Today, we look at the virtuoso extraordinaire and dramatic artist, Lerato Zindela, the youngest of our five protagonists in the TPotW series and a proud Zulu Teenager from South Africa.
Imagine your childhood for a minute, what do you see? We all have a story and those that do not remember much of the years before their first five candles very often have shrouded those moments with a thick veil or built an impenetrable wall around them. If you are one of them, then you will relate deeply with Lerato Zindela, orphaned a week before her third birthday.
Termed demon child after the death of the village chief's only son following a pride of lions' attack, she witnessed the murder of her parents and narrowly escaped her own blood sacrifice at the hands of superstitious villagers blinded by pain and ignorance. Her rescuers were a pack of wild animals from the African savannah. Moved by her pleading cries and shouts, they swarmed the village and took her away.
After months of searching the savannah, wildlife rangers finally found Lerato in the company of lions. Lerato's maternal grandparents adopted the child. But even in this new village, vile rumors and petty superstitions plagued the child's upbringing. Her grandparents finally moved to Johannesburg. However, the dark clouds of hate and pettiness followed them there as well.
Growing up in this stew of negativity and exclusion, Lerato developed a pessimistic and rebellious nature. However, she found an escape in dramatic arts, music, and a natural penchant for languages. Despite being bullied and treated as a social pariah, at school, Lerato was a triumph as she won awards after awards in school debates and theatrical performances.
Her recognition quickly crossed the borders of South Africa through videos shared on TikTok and YouTube. Lerato became a little sensation for cybernauts worldwide. Boosted by her rare talents, her college approached Oxford University, which sent Professor Elizabeth Dunham to scout Lerato for their international scholarship program.
Lerato means love in the Zulu language, and this love has been tested in the forge of narrow-mindedness and superstition. Many of us become a product of our environment and life experiences. How will a young Lerato's pessimism and self-preservation instinct impact her as she moves to Oxford?
The Engineers is a journey of fundamental change in how five women will view the world, the discovery of Earth's most primordial hidden secret, and the quest of an ancient sisterhood as an Extinction Level Event looms... The Path of the Wanderers, Book 1 - The Engineers is now available on Amazon in E-book format on Kindle and Paperback. For those who have Kindle Unlimited, it is free. I hope you enjoy the read and the discovery of my sandbox.
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The Path of the Wanderers series - Book 1 - The Engineers
Science FictionThe Engineers is the first sci-fi novel in The Path of the Wanderers series. It is the journey of 5 women from across the world as they each confront spectral and prophetic visions and are drawn by bond and fate to Oxford to finally come together. ...
