We took the boys to Mandela’s house in Houghton today to pay our respects to the great man. Today was declared a day of prayer so it made kind of sense for us to drive there today.
We had to park quite a distance from the house actually, and the police had cordoned off a few roads for pedestrians, so thankfully we had comfy shoes for the trip! My mom had given us a rose from her garden to place on the pile… the name of the rose is Sylvia… so our little trip was also on behalf of my parents as well as my grandmother (who’s name is Sylvia).
There were quite a lot of people at the fence (understatement of the year), so we had to wait a bit for our turn, but as soon as the motorbike gangs arrived en masse, the crowd thinned out a bit to check out the new exciting instalment and we got a chance to place our lone pink rose on the pile.
I’m glad we made the effort to take the boys… it’s history that they’ll be learning about for years to come.
And then the bikers arrived…
wow! Such a lot of flowers and people! Was it peaceful and were people in a good mood?
I found the roads on Friday to be very different – drivers felt more respectful and patient.
Oh wow !! The boys will remember.
Thank you for taking my rose.
We also were there yesterday morning, it was an incredible experience and I was absolutely overcome with emotion. The signing and mood were incredible and we were approached by so many people to chat about our little brown girls!
Very special, I’m so glad I got to take them!
Wow. Seeing all of this wants to make me jump into my car and drive to Qunu, but it’s just too far.
So important for our children to remember this x
From somebody who is truly worlds away from this, thank you for sharing.