Press Release: Embassy of the Republic of South Africa in Berlin celebrated Nelson Mandela Day at FEZ

Berlin 18.7.2012. The Embassy of the Republic of South Africa in Berlin celebrated on Wednesday, 18 July former President Nelson Mandela`s 94th birthday. In 2009 the United Nations declared 18 July as International Nelson Mandela Day and in 2010 it was marked with acts of goodwill in communities throughout the world. Mandela Day is a call to action for individuals, for people everywhere, to take responsibility for changing the world into a better place, one small step at a time, just as Mr Mandela did.

Mr Mandela celebrated this birthday with friends and family in Qunu while people in South Africa and all over the world will honour the life of Mr Mandela by contributing 67 minutes of their time while abiding by the slogan “Let your Spirit of Generosity Shine Through”. The 67 minutes are symbolic for each year that Nelson Mandela fought for equality and human rights.

The staff of the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa in Berlin identified the FEZ youth, children’s and family facility in the south east of Berlin to commit their 67 minutes of volunteerism in 2012.

The project FEZ was founded over thirty years ago and is the largest non-profit
children’s, youth and family center in Europe. Berlin Mayor, Klaus Wowereit describes it as “Berlin’s lighthouse” that towers above the norm and has a strong impact on its surroundings in cultural and other activities for children and young people.

FEZ has over one million visitors annually with thirty clubs and societies, playgrounds, sports fields, swimming lake, eco garden, theatre, swimming pool, children´s museum and an orbital space center to name just a few of the spaces on this 113.000 square meters.

FEZ offers creative games, fun and recreation together with a multitude of unique activities in the fields of global learning, sustainable development, culture, ecology, technology, astronautics, educational play as well as international and multicultural youth work.

In the summer children can spend their school holidays at FEZ with activities like the Hogwarts Magic School, Playday everyday and The Detective Holidays or the FEZitty project: the city inhabitants of FEZitty enjoy a self-sustained world and just as in real life they work and learn, earn money, hold political power and create the cultural life of their own city. The project has been awarded the Children´s Culture Prize of the German Children’s Emergency Fund.

Ambassador Reverend MA Stofile sees FEZ as “a fantastic project since it is a place where children and their families can come and be active and learn about the world and its surroundings. FEZitty is especially a role model project where children get to be pro-active and learn to be responsible for their actions and understand what it means to live in a community and how their actions affect others – hopefully the vision of Nelson Mandela will be a role model for them.”

The Embassy staff, dressed in T-shirts with the Nelson Mandela Day logo, alongside with their partners from FEZ cleaned and repaired the facilities, working inside the tropical greenhouse, cleaning the pond and H.E. Ambassador Reverend Stofile filled honey from bee combs into jars. All this while their thoughts went out to one man who has contributed so much to this world, Nelson Mandela.

Contacts:
Sarah Pöhlmann
Communication & Marketing
Embassy of the Republic of South Africa
Tel 030-2207 3127
PoehlmannS(at)dirco.gov.za

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