The 32-year old who originates from Kang has allowed creative and motivational juices to keep flowing from her pen. She recently added more books to her name with the aim of transforming lives through her writing. The books are titled “Turning Stars into Scars’” and “Ha nkge go Sheneshela Ruri.”
Oaitsi Phikane is known for her motivational and life-changing books. She has written “Turning FDs into FDs” and her passion for writing has been established as she has now written six books. She is an edupreneur who owns tuition centres called Oaitsi Tuition University in the desert towns of Tsabong, Kang and Hukuntshi in Kgalagadi.
She has also pursued a BA in Humanities and is a trained Counsellor. Phikane is currently pursuing a BA in Business Administration. In an interview with Executive Life, the author and social activist explained that she was always interested in speaking, writing and planning events when growing up.
“There was a point where I compiled a magazine addressing youth issues but it was never published,” she says. “When I was in secondary school, I wanted to be a doctor but that changed in my mind when I my interest in talking to people and counselling my peers grew. I have always loved interacting with people hence I enrolled with Face the Nation to be a Peer Educator in various schools when I was at university. Later on, I was employed by Face the Nation as an Admin Assistant.
“I then developed a great interest in writing as I was spending a lot of time writing proposals, reports and profiles. I never took my writing skills seriously because I was swamped by my 9 to 5 job. It was not until December 2015 that I started writing my first book, “Turning FDs into FDs,” meaning you can turn your failures and fears into flourishing dreams. This was after I lost my sister in a car accident. The only friend I had then was my book and my pen.
“My dream is to one day own a big building where stories will be written. The amazing thing is that Oaitse Creation is a basket full of all the eggs that are about to hatch great things. It compromises publishing, research, branding, speaking, HR, team building, counselling, etiquette coaching and gifts services. Oaitse Creations was established in October 2020 as a result of many ideas that burst forth during the first lockdown.”
Indeed, any creatives have said COVID-19 did not stop their art but instead helped them explore it further. That, however, does not mean Phikane never has challenges. “As long as there is pen and paper, a writer will always strive on. COVID-19 has pushed me to do things I never thought I could do. Writing many books in a space of three months and publishing them is one such thing.
“My work has been recognided across the globe as I have been featured in Kenyan newspapers (Mt. Kenya Times) and Listen to Africa Literature magazine. My Shekgalagari book titled “Ha ngke go Sheneshela Ruri” has been nominated for the Mulher Forte African Literature Awards under the category of Best Indigenous Languages Literature.
“The main challenge has always been difficulty in engaging with clientele because we have had to come up with ways of marketing ourselves and helping clients online without meeting them physically. The other challenge is definitely finances because there is no project that can operate without finance. So we were limited by lack of finances to get a physical office or even to buy office equipments needed for this project when we started. We had to use what we had.”
Her books are agents of hope. All six of them are an encouragement that no matter the pressures of life, there is still hope and that people should not give up until their dreams come true. For the future, Phikane envisions Oaitse Creations being one of the world’s leading agencies for offering solutions in all aspects of the writing and the creative industry.
“OC will write speeches for presidents and ministers. OC will host book festivals and will continue to publish and develop as many writers as possible. OC will train students in different languages and writing. It will become a centre of excellence where all publishing, clerical, human resource and administration work will be done.”
