By: Poelano Malema
Miss South Africa Shudufhadzo Musiḓa has launched her new children’s book titled, ‘Shudu Finds Her Magic’.
The book details her struggles as a young girl growing up in the village, battling with bullying.
Shudu has written about how her grandmother helped her believe in herself to overcome the bullying.
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“When I lived in the village, my grandmother made me feel like I’m beautiful inside and out,” said the model in a video about the book posted on social media.
“And then you get to a place that makes you feel like you are not good enough, that makes you feel like you are not pretty enough, that makes you feel like you don’t want to do this anymore. People are just mean.”
But it was her grandmother’s words of affirmation that made her overcome the bullying. She says her grandmother taught her, “how people treat you is a reflection of how they are, not a reflection of you”.
“When she (grandmother) said “you are beautiful inside and that makes you beautiful on the outside, I think that is something that resonated with me all my life and something that made me Miss South Africa because I learned that beauty is not only skin deep. There is so much more to that and when I was being bullied, I forgot the beauty that lied within me and when I read this, it reminds me of the fact that she saw it in me and when I found my magic again, I started seeing it in myself too,” she added.
The book is available in six languages.
It can be purchased in bookstores around the country and online at Miss South Africa’s website.
The good news is that for every copy sold, one will be donated to charity.
She says she hopes the book will inspire children to know that they are not alone.
“I hope that through my story you will find comfort in the fact that you are not alone, that you matter, that the world needs you! None of us are perfect, we were never mean’t to be and that’s what makes us so special,” she wrote on Twitter.
Shudu has been very passionate about dealing with mental health issues in society.
In February, she launched an online mental health initiative called #MindfulMondays in partnership with SADAG, where she has been hosting different experts who have been educating the masses about mental health.
READ: Miss SA Shudufhadzo Musida publishes her first children’s book
Image courtesy of Instagram/ @official_misssa
