Nelson Mandela followed three teachings throughout his life: free yourself, free others and serve everyday. It wasn’t just his mantra; it governed his existence (and his legacy).
It is in honour of this spirit that advocates of positive change across the globe undertake to do “good” in their communities on Mandela’s birthday, 18 July. Whether it be reading to a pensioner for 67 minutes or painting the walls of a crèche, on Mandela Day people everywhere take it upon themselves to do something meaningful for someone else.
But while doing “good” is admirable, and brings smiles to the faces of many, it isn’t sustainable. And, mostly, it doesn’t effect enduring positive change or address major social inequalities in the long term.
One can argue the point ad infinitum, but the harsh (and sad) truth is that handing out free peanut-butter sarmies to street kids at every robot on the drive to work on Mandela Day won’t feed hungry mouths for the other 364 days, 22 hours and 53 minutes of the year.
This is why the focus of this year’s Nelson Mandela International Day campaign is on addressing more permanent measures to drive social justice, specifically in the areas of food security, shelter, and education and literacy.
South African Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said it best at the launch of the campaign at the Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) on 8 April, 2014: “The most vulnerable members of society are those who are hungry, those without adequate housing, and those who cannot read or write. Indeed, being deprived of life’s basic necessities is to be deprived of dignity and humanity.”
With this in mind, the NMF has profiled a selection of Mandela Day initiatives (look under the section titled “So how can you serve?”) that speak to the provision of basic human rights. It is urging all partners (and members of the public) to join together in communities to make a real difference.
Willem Steenkamp, writer and movie-trivia fundi at Flow, took the Mandela Day message to heart.
“Listening to Sello (Hatang, NMF CEO) speak at the launch event, I was reminded that Nelson Mandela International Day is not about doing 67 minutes and then being satisfied with your contribution. It’s not about clock-watching. It's about a change in attitude, for us to become servant leaders, just like Mandela was to all of us. If we were all a little more like him, how much better would the world be?”
Kate Rau, Flowstar media developer and yogini-in-training, agrees: “Doing good makes you feel good, but the real ethos of Mandela Day is making others feel good. Doing good is temporary, and the Mandela Day message is to make EVERY day a day of service to others. I’m going to have to rethink my Mandela Day plan and maybe, instead of making hot soup on 18 July and handing out cups to the homeless, I should teach someone to read and write? That’s a real gift.”
Flow and Mandela Day: the background story
For the past six years Flow has had the privilege of being the main digital partner on the Mandela Day Campaign, an annual project of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
Flow built and maintains the main Mandela Day site where change-makers in the local and international community register their activities, invite volunteers to join their initiative and provide feedback on the success of their event.
Says Flow Communications MD Tiffany Turkington-Palmer: “Flow is proud of its long-term commitment to the Mandela Day campaign alongside the Nelson Mandela Foundation.”
And how does the company intend to serve as Mandela Day ambassadors?
“We are committed to job creation, skills development and enterprise development. Our stakeholders have prioritised long-term positive change in the industries we operate in as a key business goal. We believe in creating positive change,” says Tiffany.
