Poet, engineer, motivator, health guru
KWAMASHU resident Hamza Mokeleki remembers a time when his father, a shop owner, used to preach to him and others in the community about the importance of eating correctly.
As a young boy, Mokeleki listened half-heartedly.
Little did he realise that years down the line he would take over from where his late dad had left off.
Today, the 27-year-old mechanical engineering graduate, poet, social activist, permaculturalist and author holds seminars for the youth on the very lessons his dad tried to instil in him.
“My father was well read. Any piece of information he could get his hands on, he would read. He then began addressing members in the community and surrounding areas about topics like nutrition. I am now doing the same,” said Mokeleki.
“I advocate the importance of eating organic, wholegrain foods. There must be no refined sugars and don’t cook with preservatives. When I was young, nothing that my dad spoke about made sense, but as I grew up, this began to change.”
He recently wrote the book How to Teach Your Baby in the Womb.
So how is a mechanical engineer able to write about a subject such as this? I asked.
“My dad spoke a lot about how important it was for pregnant women to take care of their health, and he would say anything they did affected their unborn babies.
“So while living in Johannesburg, I used to feed my pregnant cousin the same advice I heard my dad give to others. But when she relocated to Durban, I thought to myself, I have all this information, maybe I should write a book.”
And that is exactly what he did.
The book was published this year and is currently being sold at Adams & Griggs.
Asked about some of the advice he provided, he said: “My dad taught me that if you want your child to be good in literature, you should read a lot and out loud during the term of your pregnancy.
Look at Mozart, he says: “His dad was a musician who played to an audience and to his pregnant wife. (The son) become a prodigy. So this is what I have been advocating to mothers. For the structure to be a skyscraper, you need a good foundation.”
The motivational speaker added it was vital that young people not limit themselves: “I’m not just an author, but a poet, a social activist a permaculturalist and I have a mechanical engineering qualification. There is always time for you to do more, and that is what I am encouraging.”