The Journey In Search Of A Home Within The Human Spirit

By Njabulo I. Makhaye

From growing up with an absent father, and being raised by a domestic worker mother, Njabulo I. Makhaye's life took a turn for the worst when he left home and immersed himself into worldly pleasures. It was the love for his mother and the will to improve his living conditions that shifted his focus and propelled him to seek meaning and purpose in his life. His focus on the spiritual realm steered him to seek to make a difference in the society in which he lived, and found that the core of humanity is deeply rooted within the human spirit. 
"A person can literally find his home within another person other than his own house," says Makhaye. "The values that they share together bring them closer to each other. Love is the universal language that all man can understand better, it is the highest value that a man can ever strive for in life. Its takes a journey to find A Home Within The Human Spirit."

About The Author
Njabulo Makhaye was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend a life skills and leadership course at World Changers Academy in 2005, which assisted him to gain insight into his God-given potential. During the course, Njabulo realised that he, and many others like him, lacked guidance to understand their true potential and purpose. Upon his return, he taught what he had learnt to his family and friends. He could see and understand their desperate need and longing for more, and so he committed himself to bringing similar material from the World Changers course and Light Providers to the society. He began coordinating and teaching life skills courses to the Durban community working with, amongst others, high schools, Open Door Crisis Centre, Lifeline and the Dr Seni Myeni Foundation of Hope (Imbeleko). Life brought him back to Gauteng where he became involved in Skills Development, Child and Youth Care at Epworth Children's Village. He currently does virtual counseling online and leadership coaching for Beacons Academy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Njabulo I. Makhaye
• Release date: Jan 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201215293

Book preview

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To my family, I would like to thank you for your unfailing support. Without you, this book would remain just a dream.  Thanks to my partner Nthabiseng Matsome for challenging me with questions that helped me to see and approach my writing differently, and also for offering me that emotional support. I want to acknowledge and thank Dr Kanda for keeping me motivated into transcribing the manuscript, and also for having online sessions with him that kept me focused and making sure that the content is coherent as this is my first book. I want say thank you so much.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Born Into Tragedy   1

Early Education In The Valley Of A Thousand Hills (kwaNyuswa)  5

The Return To The Village & The Quest For Meaning   9

A Cataclysm In The Search For Meaningful Opportunities   15

An Awakening To A Purpose  18

Noetic Blockage Of A Will to Meaning  21 

What Exactly Is The Meaning Of Life?  29

My Journey In Search Of A Home Within The Human Spirit   35

The Beauty In Taking A Stand In The Downfall 70

BORN INTO TRAGEDY

The story of my life began in a quiet neighborhood of Gillitts, from an infant and a toddler right up to the beginning of my teenage years. My mother Dumazile Msomi worked as a domestic worker for the Holman family. She has been very independent and supportive to me and my siblings in the absence of our fathers. Her children were my eldest late sister Dolly, my sister S’thembile and I being the last born from my mother and my father’s only child.

When I was born my father, Sipho Makhaye, was still working as a truck driver. I was born at a crucial time when he had a mental breakdown and was diagnosed with Schizophrenia. I know that all he longed for was the unity of the family and culture, of which he never got. The family was disorientated and out of balance and structure, as it was headed by a single parent.

My paternal grandfather was allegedly an abusive man who dabbled in grog excessively. I once met him when I was a boy of six years; I saw a loving man who wanted nothing more than his children to observe their culture and tradition, and perform the family rituals as the Makhayes. As a result of his drinking and alleged abusive behaviour, my grandmother MaSithole chose to take her kids and left the kraals of Kranskop, and never returned. It is only later that my father suffered from Schizophrenia, which was exacerbated by his dire need - and search for - his own identity. He grew up very bitter and angry as a child and always found himself in and out of trouble. His mental state led him to carry guns and he was always in conflict with the law. He was in and out of prison, his life never really had any direction and as a result, my mother Dumazile broke up with him.

My mom was on the verge of even losing her job because my father would come to the Holman’s yard and leave the taps running. He would also fight with my mom and my late sister Dolly. He would become eerily political, saying he would ‘kill all the comrades’ in the house. My uncle Mbuso had to come all the way from Kloof to spend the night with us. I was still a toddler then. Often, Mr. Holman had to call the police to intervene.

My mother had brothers and sisters and her parents were deceased. I wasn’t privy to my maternal grandparents’ lives as life didn't grant me that opportunity to meet them. My mom would say, if my parents were here, maybe things wouldn't have turned out the way they did. Maybe life would have been different if she still had both parents to be her voice against the abuse that was inflicted upon her. People who could have helped simply stood by and watched from a distance. She was an orphan with no voice to speak for her.

I developed morbid comorbidities and I was adversely affected by certain types of weather. I would be in an out of hospitals. As if that was not enough, I recall that my mother would run with me at midnight, fleeing from my dad. My dad's family disowned him, despite being aware of his mental condition. We all know how stubborn a mentally challenged person can be. His only recourse was to run to my mother, in the process causing a lot of trouble.

I grew up being very close friends with hospitals and clinics. In a month I would visit the hospital quite often; I disliked hospitals. The smell of antiseptic, even seeing very sick people every time, it all rubbed me the wrong way. My mom would pay me a visit and each time she had to leave, it would be an all-out war. Being a child, I thought she would go and never come back. I was very affectionate and loving towards her.

I kept going for check-ups at the hospitals and the doctors couldn't really identify what my problem was. We also consulted faith and traditional healers, and they picked up that as a young boy, my own family needed to do a ceremony for me to be accepted as a Makhaye, but that was difficult for my mom to accept. My mom did everything people would recommend for my health to improve.

Once, when I when I was returned to the hospital terribly sick, a doctor named Zingoni picked up that I was struggling with asthma and that I needed to start using air pumps. Being taken for nebulizing was a regular occurrence, because I would go and play and later in the day become a totally sick and dying child.

The Holman’s would drive us to hospitals late at night. I would be poked with needles, put on intravenous drips, oxygenated the whole night and admitted for days. During visiting hours,