Our Stories
Beyond the Pen
“The pen is mightier than the sword if the sword is very short, and the pen is very sharp”.
The Selves of Us
where our shared stories live
MaytheyholdupmirrorsforustotrulyseehowalllifeonthisbeautifulEarthisconnected.
— Tshego Khatri, The Selves of Us
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From the Archive
Words from the Archive
A child who cannot read is not less — they are simply waiting for someone to open the right door.Words of Waking — Tshego Khatri
The Listening Room · Coming Soon
A podcast where every conversation
is also literature.
Slow, honest conversations about healing, culture, and identity — recorded as audio you can sit with, and rewritten as essays you can read. The first episodes are on their way.
Preview The Listening Room
Why Human Writing Still Matters
The internet is drowning in AI-generated content. Optimised for algorithms. Written for no one. We built this platform for a different kind of reader — one who is tired of celebrity noise, clickbait headlines, and words far removed from the realities of their own life.
Every piece on The Selves of Us is written by a human being who lived through something. Tshego Khatri sat in a rehabilitation centre in Southernwood and listened to Yolisa talk about learning to trust again after losing her sight. Roy Hewett spent 17¾ years in a principal's office watching South Africa from the inside. These are not content pieces. They are acts of witness.
You can tell the difference. So can we.
The Collective
This Week's Prompt
“Describe a tradition, object, or place that connects you to someone you've lost or left behind.”
— Tshego Khatri
Write Your MirrorRecent Reflections
“Beautiful !! 😍”
Anonymous
“Hi Tshego, I take my hat off to you for such a well written representation of visual impairment and blindness. The work you are doing is extremely important especially in the context of our Eastern Cape. Visual impairment is largely misunderstood. As a visually impaired person myself,well done!”
Sibabalwe Ngose
“I love this!”
Anonymous
The Ubuntu Pledge
“I am, because you are.”
Every time you read here, you hold up a mirror for someone else. Every mirror submitted is a letter back to humanity. This platform runs on that exchange.
Reader Reflections
Mirrors
Read something that moved you? Write back to it. 200 words. We publish the best.
“Beautiful !! 😍”
“Hi Tshego, I take my hat off to you for such a well written representation of visual impairment and blindness. The work you are doing is extremely important especially in the context of our Eastern Cape. Visual impairment is largely misunderstood. As a visually impaired person myself,well done!”
“I love this!”
“Hi Tshego, thank you for this very insightful article about REHAB. As medical practitioners, we often don’t see this aspect of the patients health journey. I will definitely be more mindful of such available resources in the future”
Correspondence
Letters from
The Selves of Us
Not a newsletter. Correspondence. Tshego writes to you twice a month. Roy adds an editor's note. It arrives like a letter from someone who knows you.
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Meet Keneilwe
Ask anything. Find the piece that speaks to where you are right now. Keneilwe knows every story, every voice, every thread of healing in this archive.
Start a Conversation →Keneilwe
What has Tshego written about community in East London?
There are two pieces that go deep into East London community life — Beyond Sight visits REHAB in Southernwood where Yolisa, Shama and Mr Madliki are rebuilding their worlds, and Missing Sounds & Silent Worlds follows the Carel du Toit Centre. Both will change how you see your neighbours.