Exploration 11

One of the passages I find interesting from the Nobel Speech essays would be one of Nelson Mandela, he says:
"This reward will not be measured in money... It will and must be measured by the happiness and the welfare of the children, at once the most vulnerable citizens in any society and the greatest of our treasures. The children must, at last play in the open veld, no longer tortured by the pangs of hunger or ravaged by disease or threatened with the scourge of ignorance, molestation and abuse, and no longer required to engage in deeds whose gravity exceeds the demands of their tender years".

This quote shows what Mandela really fought for. He did not fight and was imprisoned for nearly three decades only for money, but for the future of his country.
He understand that children are the future and like he described them "the greatest treasure of any society". Further, he describes what was like to be a children in the years of apartheid, tortured by hunger, ravaged by disease, and threatened with ignorance, abuse and death. "Kaffir boy" by Mark Mathabane is a book that talks about Mathabane's life growing up in South Africa during the years of apartheid. By reading this book one can really understand what was going on back then, and see the importance of Mandela's speech.

An interesting article I found about South Africa's current education is the following:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17315157

The article talks about the reality of public schools in South Africa, where the education and finance ministers are being taken to court over poor standards at state schools.

* 80% of state schools classed as "failing"
* 1,700 schools without water.
* 15,000 schools have no library.

When I read this numbers I was amazed. Certainly South Africa has improved since the days of apartheid, however this article show that they are failing in this aspect, which I consider very important. Investment in education should be a priority for South Africa's government.

The Dalai Lama is the head of the Buddhist temple in Tibet, he is also a political leader in this country. The religious name of the current Dalai Lama (the 14th) is Tenzin Gyatzo. He was formally recognized as Dalai Lama when he was only 15. Since then he has made very important contributions like trying to negotiate China out of Tibet, when they invaded after WWII. His continuous efforts gave him many enemies and threatened for his life he flew to India. Today, he travels the world advocating for the welfare of Tibet, teaching Tibetian Buddhism, and talking about compassion as a way of life. A quote I really liked from him is, "Happiness is not something ready made. It come from your own actions".


 "Dalai Lama is on facebook, this is his Cover Photo"