Ayanda was born on the 10^th of December 1995. Her Ndebele name means “many girls”.  Her Ndebele surname, Nkala, means “an animal which lives in water”. Ayanda has been living with her mother, Sibongile, since birth. Her father Ndabezihle, died at the age of 35 in 1997.  He died of acute renal failure and severe malaria. Ayanda is the third in a family of four; she has one younger half-brother Muzikhona and two older sisters, Pinky and Sakhile. Her cousins Samantha and Eric live with the five of them in a 16x16 foot one-bedroom house in only two rooms and rent the other out. She enjoys basketball and reading. Her favorite color is white and her favorite food is sadza, a polenta like food that is the staple food of Zimbabwe, and vegetables. Ayanda wants to become a lawyer when she grows up.  She is number 3 in her class of 43. Her best moment was when she got school awards at a prize-giving day in 2008. Her worst moment was when her mother beat her because she caught her stealing sugar. A Zimbabwean musician “Oliver Mutukudzi” is her role model because most of his songs are about how people live. Ayanda is in good health.

To read about Ayanda's caregiver, Sibongile, go to the Caregivers section and they are in alphabetical order based on their first name.