As I Rise Above: There is no grey area- Breakthrough or Breakdown

Mandisa Nikita Dukashe is firstborn of five, lost her father, rejected by her mother, and raised by her unemployed grandmother in Mpongo Location, a rural village 35 kilometers away from East London in South Africa. As a fatherless young girl faced with mother wounds, she went through so much, at the age of 12 she sacrificed her childhood to work on a local farm to support her grandmother and siblings. She ended up getting married at the age of 19 trying to secure a future for herself. As if all that she went through was not enough, she contracted HIV which she initially thought was the end of her life. Her resilience, perseverance, and faith helped her to turn everything that could have destroyed her into stepping stones. Against all odds, she managed to complete matric at the age of 21, she is a graduate and a founder of multi-organizations operating across Africa. She is an award winner, a motivational speaker, and married to an HIV negative man she met in 2003. As I Rise Above details Mandisa's upbringing; a life journey that started as hopeless, imperfect but ended with meaning and full of accomplishment. She shares all the lessons she has learned along the way and secrets of her success.