“DO what you can, with what you have, wherever you are,” is the global theme for 2022.
On Mandela Day, people all over the world are encouraged to spend 67 minutes in the service of others, by volunteering, doing community service or making donations to charities.
One minute is asked for each year of Nelson Mandela’s service – on his birthday, 18th July. Nelson Mandela was an activist for social justice and South Africa’s first democratically elected president.
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The Nelson Mandela Foundation released a statement which reads, “The International Nelson Mandela Day campaign remains rooted in the call Nelson Mandela made in 2009 – to honour him by working in communities rather than by celebrating his birthday. While July 18 remains a focal point for the campaign, we urge people supporting the campaign to participate in sustainable interventions with lasting impact.
Our global theme for 2022 is “Do what you can, with what you have, wherever you are.” The context, of course, is a world in which inequality continues to grow and in which the destructive impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed existing disparities and damaged vulnerable communities in all kinds of ways. The call to action is as broad and inclusive as possible – identify those in need around you, and do what you can to make a difference for them.”
The Nelson Mandela Foundation will focus Mandela Day this year on a food and nutrition program. Promoting community and backyard gardens, supporting fruit and indigenous tree planting, and creating awareness of the intersections between food security and climate change is the goal.
As the humanitarian himself said,” What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”
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