My name Thubelihle means ‘opportunity’ in my native language. I was born in Bulawayo, the secondlargest city in Zimbabwe. I belong to theNdebele ethnic group, who live mostly in the west and southwest of the country. Zimbabwe was known as Rhodesia before it gained independence in 1980. By the time I was born in 1997, Robert Mugabe had been president for ten years. The country is rich in natural resources including minerals and diamonds. However because of economic mismanagement, corruption and human rights violations things were very bad. My father was a secondary school teacher. My mother worked in development with NGOs. Her main work was helping people from rural areas. She worked in the distribution of food aid and projects to empower rural people. Myself and my sister Thabi who is three years older than me lived with our parents in a house just outside the city.