Telling Her Own Story

A journey of pain and redemption.

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B O O K S

Telling Her Own Story.

Images Courtesy Mmathabo Mooa

Despite a constitution that guarantees the right of children to be protected from harm, we hear horror stories almost daily of the pain and trauma children have to endure. These stories and the characters in them can often feel far removed from our own realities, and many people suffer from shame, making it difficult enough to fully grasp the trauma experienced by so many.

Mmathabo Mooa’s trauma of rape at the hands of her uncles led to a festering hatred for her father, whom she tried to kill. When that plan went pearshaped, she ran away from home to live on the streets. It was during this period that she started prostituting herself to survive. As depression set in, she started self-harming and feeling suicidal.

She speaks frankly about her experiences and takes ownership of her decisions, and as part of her healing process, Mmathabo has written about her life. Her hope is to bring hope to those going through similar situations, and to get people to start talking about the things that languish unspoken.

What Other Choice Did I Have? Is an open, true story of being in the eye of the storm, and finding your way out of the darkness to find peace. Brownies have purchased the book in their numbers, with many expressing a resonance in her story.

"I have suffered depression at one point of my life, so I started to burn, cut and insert objects into my skin and no it was not painful, then. I cannot count the number of men I have slept with using my fingers or the sticks in a match-box, the list is longer than the tallest of buildings."

Stand a chance to win* a copy of What Other Choice Did I Have?: Answer the following question, share the link to BrownSense Mag on Facebook, and tag @BrownSense!

Question: Which government Ministries will be given demands by the leadership of #TOTALSHUTDOWN on August 1 2018? *Winner will have to arrange collection or courier of book.