Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela is a truly great man.  Not only because his statue at Union Buildings Gardens in Pretoria, South Africa, stands 5 times taller than I am.  This is my third visit to South Africa, also my third pilgrimage to his house in Soweto near Johannesburg.  All my three visits are for the sake of service-learning. And Mandela is an inspirational model for service to the community, civic engagement and much more. 

When he was young, he was advocating violent overthrow of the apartheid systems in South Africa.  For that he was sentenced to a long prison term.  Counterintuitively, he renounced violence while spending 20+ years in prison, without giving up or compromising on the dismantling of apartheid.  Against all odds, he succeeded, and became president of the new South Africa.  Even more so, the long-dreaded racial bloodbath feared by so may did not happen, mainly due to his efforts of reconciling the two sides.  He actively embraced the Springboks, the national rugby team beloved of the whites.  He turned sports into a unifying force.  South Africa continues to face great challenges.  But grave tragedies had been averted, and South Africa is among the most prosperous countries in Africa.  

Soweto was a symbol of racial segregation, violent protests and conflicts, and great casualties throughout the half century of apartheid, particularly during the 1970s and 80s.  I have never thought I would dare to visit Soweto.  Let alone three times.  

We have started online service-learning projects in collaboration with University of Pretoria largely because it is the country of Nelson Mandela.  We want our students to  learn from the example of Nelson Mandela and his South Africa.  We want them to learn that even tremendous conflict and deep-seated hatred can be overcome, with great efforts of reconciliation.  We hope to soon bring our students here in person.