It's In Your Hands Now

July 18, 2013

In 2008 Nelson Mandela gave a speech in Hyde Park in London, and he apparently misread his speech to say "it's in your hands now" rather than "it's in our hands" as was written. When asked later if it was a mistake or on purpose, Mandela said he had given the world a message: "...it is time for the next generation to take responsibility".

This message inspired the creation of International Mandela Day, on July 18. The Mandela Day website states the goal of the day to be: "...to inspire people to take action to change the world for the better and, in doing so, to build a global movement for good."

The idea is to spend one minute for each of the 67 years Mandela dedicated to service and sacrifice for this country and do something good. On July 18th, people all over the world are encouraged to spend 67 minutes in their communities working towards a common goal of making the world a better place to live.

For our 67 minutes, M and L joined me with my team at work to deliver blankets and soup to a home in the township of Alexandra. The home supports children and elderly women in the community; our team has a very close relationship with this particular home and the lady who runs it. It was truly inspiring and touching to see how close she is to our team, and to hear her say that we are not guests there to observe, but we are part of her family.

With no shortage of places and people that need our help, both here and around the world, I find it easy to get paralyzed by how to make the right impact. At the end of the day though, these people will sleep a little warmer and with a little more food in their bellies, and that felt like a great place to start.

Mandela Day coincides with Nelson Mandela's birthday. Happy 95th Birthday Madiba!