Paying Tribute: Nelson Mandela

Caryl recalls her recent trip to South Africa and the ex-president who inspired her 

President Obama and his family arrived in South Africa today but he won’t be seeing Nelson Mandela, who remains critically ill in a hospital in Pretoria. Mandela is one of Obama’s heroes as well as mine. I made it to South Africa last December, part of my Hillary Clinton-like tour of the continent—10  planes in 11 days. (It's a lot of ground to cover!) Madiba, as he is called by those who love him, was also in the hospital then with a lung infection. There was much speculation at the time as there is now that the end might be near for the 94-year-old statesman and revolutionary who helped end apartheid in South Africa.

My then 7-year-old daughter cried when she saw this picture of people lining up to vote in the first free election in '94.

I only spent about 24 hours in the shockingly beautiful city of Cape Town. I didn’t get to Robben Island where Mandela had been imprisoned for 27 years. (The Obamas did.)The boat broke down right when my friend Betsy and I were about to board. We did visit one of the townships, and we toured the District Six Museum where we saw first hand the country's heartbreaking history of segration. While I was at the museum, I bought a single postcard that I liked too much to send to anyone.  When I arrived at my country house this afternoon, I saw the postcard on the dresser leaning up against pictures of the women in my family-- from my grandmother's wedding day to the first portrait of my newborn daughter--a kind of accidental tableaux.

The postcard has no breathtaking photography of Table Mountain or the Victoria and Alfred waterfront--just white letters on a green background.  The words are a quote from an address Mandela gave on February 11, 1990 in Cape Town, the day of his release from prison: 

"I pay tribute to the mothers and wives and sisters of our nation.
You are the rock-hard foundation of our struggle. " 

Thank you, Madiba--and right back at you.