NELSON MANDELA HELPED CHANGE THE WORLD

South Africa’s former president, Nelson Mandela, remains “quite ill” and unable to speak because of tubes that are keeping his lungs clear of fluid, though he is relaxed, his former wife told a South African newspaper.

“He remains very sensitive to any germs, so he has to be kept literally sterile. The bedroom there (in his suburban Johannesburg home) is like an ICU ward,” Winnie Madikizela-Mandela told the Sunday Independent. “He is 95 years old and it is difficult for him, because of all the tubes that are in his mouth to clear the (fluid from his) lungs, and prevent an infection recurring.” Because of those tubes, she said, he communicates through his face.

“But the doctors have told us they hope he will be able to recover his voice,” she said, adding that he is being treated by 22 doctors at his home.

Nelson Mandela is an African civil rights leader from South Africa who changed the world for the better. His lifelong goal, similar to Martin Luther King, Jr., was to achieve equal rights for non-white people in his country.

Mandela made an immense impact in countless people’s lives, Nelson Mandela’s actions and impacts made an irreversible difference in the lives of every human being on the planet, from every background in every country.

Put simply, Mandela decided to speak-up for what he believed in during the South African apartheid – that no matter what your skin color, everyone deserves the same rights. He wanted the right to vote, stating it was his country too. The government branded him a terrorist, and imprisoned him for life in an island prison named Robben Island, though was released 27 years later. While Nelson Mandela was in prison, countries and nations around the world started to think about the way they treated the different racial backgrounds in their own countries, and many began to agree with what Mandela was fighting for – racial equality. Communities started to speak out about their wish for change, and slowly, a difference began to take place. As this took place, South Africa started to feel pressured, and this is one of the reasons Mandela was let out from prison early.

After being released, he made a public statement forgiving everyone who had been cruel to him, and those who had thrown him in prison, a huge act of forgiveness. He was then voted the first black president of South Africa, and was in office for four years. During that time, he achieved all the goals he had hoped would one day happen.

In 1993 he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. His hard work paid off further when all South African citizens were allowed to vote in the 1994 election. Incredibly, Mandela won and became president of South Africa! Mandela is one of the most inspiring people of the 20th century and a great example of how perseverance and passion can change the world.

Nelson Mandela is one of the most inspirational people to have walked the planet, and without the changes he made happen in the world, we could have been living in a restricting and caged world.

” 1918 – Born in the Eastern Cape

” 1944 – Joined African National Congress

• 1956 – Charged with high treason, but charges dropped

• 1962 – Arrested, convicted of sabotage, sentenced to five years in prison

• 1964 – Charged again, sentenced to life

• 1990 – Freed from prison

• 1993 – Wins Nobel Peace Prize

• 1994 – Elected president

• 1999 – Steps down as leader

• 2001 – Diagnosed with prostate cancer

• 2004 – Retires from public life

• 2005 – Announces his son has died of an HIV/Aids-related illness

• 2010 – Appears at football World Cup