The Tribune

The Sandals Foundation commemorated the globally-recognised Nelson Mandela Day by partnering with the College of the Bahamas and the Lyford Cay Foundation’s education enrichment programme, FOCUS, to plant a tree at the college in honour of former South African president.

The FOCUS students were shown a short documentary on the life and work of Nelson Mandela before helping to plant a desert rose in the gardens to the front of COB’s Keva M Bethel building.

This year, Nelson Mandela turned 95 and spent his birthday in hospital recovering from a month-long illness, according to international press.

The FOCUS students – some of whom already knew much about Mandela’s life – were eager to learn about the man known globally as a world hero and known to South Africans as the father of their nation.

Every year on Mandela’s birthday, individuals and organisations across the world are asked to spend 67 minutes of their time helping people to recognise their own ability to have a positive effect on society. This is to commemorate the 67 years Mandela, the first democratically elected president of South Africa and anti-apartheid activist, dedicated to the fight for human rights.

This year, the Sandals Foundation educated more than 300 children about the life and work of Mandela.

The Sandals Foundation, in partnership with the South African High Commission in Jamaica, carried out its mission with children and children’s homes in Jamaica, Antigua, Saint Lucia, the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.