Celebrating Mandela Day
Some practical ideas for ways to give and serve on Mandela Day!
"Free yourself. Free others. Serve every day."
Nelson Mandela.
I have been thinking about the legacy of Nelson Mandela and other leaders of his generation who continued to live for the greater good of all, and not just for themselves. Right now, it feels liks leadership worldwide is lacking in humility, servanthood and the "otherlyness" that Nelson Mandela embodied.
And, I have learned that when we put people on a pedestal we set ourselves up for disappointment and hurt. I never met Mandela, but he was human and therefore (I assume!) imperfect. We can't expect perfection from anyone else nor of ourselves.
So what I love about the Mandela Day 2025 campaign is the message #itisinyourhands. It Is In Your Hands. We can each take responsibility to say or do something, we don't have to be in leadership, or be famous or wealthy. We don't have to be perfect, or achieve a certain level of success before we do something to serve others and make a difference.
Mandela Day is an opportunity to serve others, for at least 67 minutes. 67 minutes because Mandela fought for justice and human rights for all in South Africa for 67 years of his life.
Here's a simple idea to help feed a family for one meal.
Wherever you are, I encourage you to look around at what local charities are doing on Mandela Day and make a donation of time and/or money. I love this campaign being run by SA Harvest called "Buckets of Nutrition for Matriculants" aimed at providing this year matriculants in under-resourced areas with healthy food, toiletries and stationery. You can read more about it here.
Local to Howick, Ethembeni continue to support learners of all ages, including Matrics in their Education Support programme. I interviewed the Ed Support manager, Sindi Manyoni here. Please consider making a donation or reaching out to Gail at Ethembeni to find out what is currently needed.
