It has been over a month since the death of rapper, father and Cotton Fest founder Rikhado “Riky Rick” Makhado.
The Stay Shining rapper was cremated on 1 March and family and friends gathered to bid him farewell at the Bryanston Catholic church.
At Riky’s funeral, his mom Louisa Zondo said words no longer have relevance. “There is nothing to be said at this point. You are no longer this or that, you are everything. You are no longer here either, you are everything. I want to thank you for the opportunity to be your mother, for the lasting lesson I learned from your vulnerability. I want you to now rest and go meet with your freedom. We will carry on your legacy. Your beautiful children will be led, loved, and guided. May it be well with you, my son.”
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Louisa has since embarked on a journey to summit Mount Everest in honour of her late son.
In a series of diary-style posts on social media, Louisa has been documenting her trek up Everest.
“Dearest MaRiky. It’s early hours of the morning on 23 March 2022 - 01H03, Nepali time, to be exact. 23 February 2022 is the day on which your spirit and body separated. I am lying on my back in a warm bed in the Bhudda Lounge, Phakding, Nepal,” she wrote on social media.
“I’m in Nepal because I am on my way walking to Mount Everest Base Camp, MaRiky. I’m awake at this hour because I’m reflecting on life, death and the meaning of everything. Since your death last month, I’ve been starkly aware of the need in me to make sense of where I am and how I am called to be.”
She shared how she felt his presence in the hike. “You know this because during your 34 years of life on this side, you watched me “busy body “myself through many crises. In fact, you were the first person to really teach me to sit with challenges and “encounter them” without rushing to offer what I perceived to be solutions, without needing to wipe away the challenge.
"For this reason, my Mount Everest Base Camp walk will be embodied in a long conversation with you. I imagine that the conversation will not be neat and orderly and yet all else is unclear to me and the conversation might just present itself as and when it emerges.”
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On the third day of her trek, Louisa wrote about how her experience on the trip
“Dear MaRiky, the experience of yesterday was beautiful. Aunt Xoli and I walked with our trekking team after connecting with them on Monday evening, 22 March. It was our Day two of the Mount Everest Base Camp trek. We left Phakding at about 09:00 and headed for Namche Bazaar.
"It was a nine-hour trek filled with laughter, camaraderie, silence, and physical anguish of the body. We ascended from the altitude of 2600m to 3440m above sea level. I feel enormous gratitude that all of us in the team ended the day in high spirit and eager to treat our exhausted bodies to much-deserved rest,” she says.
“As I took in the unspeakable wonders of the mountain, the sense of you being part of it all was so real MaRiky. I laughed out loud and shouted out your name. I still hold this huge awareness of your presence. It brings up an inexplicable warmth and softness in me. Being like this brings up the unforgettable experience of gazing at a feeding baby in utter love.
"When baby takes in the gaze the response is a cooing accompanied by the trickling of milk down the side of baby’s mouth as the gaze orbits baby’s primal instinct to feed. Such moments were, for me, always whispers of God’s presence. Love’s presence. As I embraced your presence and felt deeply connected with you the middle stanza in the poem of Rumi “A Great Wagon.”
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In the diary, she tells Riky how exhilarating the hike has been.
“How exhilarating this was! We encountered incredibly scenic landscapes during this walk, featuring the silent grazing of yaks throughout the mountainous terrain. My heart was filled with joy,” she says.
“I recalled your enormous warmth as reels of videos capturing your playful soul came to mind as I absorbed the serenity of the moment. MaRiky, the breathtaking beauty of this mountain is laced by stark contrasts and contradictions of deeply rooted hardship, toil and exploitation. Experiencing these reminds me of how your life continuously taught me to hold in awe both the great joys of life and the devastating harms of our existence.
“Coming to the realisation that your life gave real meaning to this wisdom is blissful. I am grateful to this Mount Everest Base Camp trek for presenting me with this insight. You remain immense beauty, MaRiky. I joyfully confirm that, to me, you can never die.”
