Stories

When we share our stories, understanding, empathy and trust grow. Our relationships improve and we get a stronger sense of community. At Heartlines, we’ve seen how story-sharing has impacted and connected thousands of people beyond anything we could have imagined. Here are some of those stories.

All stories

Residences were only for white students

When I applied to Rhodes University I was told there was no accommodation for me – their residences were for white students only.

I lost my daughter to cancer

Dear O, I miss you dearly, it’s been a while but I will be fine. Days are getting better, and everyone is doing just fine. Mommy is imagining a 20-year old you, in varsity and living your fullest life.

One can be free and still be a slave

Moss Ntlha reflects on life as an unfree person under the oppressive system of apartheid. He also offers encouragement for how to live fully as a free person in a democratic South Africa.

I lost a loved one to domestic violence

Losing a loved one to domestic violence impacted Tebogo in a profound way. But then a trending hashtag #menaretrash, and a conversation with his wife, shifted his mindset even further.

I took his shame and made it my identity

The sexual abuse Connie endured while her family lived in a squatter camp was the beginning of a tough road that would include anorexia, drugs, abuse, infidelity, prostitution and her daughter’s suicide. Against all odds, Connie triumphed.

I have been through all the cancer meds

Radiation, chemotherapy, a mastectomy - and medication for life. What more could one woman have to face? Nava shares her brave story of living with and battling cancer.

I was dead for 45 minutes

After a heart attack left her without a heartbeat for 45 minutes, Zhaunine’s journey to the other side of death and back gave her new purpose and hope for her life.

I thought white people were more capable

A young black comrade in the armed struggle and an older white man conscripted to the army during apartheid South Africa find an unexpected point of connection.

I was declared blind at 17

Leanne’s eyesight started deteriorating when she was 10, and by 17 she was declared clinically blind. Yet her disability has not stopped her from accomplishing remarkable feats.

If I was black, it would have been worse

Despite the tragedy and abuse in his family growing up, Quinton believes life would have turned out far worse, had he been born black in apartheid South Africa.