My first friend Alec Chimbata - this is his story.

Alec was my age. He was Fred and nanny’s first-born son, (now Fred was our cookboy and his wife was my nanny) and for an hour every afternoon Alec and I would have the freedom of the compound and the surrounding bush.

Over time, something intangible changed and would stay changed forever. That age of innocence was gone. As I met other kids my own age and skin colour, I started to see a world outside the confines of the farm, and my feelings for Alec shifted.

Photo: M'sitwe farm. ©Peter Wood

Sound effects ©Audiojungle