Cape Town Memorial

I'm not sure what the news is portraying in the US about Nelson Mandela's passing and what is happening here in South Africa or Cape Town in specific. I have fears that in our typical US fashion everyone is speculating that there will be riots in the streets, mayhem and discord because of his passing and increased racial tensions. Maybe that is just me being a bit dramatic, but I can assure you that my experience so far is far less dangerous than everyone envisions.

The memorial today was not as crowded as I thought it would be, getting into the city via train was very easy and the streets were not a mob scene as I originally expected. I think that many people were still at work and nothing has officially shut down yet in formal mourning. There were representatives from almost every religion sending their prayers and memorializing what a great leader Mendela is, I can't say was, because I think for the people of South Africa at least in this area, he will be immortal. There is no past tense for a man as great as him.

Scanning the crowd I saw faces of every color, maybe it really is the Rainbow Nation that he worked so hard to achieve. Black, white, Colored, Indian, all celebrating his life and reflecting on his wish for the world. His message was not just for South Africa, but for all of us to live a life of commitment to others, strive for a world where equality is expected and rejoice in the differences that really make us all the same.

I watched the faces of my students soak all this humanity and history in and I couldn't help but be a little jealous that they are having this experience so early in their lives. Although I feel envious that I never experienced anything as worldly as this at their age, I am so grateful that we are providing our younger generation with opportunities to experience the world in a way that most of us didn't. They are such an open group of individuals and to think that they will be taking back to the US not only their new found nursing skills, but will be better equipped to take care of people from all backgrounds with a new understanding of cultural differences.

The high light of the event for myself and a few of the students came upon us in a very spontaneous way and couldn't be replicated if we tried. As the crowd was listening to different speeches, prayers and performances the students and I heard some chanting and singing off to the left of us and decided to go check it out. The chanting had a distinct, fun, joyful sound to it along with Zulu calls interspersed. We weaved our way through the crowd and came upon a second sub crowd that was celebrating with the ANC flag. The ANC ( African National Council) is the organization that Mandela was president of during the Apartheid years. Anyway....as I was trying to leave the with some of the students we got caught up in their dancing, chanting, singing and celebrating in a way that we could't escape if we wanted to. We were totally part of this incredible mass of celebrating people honoring the man that made freedom a reality in their life time. Of course we had no idea what the words meant or what the dance moves were, but all those around us began including us and encouraging us to join and teaching us the words and moves. I've never been so comfortable being in the minority and never did I feel unsafe.