"If you have a dream stick to it, be yourself and never give it up "

 By: Surprise Golela 

Maphatlalatse Ramante Joseph

Maphatlalatse Ramante Joseph also known by his stage name The Living Poet is a young man from a small town called Maquad in the Free State. He is a poet, motivational speaker, and the author of a motivational book titled “THE UNTOLD TRUTH”, which was published last year.

He is currently a student at the Central University of Technology.

He says growing up in Maquad has motivated him to always stand up and do what he believes in. “ Growing up for me has been very tough because I lacked a lot of opportunities which other people had, but that served as a motivation for me because you have to be motivated by pain sometimes,” said Maphatlalatse.

As the country celebrates heritage month, a lot of young people seems not to care much about heritage, it is by luck to find people like The Living Poet who still knows the meaning of heritage month. “Heritage month reminds us of who we are, to know where we are going you must know where you come from,” he said. Maphatlalatse uses poetry as a tool to speak to people and to heal them especially young people who do not even like poetry that much.

He is a published author of the motivational book title “The Untold Truth”. The book was published last year, all the people see is a final product of the book, but he faced a lot of challenges while trying to get the book published. “ People used to criticize the idea of me writing a book and those are the people who I was expecting them to support me, and I also faced challenges with finding a publisher,” he said. He says he had to push himself despite all those critics and challenges just to prove a point to other people and himself that he can do anything he sets his mind to. He says he was shocked by the support he received from people when the book got published. “People I don’t even know who just saw me on social media they always come to tell me how the book has changed their lives,” he added.

Follow the link to listen to the interview he had with the host of The Surprise Golela Podcast about the book: https://anchor.fm/surprise-golela/episodes/Author-of-The-Untold-Truth-joins-Surprise-ek6krt

He says he is working on many other books although they are still manuscript, but he hopes to publish one of them next year.

His advice to young people is for them not to give up on their dreams. “If you have a dream stick to it, be yourself and never give it up,” he said.

 

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