Celebrating Nelson Mandela Day

Tomorrow, Monday 18 July is Nelson Mandela Day. It is a globally recognised day sanctioned by the United Nations with the slogan "Make every day Nelson Mandela Day": A worldwide appeal to give up 67 minutes in pursuit of a good cause in the service of others. In the past I've read posts by other families taking time out to serve the poor as a family - aiming to instill a social conscience in their children. For me to reach out is stretching, but I have been giving it some thought. Last week my children told me that I'm an introvert, I've never thought myself to be one though. But yes, I 'm very happy to be by myself with my garden, my animals, my books, my PC and my family (no it's not an afterthought!). The Princes play a computer game called The Sims where they create families, pursue various careers and take various risks.The consequences of their choices sometimes kill them.I have been told that if your "socialization rating" in this game is low you could die, I have also been told that if some of them were Sims characters they would have died a long time ago. But I digress.

I read this very interesting piece that dropped into my inbox at work. It got my attention and I followed the link to the website which led to some history homework. I'm going to copy some of the text here as I know that most of my small number of (very silent) followers don't enjoy web-hopping. The author pointed out the similarities between Nelson Mandela and Jan Smuts and I quote:

"...both men have statues in their honour in Parliament Square in London and both are hailed globally as statesmen of stature. But you may not be aware that both grew up as farm boys tending to sheep and cattle with very rudimentary primary school education, both fought against what they believed to be illegitimate regimes, both were labelled, "freedom fighters", and both had capture rewards "dead or alive" over their heads. We are blessed that both were passionate about reconciliation and forgiveness in the face of almost universal hostility, both loved their country with unshakable commitment and both have made a significant and recent contribution to our complicated history.

Yet, the 130th anniversary of Smuts’ birth and the 60th anniversary of his death went unnoticed and uncelebrated in 2010.

Why?"

Further down in the article he asks whether the 60th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's death will also be forgotten, as just 12 years since Mandela stepped down his ideals (which are very similar to Smuts') have already been eroded and forgotten by those in government.

Now for the history lesson:
Jan Smuts was homeschooled! He only started "formal institutionalized schooling" at the age of 12. But he "caught up" so impressively (something very normal we're told for homeschoolers that have been left to develop at their pace instead of being pressurized and fussed over) that he gained acceptance to a top college and later was awarded a scholarship to Cambridge in the UK. But best of all: The founding document of the United Nations and the preamble to the Charter including the "declaration of human rights" were drafted by Smuts!!!

And today I hear on the news: The ANC want to rename all the streets in Cape Town including one named after General Jan Christian Smuts. The reason? It reminds them of the past.

We can't change the complicated history of our country, nor can we wish it away, but we can learn from it and we can avoid repeating bad choices and bad decisions that had bad consequences. We have a mandate to hold this government and every one that follows to Madiba's ideal of "We shall build a society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity – a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world,"

But it doesn't stop there, you and I can make a difference right there where we are: I can choose to develop my social conscience (and those of my children). I can choose to treat the people I come into contact with with respect and dignity, to spread peace and goodwill - I just have to do this one day at a time and in time we might indeed have a "rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world"...

It's official: I live in a bubble!

I've been all over the web this week trying to educate myself concerning "sustainability" and "fairtrade". The first mention I read about fairtrade was in one of Wendy's posts last month on the link between child slavery and chocolate. The good news is that I have discovered that Cadbury's Plain Milk Chocolate is fairtrade! However I'm appalled at how little I know about fairtrade and I wonder how many others are also unaware? It boils down to " the labourer is worthy of his wages" in other words the small producer shouldn't be forced to accept low prices (not market related) for his produce (thus also forcing him to pay low wages) while the middle man and retailer profit (well at least that is my understanding). Sadly South Africa has very few registered fairtrade producers at this point in time and me living out in the rural Eastern Cape doesn't really bring me into contact with these producers' products. It does however bring me face to face with real hardship and extreme poverty, something fairtrade aims to eradicate. Our choices could make a difference to a struggling small farmer and his labourers. Sometimes the reality of our budgets force us to make less healthy; less "fair" choices, but if we do have the ability to choose, we should choose "right" (that goes for free-range and organic products too) and we should support the small local (organic) producer if at all possible.

And speaking about poverty: I was so encouraged to see the generosity of ordinary folk that are also battling to balance the budget. Again, I'm just so appalled at how calloused I've become, wrapped up in my own little world trying to make ends meet. I know that many South Africans feel a sense of resentment towards the current government: after all the poverty stricken masses have elected them into power, so let them deliver (I'm guilty of this too). Sadly corruption is rife, money that is earmarked for poverty relief goes into lining government officials pockets (this is not a uniquely South African phenomena by the way) and parents spend welfare grants on alchohol - at the end of the day children are suffering, children that didn't make any of these choices. So today we're going through our cupboards and throwing out all unused, outgrown clothing - hopefully a few children will be warmer because of it...