Kabilagate in South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo click here
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Wanga Madembe Mulaudzi was born in Nov 1996: more than 2 years after apartheid ended in Apr 1994.
Her father is Trevor Mulaudzi, pictured above with his bus that he drives around South Africa teaching that a clean toilet is the first step out of poverty. Her mother, pictured below with Trevor, Wanga and Wanga's 2 sisters, is a physician who has had a long career keeping South African miners healthy,
Their family home is about 45 minutes from Pretoria. Wanga is a student in Potchefstroom High School For Girls, about 2 hours
from Johannesburg.
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What Nelson Mandela means to me. Wanga Madembe Mulaudzi. MJoTA 2013 v7n2 p0701
Nelson Mandela, one of the most profound men in the history of our
growth, crawled into our nation with the aspirations of introducing
change to a once broken South Africa.
He believed that every man on this
Earth was, and still is, equal no matter what background they were
birthed into.
So in turn, he stood up for what he believed in. Yes, he
was faced with many mountains which deemed impossible to overcome but he
continued to tell himself that "It always seems impossible until its
done."
He climbed this mountain with 27 years of imprisonment on his
back, with not even a little word of mouth to aid his ascend. But he
never gave up, he once said that "There is no easy walk to freedom
anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the
shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our
desires."
After years of hardships, he eventually did reach the top. He
made the impossible possible by giving us, the youth of South Africa, a
hope. A hope that will prove to us that we are indeed equal and that we
can walk hand in hand to continue the legacies of the men and women that
worked hard to give us freedom.
Many take for granted what Nelson
Mandela did, they see it as just a symbolism for what was and no longer
is. But it should be more than that, if it was not for Mr Mandela, I
would not be able to learn about, yet alone dream of an equal South
Africa without the fear of being arrested for being 'black'.
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Thank you Mr Mandela. SJ Dodgson. MJoTA 2013 v7n2 p0701
Mr Nelson Mandela, also known as Madiba, is breathing his
last in Pretoria, in a hospital less than 4 miles from Pretoria Central
Prison, where the Congolese 20 have been held awaiting trial since Feb
01, 2013.
Madiba spent 27 years in prisons, most of his time
2,000 km south east of Pretoria, on a small island off the coast on
Capetown in the Atlantic Ocean. Robben Island.
Robben Island is a
long way from South Africa's capital city, Pretoria. A long way from
Johannesburg, which is connected to Pretoria by a highway that passes by
a game reserve, an international airport and a soccer stadium that was used in the 2010 World Cup.
Trevor Mulaudzi lived, grew up, went to university, met and married and raised a family, and worked under apartheid. Everything he has done is impossible, but he has done it, is doing it.
When I left South Africa in May 2013, Trevor drove me, with my 2 friends and his sidekick, first to SABCfm to get me interviewed about the 20 Congolese men imprisoned in Pretoria since Feb 5, and then drove me along the road to Pretoria to the airport. Which was when I took the picture above.
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What
matters is that we all have the same blood, and Mr Mandela shed his out
of the goodness of his heart. He made his dream a reality, and this has
inspired many to make their aspirations a reality as well.
He walked out
of the gates of oppression knowing that he climbed that devious
mountain for a worthwhile reason. Mr Mandela has touched the lives of
many, now if he can do it, what's stopping us?
I have never met him but I have learned about him through History
lessons, books, stories from my elders and the Sarafina movie which was
published in 1992 (written by Mbongeni Ngema).
I was born 2 years
after in Nov 1996 but people still spoke highly of him
even just as I began to understand how to listen and talk.
I have
only seen his smile in photos but I can say that his smile gives me
assurance that I am safe. His smile warms my heart every time for some
reason - he is like a grandfather I've only heard of.
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