Caring For Children

The SA College for Tourism students spent their Mandela Day at the Vuyani Safe Haven child and youth care centre for vulnerable children in need of care. They made vetkoek (popular deep-fried dough cakes) and soup for the 38 children and then spent the afternoon playing with them.

Vuyani thanked the college, saying: “Nelson Mandela or Madiba, the clan name by which he was fondly known, said: ‘There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.’ Therefore, we want to thank the SA College of Tourism for thinking of Vuyani Safe Haven as their charity to support to honour Madiba’s wish for people to reach out to the needy on his birthday or in the month thereafter.”

Nelson Mandela International Day was launched in recognition of his birthday on 18 July 2009, via a unanimous decision of the UN General Assembly. It was inspired by a call Nelson Mandela had made a year earlier, for the next generation to take on the burden of leadership in addressing the world’s social injustices when he said that ‘it is in your hands now’.

The Mandela Day campaign message is: Nelson Mandela fought for social justice for 67 years. We’re asking you to start with 67 minutes. We would be honoured if such a day can serve to bring together people around the world to fight poverty and promote peace, reconciliation and cultural diversity.