From left to right: Mostafa Abdul Fattah, Maya Alkateb, Iyhab Hamed (delegation leader), Mielad Al Oudt Allah and Mohamed Dibo
(Image: Nelson Mandela Foundation)Feb 18, 2008 – On February 15, the Nelson Mandela Foundation hosted a student delegation from Syria and engaged with them in dialogue about the Foundation.
The four students, who won a trip to South Africa after submitting winning essays on Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom, learnt more about the Foundation and were given time to ask questions about its work.
Engaging in dialogue with visitors to the Nelson Mandela Foundation is a priority for staff. Here, staff and the students reflect on the visit.
Maya Alkateb (winner)
Long Walk to Freedom (a reading) was the winning essay submitted by Maya Alkateb. On writing the essay, she said: “I learnt a lot from reading his book and writing the essay … I learnt about patience: Mr Mandela was an old man but he persevered. I learnt that one should never lose faith, no matter how difficult things become. I also learnt never to quit … Lastly I learnt about the importance of international support; one must always partner with other countries and respect their views.”
Alkateb felt the visit to the Foundation and the dialogue was very rewarding. “I think [the meeting] was beneficial … for all the people who attended, especially for the Syrian delegation. We learnt a lot about how the Nelson Mandela Foundation functions, what it does, its objectives and how it evaluates what it does. I think it’s a great effort and a great Foundation to preserve the legacy of Mr Mandela and [spread] it to others. We saw the place and how it was run, the people who work there and their spirit. We learnt more about the Foundation through the presentation on how to navigate through the website, which will allow us to learn more later.”
Mostafa Abdul Fattah (winner)
Fattah submitted a poem which was translated from Arabic into English by the delegation for the Foundation in honour of the visit.
From the heart of black stones
There has risen a star
That shines in the darkness
Of the night.
It said that the night is long,
But that dawn must come
After the darkness of the night
Freedom has become a flower
That flourished in the depth of the desert
It grew until it became a bush
Spreading thousands of shadows
Africa, the soul of the coming sun
I will sing about you, and about a man
Who has spread freedom with patience
It is Mandela, the legend of time
He carried the light, the flame
And walked while glittering Faith
Thereafter, his people, who had followed his road
Became stronger than the raging of a storm
They buried their sadness in a beautiful museum.
Al Oudt Allah also reflected on the visit with a poem which the delegation translated for the Foundation.
A magician whose magic affected hearts
A stiff mountain whose roads are hard to reach
Oh tears, you have the honour to be dropped from his eyes
As the earth’s soil is cursed and disgraced
And the earth’s gold wanders in its soil
Peace be upon a shattered dark prison
Whose heart has been broken for losing the beloved
- - -
Oh, you have come out of the darkness of prison
You, the master of pain and sad sighs
There’s light laying in your eyes and a will that has beaten the city lights
The stones of the days gathered to form great mountains
As the history of yesterday tells our story
The history of today changed its old direction
Oh father, they have changed history;
They have changed the boat and its captain;
Mandela is the boat’s leader. He is the sea and the storm.
“It was inspiring to meet an energetic bunch of students from another part of the world who felt it necessary to participate in a competition demanding they reflect on what Long Walk to Freedom meant to them. Participating in this competition taught them much more about South Africa than they expected. In addition to the competition, it forced them to do additional research about the country and its people. They now appreciate the trials and tribulations that the people of South Africa went through to achieve what they did.”
Shadrack Katuu (Senior Programme Officer, Nelson Mandela Foundation):
“This was an inspiring visit. Hearing a different perspective from the youth of Syria was rewarding; it is one that we are not always able to access.”
Naomi Warren (Dialogue Co-ordinator, Dialogue for Justice Programme, Centre of Memory and Dialogue, Nelson Mandela Foundation):
“On reflection I have realised that we have to embrace every opportunity, because what sometimes seems like a controversial idea or topic can actually create a space of positive possibilities.”
The dialogue opened up space for the students to learn more about the Foundation and to gain a personal understanding of the goals and values intrinsic to the organisation. Staff at the Nelson Mandela Foundation hope to carry on engaging in dialogue with visitors to Mandela House, so as to create further awareness of the Foundation’s work.
