This trip home really brought up a lot of childhood memories I had long forgotten about growing up in rural areas. Often, I think about my time there quite fondly. I romanticise it. But it occurred to me that I have been romanticising my experiences a lot, and it may have been in part, a survival tactic and the other part because the rural Eastern Cape is the only home I know.

I’m sure there’s a few of us who have survived some experience or period in our lives. My intention for this episode is that we reflect on how far we’ve come and how much distance we’ve put between our current life and the one we lived before. To be proud of that even in the process of striving for more. And more importantly, to think about ways in which we can help those left behind to follow in our footsteps and survive.