46664 - It's In Our Hands
Funny man, Ricky Gervais, (hosting the Golden Globes tonight – January 16th) gets serious in this video, in support of the Nelson Mandela Foundation 46664. He mentions AIDS statistics
And finishes with the 46664 slogan, “It’s In Our Hands” - it’s in our hands to make a difference.
Community discussions identify key triggers of the spread of AIDS
World AIDS Day may be over, but the focus on how to deal with the epidemic continues in South Africa.
This year, the South African theme for World AIDS Day was “I am responsible. We are responsible. South Africa is taking responsibility,” and the Nelson Mandela Foundation commemorated the day by hosting community conversations across the country. Men, women and youth engaged in conversation on how South Africans can take responsibility for responding to the epidemic and its impact.
Groups discussed misconceptions surrounding HIV AIDS, particularly the belief that raping a virgin “cures” HIV. Some of the main drivers of the epidemic identified were substance abuse, prostitution and incest, which contribute significantly to the spread of the virus. It was also felt that a sense of community and ubuntu (“caring for one another”) had been lost, leading to increased stigmatization of those who were HIV positive.
Emphasis was placed on encouraging strong family and community value systems, establishing support groups and offering an integrated approach to HIV counseling and testing that would include family testing.
Read more here about how these discussion help to increase awareness and bring about change in communities affected by HIV/AIDS.
Source: The Nelson Mandela Foundation
Smiles all round, as the United States football (soccer) team and South Africa’s Bafana Bafana visited Nelson Mandela at his office in Johannesburg today, November 18th.
The coach of the victorious US team, Bob Bradley, presented Mr Mandela with a team shirt and told him, “It is an honour for us to be here today.”
Source: Nelson Mandela Foundation
With a 1-0 win for the US team, Wednesday night’s Nelson Mandela Challenge in Cape Town may have been a disappointment for South Africa, but as one South African tweeted after the match, “Boys you played well. Let’s share Madiba with Americans. Let them take cup – we have HIM.”
The Nelson Mandela Foundation pleads for a peaceful retirement for Nelson Mandela.
He’s arguably South Africa’s most famous resident and much-loved leader, and people all over the world want a piece of Madiba magic.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation receives at least 4,000 messages a month, paying tribute to Mr Mandela, but there are just as many requests for his signature, endorsements, message of support, a public appearance or an interview.
There are also pleas for Nelson Mandela to intervene in struggles around the world. As far back as 1999 Mr Mandela said the following in response to these calls: “I don’t want to reach 100 years whilst I am still trying to bring about a solution in some complicated international issue.”
At 92 years old, after a life of fighting for human rights and social issues, Madiba deserves a peaceful and quiet retirement.
Source: The Nelson Mandela Foundation
Former High Court and Electoral Court Judge Thumba Pillay formally donated a series of documents to the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s archives.
The documents include a letter written by Mr Nelson Mandela on Robben Island, after it was smuggled out of the prison by Mac Maharaj.
The letter, addressed to Judge Pillay’s legal firm, gave instruction to begin court proceedings against the apartheid government’s Department of Prisons, on the grounds of poor conditions in correctional facilities and the treatment of inmates.
Judge Pillay – who was highly active in the anti-apartheid movement – donated the letter and a series of legal documents to the Nelson Mandela Foundation for safekeeping, and said, “We need [the files] to be kept for posterity. It’s part of history and these are authentic documents of the conditions in prisons at that time.”
Source: The Nelson Mandela Foundation
Nelson Mandela looks at his newly-released book, Conversations With Myself, October 2010
On October 12th, 2010, for the very first time, Nelson Mandela’s hidden archives will be published in a new book, Conversations With Myself.
The collection of notes from prison and deeply personal diaries expose the private man behind the icon we fondly call Madiba.
Letters penned in jail by Nelson Mandela reveal his anguish at being separated from his family, and readers will feel the intensity of the pain he was going through in prison.
The anti-apartheid icon wrote of his heartache at learning of the death of his 24-year old son in a car crash in 1969. He was not allowed to attend the funeral.
Nelson Mandela pushed for the archives to be opened and published in a new book. Aside from sharing his sorrow and suffering, we also see Nelson Mandela as a human being, as he urges the world not to view him as a saint.
“One issue that deeply worried me in prison was the false image I unwittingly projected to the outside world; of being regarded as a saint,” said the Nobel Peace Prize winner, aged 92.
“I never was one, even on the basis of the earthly definition of a saint as a sinner who keeps trying. As a young man, I combined all the weaknesses, errors and indiscretions of a country boy, whose range of vision and experience was influenced mainly by events in the area in which I grew up and the colleges to which I was sent,” he wrote.
“I relied on arrogance to hide my weaknesses,” he added.
Per this BBC video, “The real man, flawed and human, is actually far more remarkable, far more inspiring than the cliché of some untouchable saint”.
During August 2010, a host of community conversations were held in 11 areas in South Africa as part the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s dialogue initiative to raise community awareness and reduce the incidence of HIV AIDS.
The rationale behind the conversations is to change the perception and values of communities dealing with HIVAIDS by equipping them to identify and discuss HIV AIDS-related concerns and to make informed decisions. Communities are supported by dedicated facilitation teams.
In recognition of August being Women’s Month in South Africa, the focus of the August conversations was on issues relating to women and girls within the wider scope of HIV/AIDS.
Read more about how socio-economic issues affect communities’ perception of, and attitude to, HIV AIDS prevention.
Source: The Nelson Mandela Foundation