Barbara Makhalisa
Barbara Barbara Makhalisa (born 17 August 1949, also known by her married name as Barbara Nkala) is a teacher, Ndebele translator, novelist, editor, publisher, and one of the earliest female writers published in Zimbabwe. She is the author of several books written in Ndebele, as well as in English, of which some have been used as school textbooks.
Quotes
[edit]- Your language is your fountain of knowledge.
- In Africa, about 65 percent of the population is young people, and they are not despairing. Africa's hope lies in the young people of the continent who are embracing education and the gospel.
- As quoted in Nolt, Steven M.; Loewen, Loewen (2010). Through Fire and Water An Overview of Mennonite History. MennoMedia. ISBN 9780831697013. Retrieved on 3 October 2025.
- It is still the same—
Exactly the same.
Take up arms and wage war
Let your spear be education
Let your shield be knowledge
Let “truth at all times” be your motto
Let your will be the determination to work hard
For sisters illiterate still abound.
Fight it to enlighten them
Fight it by solidarity of purpose
Without your participation
Grandma fought it
Mama fought it
I still fight it
You have to fight it
Your daughters will have to fight it
Fight on!- Excerpted from "Fight on!" (2010), in (1997) "Epigraph". Women's Studies Quarterly 97 (3-4).
- Even Africa has something to offer. We can offer love, and we can offer from the little we have, even as the story of the widow’s mite tells us, how she gave out of the abundance of her heart.
- African leader joyfully shares gifts. Canadian Mennonite (November 1, 2004).
- Read! Write! Tomorrow's leader.
- 08 May 2020. bulawayo24.com
- One must find a way of not destroying the spirit in the process of trying to help
- Mpofu, Mbulelo (January 22, 2022). "Meet Gogo Nkala, the matriarch with swagger".
- I am immersed in culture and try to speak it into my Ndebele novels ... These are things that make you who you are, although, of course, modernity is working to erase that. Children are coming along when broader family structures have been broken by urban life and individualism. Our languages themselves are slowly disappearing. These days you may meet a child who cannot speak her mother tongue while also lacking a natural relationship with the English they want to be identified with.
- Interview — Ndebele novelist Tsitsi Nomsa Ngwenya is seeking the ancient paths. This Is Africa (19 May 2022).
Quotes about Makhalisa
[edit]
- A loved elder of literature.
- The Herald 1 March 2017. [1]
- Everyone was emulating white culture from fashion, hairstyles and language. Because of the fad at the time, it would have been pretty normal for Barbara to choose English as the language of her novels. Not only was this going to make her appear more sophisticated but it would have boosted her profile, internationally. She, however, chose to use her mother tongue, becoming the second woman to publish in her native language after Lassie Ndondo.
- Meeting her opened my eyes. I realised that the most important thing when it comes to opportunity is not the actual opportunity, but your readiness.
- Poet Thembani Norman Ndlovu, in Barbara Nkala’s literary legacy shines through protegé Thembani Norman Ndlovu. Chronicle (January 18, 2024).
