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Inside/Out with Talent Jumo, Young Women's Leadership Initiative (YOWLI)
Kubatana.net
October 06, 2010

Full interview with Talent Jumo - Read and listen

Describe yourself in five words?
Strong, emotional, loving, hardworking, mother.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
To be myself.

What's the most ridiculous thing you've ever done?
I don't live with my husband, he's in Pretoria, so at a reporting session of the Feminist Circle I was telling the sisters that ‘you know what . . . I'm going to Pretoria this evening and all this time I didn't pleasure myself because I wanted to reserve the energies for my husband!' But these are things we are saying that you have to be comfortable talking about.

What is your most treasured possession?
My laptop, all my information is on it.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
When you feel that life has no meaning, and you want to take your life.

Do you have any strange hobbies?
I love to shop for baby clothes.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?
My flat bottom, but I'm coming to terms with it. We've discussed it in the Feminist Circle and I'm learning to accept it.

. . . Interviewer: But don't you think that in not liking your flat bottom you are subjecting your self to a patriarchal view of female beauty?

Yes! But having a baby has transformed that. She looks just like me and I think she is the most beautiful girl, so I must be beautiful too!

What is your greatest extravagance?
I've lived a simple life, but lately I've been buying a lot of nice bed linen.

What have you got in your fridge?
Yoghurt and fruits for my baby.

What is your greatest fear?
Losing a loved one.

What have you got in your pockets right now?
Nothing.

What is your favourite journey?
Trips to Pretoria to visit my husband with my baby.

Who are your heroes in real life?
I celebrate the life of my mother. She is a very strong woman. She has eleven children and I'm the last-born. She was very supportive. She gave me this name and she allowed me to explore.

When and where were you happiest?
When my baby started walking. You know they do all sorts of things in your absence, and you hear from other people. But seeing it for yourself is really amazing.

What's your biggest vice?
I don't have any.

What were you like at school?
I was confused; I was never given a post from grade one to form six. Teachers thought I was a quiet person, others thought there was something inside of me. I was naughty. I was not very confident.

What are you doing next?
I'm working on getting my driver's licence.

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