What can YOU do on Mandela Day?

The objective of Mandela Day is to inspire individuals to take action to help change the world for the better, and in doing so build a global movement for good.  “Take Action; Inspire Change; Make Every Day a Mandela Day.”

Individuals and organisations are free to participate in Internaitonal Mandela Day as they wish.

You can find your way to spend 67 minutes on Mandela Day (July 18th) to help others and make a better world!

You have over two weeks to prepare for Mandela Day…

Here is a link to the official website where you can register your personal action :

http://www.mandeladay.com/

 

Nelson Mandela dies today – a biography

Nelson Mandela

South Africa’s first black president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela has died, South Africa’s president says.

Mr Mandela, 95, led South Africa’s transition from white-minority rule in the 1990s, after 27 years in prison.

He had been receiving intense home-based medical care for a lung infection after three months in hospital.

In a statement on South African national TV, Mr Zuma said Mr Mandela had “departed” and was at peace.

He said Mr Mandela would receive a full state funeral, and flags would be flown at half-mast.

BBC correspondents say Mr Mandela’s body will be moved to a mortuary in Pretoria, and the funeral is likely to take place next Saturday.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was one of the world’s most revered statesmen after preaching reconciliation despite being imprisoned for 27 years.

He had rarely been seen in public since officially retiring in 2004.

“What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves,” Mr Zuma said.

“Fellow South Africans, Nelson Mandela brought us together and it is together that we will bid him farewell.”

UK Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to Mr Mandela, saying “a great light has gone out in the world”.

Since he was released from hospital, the South African presidency repeatedly described Mr Mandela’s condition as critical but stable.

Born in 1918, Nelson Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1943, as a law student.

He and other ANC leaders campaigned against apartheid (white-only rule).

He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964, but was released in 1990 as South Africa began to move away from strict racial segregation.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and was elected South Africa’s first black president in 1994. He stepped down after five years in office.

After leaving office, he became South Africa’s highest-profile ambassador, campaigning against HIV/Aids and helping to secure his country’s right to host the 2010 football World Cup.

He was also involved in peace negotiations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and other countries in Africa and elsewhere.

From BBC NEWS – Africa

Mandela day 2013: you can make a difference too!

mandela-day-2013Every year, on July 18th (Nelson Mandela’s birthday), people are asked to give 67 minutes of their lives to help others.

This is to remember that Mandela gave 67 years of his life fighting racism and being a prisonner.

What can you do to help? Maybe you can help your parents, share with your brothers and sisters, join a club, bring some food to the Restau du Coeur, visit an old person… There are many ways to help others!

If it’s too late today… you can do it tomorrow or any other day!