Content creator and photographer Nghidimondjila Hashikutuva (22) recently published a book, titled ‘Breaking Free’, which aims to address the divorce of human beings from violence and other human interest-related issues like racism, xenophobia and sexual violence in a form of short essays and poems.

Hashikutuva said he has been taught in a forcible situation, sometimes forced to learn; thus, he has accumulated all of this knowledge of how a system of power and violence works.

“I thought that it might be useful for people to learn about them without having to go through what I went through – and that is effectively breaking free from violence but also from trauma and other things that have people worked up,” he shared with Entertainment Now!
He said the message in the book is about individual and collective responsibility to break free from systems of violence and power. 
The book also aims to enable people to start talking and thinking about such issues, pushing them to act in a way that reduces the violence that these systems perpetuate,” he enlightened.

“The way I write has bordered on the ability to present sometimes complex ideas, using language that is relatable and easy to understand. I started writing breaking free in May last year – even though some of the ideas date back.” 
Originally, the book was supposed to be a fictional story based on a fictional character through that person or narrative. 
“I would then explore the theme but I realised I didn’t have the right experience to write about a woman but I felt the existence and the life of a man is not enough to develop a story around that properly and comprehensively to deal with violence and especially in its most subtle form. That’s why I resorted to writing it in a form of a collection of essays, poems and short stories that explore racism, xenophobia, sexual violence and how and where these different themes intersect,” recalled Hashikutuva.

With many upcoming authors surfacing, Hashikutuva urges potential writers to start a document and note down their activities. 
“My advice to writers is to get it done – just do it. When I was writing the book, there were instances where I had to go to my old notes that I wrote in 2013 and 2012  that was easy for me to go back to because I noted down my ideas or events,” recalled Hashikutuva.
He concluded: “When an idea comes to mind, write it down; it doesn’t have to be properly formulated at that time – just write it, and when you are in a space to fully develop it and write properly, then you can expand on it but it is important to just write – whether its 1 000 words a night or five sentences – and highlight a specific idea. When it’s late at night and you are about to sleep, an idea rushes through your mind, so it’s either you decided, go ahead and sleep or take out your laptop or journal and start writing it down.” 
- psiririka@nepc.com.na