Nhlanhla Mafu, of the Mafikizolo group, recently took to social media to speak on a struggle she has been keeping to herself. Mafu spoke up about her journey of losing her hearing and the challenges she endured in an emotional video she shared with her followers.
Mafu suffered in silence from the difficulties brought on by her failing hearing for much too long. She was so overcome with embarrassment that she was hesitant to share her secret battle with anyone.
Nhlanhla Mafu admitted, “For me, at some time in my life, I felt humiliated when I had to conduct interviews and I’m with my partner Theo and he’s always got to repeat the questions”. She also stated that her social relationships were also negatively impacted by her hearing problems.
Mafu described moments when she nodded in accord to conversations she couldn’t entirely understand or laughed along without fully grasping the humour. She could no longer endure the weight of her silence. “Even when I was just chilling with friends, sometimes I would just laugh without knowing what people are laughing about or be agreeable basically to everything because I can’t hear and I was really embarrassed to just say I am having this problem,” she said.
She stated that she had to build the courage to get help concerning her hearing loss from a professional since she understood that if she didn’t, her situation would only become worse. “I realised that I’m doing this for my own good and I needed to do it because the longer I let it go, the longer my hearing keeps getting worse and worse”, She admitted, expressing her will to take charge of her situation.
