
Words: 92,920.
Language:
English.
Published: November 5, 2019
.
Categories:
Nonfiction » Self-improvement » Personal Growth / General
The narrative story of Biza was designed to make a reader to have an inside of the experiences Biza went through. There were exhilarating times and painstaking occasions. All those experiences aided in moulding the type of person Biza became later. When one looks back one is overwhelmed by nostalgia. The exciting times where during his formative years of between 5 to 15 years.