A Birthday Present for Nelson Mandela

18 July marks the birthday of the great South African leader Nelson Mandela, and has been declared Mandela Day to celebrate his legacy. In addition to the festivities planned around the world, the man affectionately known to the nation as “Madiba” (an honorary title within his clan) has asked each South African for a special birthday gift: 67 minutes of service, to commemorate each of the 67 years he served the nation.

It has been inspiring to see how South Africans have taken up this challenge, contagiously spurring each other on to collective community service. Asking myself what would most benefit the people I have come into contact with, I discovered that many of the craftspeople I meet are under-employed and could greatly benefit from some help marketing their services. My service is to help them compile and publish portfolios of their handiwork, together with a brief, personal résumé and a letter of reference. This sounds simple to anyone who owns a digital camera, computer and printer – but keep in mind that these craftspeople do not. In fact, one of the people I worked with today cannot read or write.

With a bevy of young women in tow, of course it did not take long for the photo session to turn into a fashion shoot, as the slide show proves. They had a great time, and so did I… and they will come away from this with a promotional tool that can secure solid work contracts. Work for them means better income, improved health, higher quality education and vision for the future.

So why write about this in a language education blog? I believe a community service project can be a great way to bind a class at a deeper level, and can encourage authentic language learning within a context of learning true life skills. Moreover, it can provide material for deeply meaningful blogs, online photo albums, wikis, podcasts or videos that truly matter. True education is about the curriculum of real life. As one enthusiastic supporter of Madiba Day said on South African news, our service to others should not stop at 67 minutes, but continue to 365 days a year.

Happy Birthday, Madiba.