Robben Island

Limestone quarry where Mandela and other prisoners worked during their incarceration. Our guide called this ground a "university of peacemaking" because it was here that Mandela would preach forgiveness and unity to the other prisoners.

Looking into Nelson Mandela's prison cell.

A former prisoner of Robben Island gave us our tour. He spent 6 years incarcerated at Robben Island for "treason." He was wonderful.

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When Jeannie and I arrived in South Africa, Victor surprised us with tickets to Robben Island. He wanted to make sure that we went there and saw it as soon as possible. I am so, so glad he did. We went on Saturday for the better part of the day, and it was so far my favorite experience in South Africa. I have so much to learn from this country and its leaders.

Robben Island is a small island that is roughly a 45 minute ferry ride from Cape Town. It has been used for many, many purposes over the years (such as an isolation center for lepers curing the 19th century) but has been made infamous for being the detention center for political prisoners (most famously Nelson Mandela) during apartheid. Political prisoners were held in a maximum security prison on Robben island beginning in 1961. The last prisoners were released in 1991.

Our guide talked a bit about Nelson Mandela's experience at Robben Island. I am not usually one to idealize public figures, but the more I have learned of Nelson Mandela, the more I realize that he is a true hero, and a true peacemaker. Our guide told us that in the limestone quarry, where the prisoners were forced to work for years on end (many of the prioners of Robben Island are now snowblind because they had to work in the limestone with no protective eye-wear) <> Nelson Mandela would teach the other prisoners about reconciliation and forgiveness. He would tell them not to fight the white guards, because those guards were simply victims of a sick society.

Jeannie asked a South African man the other day what happened to all of the perpetrators of apartheid who were not incarcerated. The man told her that they were able to go home and live in their communities. We wondered, how could that be? How would they be able to live free of fear in a society in which they were the overthrown oppressors? I think much of this can be contributed to Mandela and others like him who promote forgiveness over retaliation.

Our guide told us that Mandela borrowed the idea of reconciliation from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man who is being celebrated in the United States this weekend. I am celebrating here with a renewed sense of the meaning of reconciliation, peacemaking, and forgiveness.

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Some selected quotes by Nelson Mandela:

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.

If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.

It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people, I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if it needs be it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself... Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.

If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.