Long Walk To Freedom

Since we've been in South Africa, I've been trying to speed read my way through Nelson Mandela's, Long Walk To Freedom. It's massive and weighty and often deeply disturbing. But it's also hopeful. Let me share three excerpts toward the end of the book that I found particularly moving. By the way, last week we were in Port Elizabeth which is the area of Mandela's childhood. This week we are staying in a friend's place outside of Capetown and tomorrow will visit Robben Island, where Mandela spent most of his 27 year imprisonment. He was released on February 11, 1990.

Not long after his release, Mandela went on a six-week long journey to Europe and North America. After meeting with Canada's Prime Minister Mulroney, the small jet carrying Mandela, stopped for refueling in a remote place north of the Arctic Circle called Goose Bay. He writes,

" I felt like having a walk in the brisk air, and as I was strolling on the tarmac, I noticed some people standing by the airport fence. I asked a Canadian official who they were. 'Eskimos,' he said. In my seventy two years on earth I had never met an Innuit, and never imagined that I would. I headed over to that fence and found a dozen or so young people in their late teens who had come out to the airport because they had heard our plane was going to stop there. As a boy I had read about the Innuit (the name 'Eskimo' was given to them by the colonists), and the impression I received was that they were a very backward people. But in talking with these bright young people, I learned that they had watched my release on television and were familiar with events in South Africa. 'Viva, ANC!' one of them said."

I'm not sure exactly why, but I find this little story hopeful. Perhaps it's the politically engaged young people or the solidarity found among those with similar struggles. It also affirms Mandela's character as a leader who relentlessly tried to stay connected to "the people."

In reflecting on his inauguration, Mandela writes about his belief that transformation was happening in his country not only because of great political heroes, but because of the courage of ordinary men and women.

"I always knew that deep down in every human heart, there was mercy and generosity. No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love....Even in the grimmest times in prison, when my comrades and I were pushed to our limits, I would see a glimmer of humanity in one of the guards, perhaps just for a second, but it was enough to reassure me and keep me going."

Mandela concludes his amazing memoir with these words,

"[T]o be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others......I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended."



Again, here are a few photos. Some are of beautiful landscapes here in SA. Some are of my husband, who has given me so much support and freedom in this time of sabbatical. I must say, he has done a marvelous job of driving me around unfamiliar places in South Africa, on the left side of the road, with the steering wheel on the right and manual stick shift on the left. What a guy!