Kiddy

My name is Kidisaletsi and I go by Kiddy. I live in a two-room apartment with my mother and two sisters in the city of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. My childhood was heavily influenced by sorrow and neglect from my father, and my parents divorced when I was fourteen years old. My father left a huge gap in our lives and we survived on selling vegetables and fruits while my mother was always looking for a job. During the process of the divorce, I was forced to transfer from a boarding school to a day school which was a devastating lifestyle change. I became a bitter and angry child because I thought God did not love us because He allowed my parents to separate. I grew up lonely and quiet, always indoors with no friends because I thought people would laugh at us for being left by our father. I have learned a lot from my mother and from all the situations we surpassed.

Thankfully, I was introduced to Young Life in 2014 when I started going to a neighborhood club and later received Christ at camp. The day I met Jesus was the first day I had ever felt everlasting love and I was overwhelmed when I realized that Jesus had loved me from the day He created me in my mother's womb. The divorce of my parents ultimately led me closer to Christ. Receiving Christ and experiencing His loving and sovereign hand gave me such clarity on so many of the struggles I had faced.

As a Developing Global Leader, I am a wildlife management student at Lupane State University and I am the first in my family to attend university. I am passionate about animals and the bushes of Zimbabwe, and I dream of being an animal expert in order to inform tourists and my community about the animals and their environments. I currently serve Young Life as an Area Team Leader where I lead a team of eight leaders with six clubs. I also run a club at Royal College and am involved in WyldLife. I love young people and I want to see them given second chances every time.