Yesterday on World Book Day while I was in Galway in Dubray Books I did a small exercise with one of the groups, they were from Scoil Ida. It was on the subject of Mandela.
I was delighted to hear that they knew so much about him and so obviously admired him. Fair play to the teachers concerned!
I thought I would write down some of the things they wrote, which were things they would like to say to him if he had visited Galway and then paid a surprise visit to their school. Some great conversations would have been had.
So, here goes:
‘Hello Sir, My name is Loretta Ojo. How are you? Were you able to cooperate with life when you were younger? It is very stunning to meet you as you are a true leader of Africa.’
Anon. ‘What was it like to take a stand? You took a stand and you were knocked down but you got back up. The world looks up to you as you achieved your dream. How does that feel?’
‘Was life hard for you when you were young? Was it tough?’
‘Hello Nelson. Cool shirt! I’m Karolina – why did you come all the way here?’
(I gave them this picture of him – hence the cool shirt!)
‘You are an inspiration to our world. You have stood up for yourself and others using peace. You are strong at heart and I’m stunned that I would actually meet the world’s best leader’
‘How did you feel when you were put in jail?’
‘Hello my name is Lucja and I think you are an amazing, inspiring person and a role model. You didn’t deserve to be locked up for 27 years. You deserve all the best things in the world and all the people will forever be in debt to you. I can’t believe I can actually meet you!’
‘Hello I’m Ania. Did you choose to free the people? Do you think that someone else could have done it? Why did the white people treat the black people so badly?’
‘Hello my name is Aoife Campbell. I’m very happy to meet you. I think you are the most brave, kind and clever person in the world. You have done great work for your country. You are an inspiration to me. Thank you for meeting me, you are my hero.’
‘Hi, are you having a good day? You look very nice today.’
‘What is your favourite season?’
‘Hi, you are a really good person, kind and gentle and by the way, can I have your autograph? It was nice to meet you.’
‘How are you so brave and confident? Wow! You are my inspiration, how do you stand up for yourself? I can’t believe I got to meet you.’
‘This is such an honour. I think you are so amazing. Were you not scared?’
‘Hi. I’m so glad to meet you. You are so caring and generous. I wish I and other people could be like you.’
‘Hello. How do you think life should be? Why did you want to be President and was it easy?’
Nelson: Hello and how are you? Me: My name is Shauna. Nelson: Well, nice to meet you. Me: When you were in school what did you learn?’
‘Wow! OMG! How much time do I have? You’re so cool. How are you so brave?’
‘I can’t believe I’m actually meeting you. My name is Emily, I’m eleven years old and I love art and reading.’
‘What is it like to be you? Do you love what you do?Why did you come here? Thank you for listening to me, you are a brave man.’
‘Did you get any food or drink in jail?’
‘Hello Nelson Mandela. My name is Evelyn Byrne. I think everything you said was correct and that everyone should have equal rights and not to judge others and we must live life to the fullest. Your words have changed the world and have made people think about things that were wrong.’
‘You gave light when the rest of the world was dark, you gave faith when the rest of the world gave up, you gave peace when the rest of the world was at war.’
‘Hello my name is Grainne and you are my hero.’
‘Hello my name is Divine and it is an honour to meet you. I wrote you a poem but sorry I didn’t finish it.’
I just realized I haven't blogged since June 1. That is partly due to the fact that I could NOT blog in South Africa. I barely had internet, and when I did, the blog clogged the airwaves and crashed, so after multiple attempts, I gave up.
Let it also be known that every night now, I dream of South Africa.
My only week in Minnesota since May 18 was a bit hectic. Now I am in North Carolina at Nikki, Tom, and Alec's house, but Alec is sleeping, so here goes.
Yesterday morning, Nikki, Alec, and I had a delightful short morning at Noelle, Tony, and Maren's house in Arlington, Virginia, before we headed to Pennsylvania Avenue.
There I met Julia Nguyen, Senior Program Officer, Division of Education Programs, at the National Endowment for the Humanities Office in the historic Old Post Office complex. (Nikki and Alec went to the National Museum of Natural History).
Julia was entirely helpful and supportive of the ideas Scott Fee (Construction Management, MSU,M, now newly appointed Interim Assistant Dean in the College of Science, Engineering, and Technology) have cooked up. We want to apply for a big NEH grant for "Bridging Cultures" at Community Colleges...which also requires a Community College to be in collaboration with another institution. Seems as if this might have been written for what we are working toward.
I won't belabor all our plans here, but they do include bringing Prof Kobus van Wyk (below) to Mankato to speak at a conference at South Central College. Kobus is the endowed chair of the brand-new department of Human Settlement Development Management at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. This department has a focus of somehow revamping the rebuilding the townships while giving full consideration to human needs (safety, education, health, transportation, etc., etc. which all relate to Humanities).
Our approach to this grant is that stories are the medium that move information from our head to our hearts and move us to action. Stories are what the Humanities convey--through art, music, literature, film, history, architecture, etc., etc. Stories about South Africa all end up leading us to the townships. THERE, in the townships, the Humanities converge with the Built Environment.
If you don't know, townships exist in every urban area of South Africa, and a version exists in most rural areas, too. Townships are the legacy of apartheid. Apartheid means "separateness" in Afrikaans. When segregation was forced because the Afrikaner government under the Nationalist Party believed that races could only thrive while separated (I can't even begin to comment on this outrageously horrific idea), non-white citizens were forced into specified areas and couldn't leave without passbooks...similar to passports but necessary for traveling outside the neighborhood.
Now the townships still exist, with vast overpopulation and poverty. BUT look at the joy and sense of community. As we walked through Vlei ("Swamp") Township on the edge of Cape Town, these kids were dancing their hearts out. The oldest boy drummed with amazing skill on an old washtub. The mamas were busy cooking. Joy and hope and community have NOTHING to do with affluence.
We all know that the one thing that can break down prejudice is meeting a specific person from the group against which we hold a prejudice (Think about the movie American History X). Stories do the same thing. STORIES help us meet individual people, help us empathize, force us to understand oppression and misfortune; stories change our attitudes about "others."
We believe that South Africa is a microcosm that is a metaphor for the world. South Africa is the site of one (not unlike the Holocaust) of the worst legalized systems of oppression in the world. There is racism of every type, and not only black/white conflict but between the "White tribes" (Afrikaners/Boers and English) themselves, East Indians, many other Asian groups, "colored," and more. There is also some of the most joyful, colorful hope in the universe, despite oppression.
When "Madiba"--Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela retired from the South African presidency, President Clinton said the following:
"In every gnarly, knotted, distorted situation in the world where people are kept from becoming the best they can be, there is an apartheid of the heart. And if we really honor this stunning sacrifice of twenty-seven year, if we really rejoice in the infinite justice of seeing this man happily married in the autumn of his life, if we really are seeking some driven wisdom from the poser of his example, it will be to do whatever we can, however we can, wherever we can, to take the apartheid out of our own and others' hearts."
That's what we want to do with this grant. Present some opportunities to explore how learning about South Africa can help us all eliminate APARTHEID OF THE HEART.
Nelson Mandela has, in the course of his extraordinary life, said many wise things. This morning I was thinking about one in particular:
‘There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living’ Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.
Given that this blog is (mostly!) about stories, writing and books I was thinking about this in relation to writing. Writing, whether creatively in fiction or non-fiction, is self directed. You have to find the time and the space to do it, no one else can do that for you. It is from you, you yourself have to extract it from your head and put it down. If you are writing, whether for a living or for pleasure, you owe it to yourself to be the very best you can, to ignore your own excuses as to why you haven’t finished or why it is not as good as you would like it to be. It is in your hands.
I have been lucky in that I am in a position where I have the time and space to do this – it is an absolute privilege and I treasure it. But I know I could do more. Time passes quickly and as a writer you need to be able to ask yourself at the end of each day, ‘what have I written? and is it good?’ If the answer is ‘nothing’ then you are failing yourself. There are days when my answer is ‘nothing’ and it should not be so.
There is more though to what he said – because to be the best we can means being the best we can not only for ourselves but for others. He has lived that to the full. He has, at every turn, done the right thing for others. He continues to do that. South Africa and the world have been made richer by his life and it is why he remains beloved by so many. He is a one off. Just one look at that smile will tell you that!
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
