GREAT DOG: Nelson Mandela

Showing posts with label Nelson Mandela. Show all posts

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Nelson Mandela Parties Like It's His 90th Birthday

QUNU, South Africa (AP) — Some came in exquisitely beaded traditional skins, others wore T-shirts emblazoned with his name, and Nelson Mandela welcomed all to the festive tent outside his home Saturday for the formal celebration of the anti-apartheid icon's 90th birthday.

Hundreds of guests stood and cheered and a Xhosa choir sang "Here is our hope!" at the entrance of Mandela — walking in with his successor as South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, and African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma. Mandela, wearing an intricately patterned shirt in shades of brown, stopped to personally greet a few of the 500 honored guests as he made his way to the head table.

For more information, visit the Associated Press.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Happy 90th Birthday Nelson Mandela!

QUNU, South Africa (AP) — Nelson Mandela celebrated his 90th birthday Friday by calling on the wealthy to share with the poor and wishing that he had been able to spend more time with his family during the long anti-apartheid struggle.

In an interview at his home in rural southeastern South Africa, the icon was asked if he had a message for the world.

"There are many people in South Africa who are rich and who can share those riches with those not so fortunate who have not been able to conquer poverty," Mandela said.

Sitting with his wife Graca Machel in a lounge of the large home he built in Qunu, Mandela said he was fortunate to have reached 90, but the poor are unlikely to live that long because "poverty has gripped our people."

At one point, a granddaughter brought a bowl of flowers into the room and gave Mandela a birthday kiss. He was asked if he wished he had had more time with his family during a life spent fighting apartheid and then leading South Africa.

"I am sure for many people that is their wish," he said. "I also have that wish that I spent more time (with my family). But I don't regret it."

For more, visit the Associated Press.