25 May 2026

Once penniless and weighed down by personal loss, award winning author, Zwelihle Nsiiwa, is now turning pain into purpose through her chapter story, She Walked Barefoot Into Her Destiny, which has been featured in a United Kingdom published anthology entitled, Resilience and Reinvention, launched in Paris, France recently.

Through deeply moving and powerful storytelling, the book features a compelling collection of stories from 27 women across diverse industries around the world, each author capturing themes of survival, resilience, grief, hope, healing, identity, courage and perseverance, drawing from lived experiences and the realities of overcoming hardship.

And Nsiiwa is no stranger to hardship. From traversing poverty all her life at Xhumo, a small and under-resourced village in the Boteti District, to suffering loss after loss of her loved ones, each death following the other like a row of dominoes being tipped over, leaving little time to heal before grief struck again.

Yet, against her emotional breakdowns and battle with depression, Nsiiwa found the strength to remain resilient through faith.

In an interview, Nsiiwa shared that her story reflected endurance through hardship, silent battles and the courage to keep believing when life offered very little.

“I come from a childhood marked by poverty. Walking barefoot to school, to working as a domestic worker with nothing but hope, faith in God and dreams that seemed distant,” Nsiiwa recounted, “however this story represents not just my personal journey, but the voices, resilience, and potential of many others from my country.”

It is evident that Nsiiwa embodies the saying, “all big things come from small beginnings.” Having risen from humble roots to achieving remarkable milestones in life, such as publishing children’s books to academic textbooks which are used in learning centres across Botswana and adopted by some schools in South Africa, the award-winning storyteller shared her greatest desires.

“My greatest desire is to show everyone that one’s beginning does not define their ending,” she said determinedly.

For Nsiiwa, the opportunity to share her story with a global audience represents a major milestone, not just for herself, but for Botswana and African storytelling.

“For too long, we have watched others tell African stories for us. When we speak for ourselves, it brings pride, healing and identity,” she said, adding “and now, through this opportunity, I have been given a platform to share our narratives and inspire others, especially young women.”

Nsiiwa shared her secret to the success of her story. Authenticity. “There is something powerful about telling your own story, no one can tell it the way you can. I approached it with that mind-set, staying true to my lived experiences without trying to change or soften them. Honesty was my foundation.”

Despite the achievement, Nsiiwa pointed out that challenges such as limited access to global publishing networks and platforms from Botswana along with limited visibility and resources remain.

However, she expressed that for her, such challenges had built resilience to push past the barriers.

On what readers can expect, Nsiiwa cited honesty, struggle, survival, hope and transformation.

She also shared that she was currently working on a collection of children’s Bible story books written in Shona, Ndebele, Setswana, Ikalanga and English, which she expected to publish before the end of June.

Lastly, Nsiiwa reflected on what resilience and reinvention meant to her.

“To me, resilience and reinvention mean dreaming beyond my circumstances and breaking glass ceilings. It is the awakening of renewed faith,” she said. ENDS