Vivian spent most of her childhood in a small fishing village called Paternoster, about 150 kilometers from the vineyards of Stellenbosch, where her father worked as a fisherman for the village’s only fishing company. When he lost his job, the family of ten (including Vivian’s parents, seven sisters, and baby brother) was forced to leave their house which was owned by the fishing company, and the children split up to live with various relatives.