Young Soshanguve writer turns pain into purpose to empower youth
Bontle Amanda Chauke (24) is a determined changemaker who has shown she has her community's best interests at heart by committing herself to restoring confidence, purpose, and pride among the youth in her community.
Speaking to Rekord, she relayed her tough upbringing as something that pushed her to inspire change in her township.
'My upbringing was not an easy one, especially having to grow up in Block TT – a place well known for crime, substance abuse, and reckless people.
'I had to navigate through a whole lot of challenges – from being one of the underprivileged kids, to being a victim of bullying,' said Chauke.
However, she did not let that hinder her success and growth. Instead, she turned to writing as a way of telling her story.
In March, she published her book Walk in My Shoes, inspired by her real-life experiences.
'I speak so vulnerably about the things I experienced. The book explores themes of bullying, self-acceptance, finding purpose, fatherlessness, identity crisis and other important aspects of one's life,' Bontle said.
Her inspiration to write came unexpectedly. 'One day, I was watching a movie called Girls Trip. In the movie, there was this woman who was an author of a book titled You Can Have It All. She travelled to so many places and spoke at so many conferences to so many people that lives were impacted.
She said the movie inspired her 'because I saw that there's beauty in words, there's beauty in telling people your story. From that moment, I knew I wanted to write books.'
Bontle acknowledged her family and community's support in nurturing her writing journey.
'I think my family and community played a huge role in nurturing my writing journey, but unawares, because in the book I write about real-life events that I passed through.
'Imagine if my community were not what it was, then it means I wouldn't have been able to write this book, and the same applies to my family.'
While Bontle's journey as an author is powerful, her real impact extends far beyond writing.
She is the founder of the Bontle Ke Botho organisation, which is aimed at encouraging young people to find their purpose in life.
Through her organisation, she runs a variety of programmes, including a reading and literature initiative and a back-to-school hair drive.
The organisation benefits young people from Soshanguve and neighbouring communities.
'Young people get an opportunity to find their purpose, which is one of the most important aspects of life, because if you haven't found your purpose, you're not fit to live.
'Learners get their confidence restored, and that on its own helps them to get good grades in schools. Kids in the community have improved their reading through our book clubs and reading competitions,' she said.
She highlighted the challenges she came across as a writer and an organisation founder. 'Burnout and time management became one of the challenges, in a way that it became a struggle balancing writing, leadership duties, admin work, and personal life.'
In addition, she encouraged young, upcoming writers to keep writing because the world needs to hear their stories.
'Unless you put that pen to paper, people will never be able to hear your story, so do the world a favour and don't stop writing.'
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