Central Technical High School: Mandela

Mandela: The date was June 19, 1990 and the location was Central Technical High School in downtown Toronto. Mandela had been released from prison just four months previously, and he was on his first tour to North America. He expressed a strong desire to speak to young Canadians, and our committee arranged to have secondary school student representatives from across Toronto attend his address at Central Technical School. About 1,500 students attended, according to The Star. That same genuine love for children came through in Mandelas subsequent visits to Canada. In September 1998, President Mandela addressed a gathering of 45,000 students at an event in Torontos SkyDome, now Rogers Centre. It was billed as Mandela and the Children, and was subsequently referred to as the worlds largest classroom lesson, with Nelson Mandela as teacher and Like so many people meeting Nelson Mandela for the first time, I was awestruck. It was Mandelas first of three visits to Canada. I was part of a small welcoming committee to greet Mandela, his wife at the time, Winnie Mandela, and an entourage of South African officials. Prior to his address, two children from an elementary school presented him with a gift. I remember vividly his warm, tender, beaming smile as he hugged them. During his 27 years in prison, he had no physical interaction with children. Mandela hugged those two Canadian children, one white, one black, as if to make up for his years of isolation from children. It was an unforgettable moment. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.