ABSTRACT
My mother has one eye. She lost the other one as a child. This physical scar left her unseen as a young woman. She was grateful when a tall young man approached her with a marriage proposal. She fell pregnant with me as he decided to leave for the city. My mother named me Joba meaning child of the earth. She chose this name for me as she believes that the soil, the land, is our mother and provider. Even if all else fails us, the earth will never forsake us. Maria, that’s my mom’s name, raised me without a father until the age of seven when Izak married her. He is a Venda in the land of the Tswana. I imagine they were both unseen in the Ubuntuville community, so the Venda bachelor and the one-eyed single parent vowed to stick with each other. I could not have chosen a more loving and secure family. We were excessively poor but proud.
