In the long history of mankind, there have been many people in charge of making this world a better place, fairer and free for all. A job that never ends, because injustices and inequality continue to exist and make the lives of many people more of a punishment than a gift. Today, July 18, Nelson Mandela International Day is celebrated, coinciding with the date of his birth.
Nelson Mandela was one of those people who dedicated his life to fighting for rights of others. He tirelessly fought and defended human rights, was imprisoned in his fight for peace, and was also the first President to be democratically elected, that is, elected by the people, in a free South Africa for the first time. An important personality who changed the course of life for black people, something that makes even more sense today with everything that is happening with people of color in the United States.
Nelson Mandela's life for children
Honoring the figure of Nelson Mandela is essential, as well as that of many other people who contribute every day to achieve world peace. Children must be knowledgeable about the history of Madiba, because knowledge is the best weapon against wars. Because education is the basis of change And because the children of today will be the leaders of tomorrow, they must know and know how one person was able to achieve important changes for the whole world.
So that the children can easily understand who Nelson Mandela was, you can organize a small talk with the children. Through a short summary, children will know a little more about the life of this important personality. Later, together you can organize some solidarity activity in your community, in order to honor and continue the legacy of one of the most influential people in history.
Below you will find a short summary about the life of Nelson Mandela, adapted for young children so that they can understand in a simple way who was and why is so important in the story. After explaining Madiba's story to the children, you can do a short exercise to find out how children understand racial differences and what they can do to change them.
Children's summary of the biography of Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela was born in South Africa into a royal family. As his family was powerful, he was able to study in the best universities, something that very few people could do at that time. South Africa is a country where most of the people are black, although many years ago, the Dutch went to live there and thus many people with mixed races were born.
Some of those people thought that because they had white skin they had more rights than people with black skin. And they got that South African blacks lost many of their Human Rights basic. Nelson Mandela, who had become a lawyer and as a person with black skin, began to fight so that all people had the same rights, even if they were of a different race and their skin of a different color.
That fight was not easy at all, Nelson Mandela spent 27 years of his life in jail just for that fight, but never stopped working to improve people's lives. This struggle led him to be widely recognized, until he managed to get released from that unjust sentence, he was even awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in addition to receiving more than 250 more awards for his fight for peace.
A few years later, when his country became free, Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa. The first president democratically elected, by all black and white citizens. Thus demonstrating that coexistence between people of different races was possible, in peace, in equality and solidarity. A great example for all people, someone who never stopped fighting for others, without seeking fame, notoriety, or public recognition.