Madiba Day Market

Madibah_Day_3_web In our quest to raise up young people with a servant hearts here at Global Leadership academy we have become increasingly aware of how little interaction there is between ‘those who have more’ and ‘those who have less’. So our desire was to create a space where the two worlds could collide and effect change: Mandela Day Market.

With Mandela’s birthday and the 46664 movement and the recent bad weather conditions leaving many in the community cold and hungry, an opportunity arose where we could provide for the immediate need but also create a safe environment for the school children to get “hands on” and immerse themselves in the world of those less fortunate.

Madibah_Day_6 The market required that the children bring in any old clothes, equipment, bedding as well as any food that they would like to donate. The items brought where then collected and placed in one large pile and sorted into food, clothing, bedding and equipment piles. Food and cake was donated from Pic n Pay as well as Beesland Butchery and let’s not forget pancakes and vetkoek.

A market was set up in front of the school and the students where then required to trade to acquire goods to be‘sold’ at the respective markets that where set up in key points in the community. The currency of the day was Madiba Moola (voucher) and each student was given moola and then required to walk into the community and meet people, speak to them and gain a better understanding of how these community members had experienced the bad weather and what their living circumstances were. In this conversation the students then gave the community members moola, which they would intern, used to trade for anything that was up for offer.

The atmosphere was electric and filled with excitement. We were blown away at the response of the parents and school kids as the piles of clothing just kept getting bigger, the community leapt at the opportunity to meet the students and receive free food and clothing. The day was a huge success and many of the students were moved by the experience, perhaps shocked at the reality of the circumstance, but delighted to be apart of making a small impact.

Author of "the irresistible revolution", Shane Claireborn made a bold statement about poverty: he believes that the problem is not that people do not care about the poor they just do not know about the poor. He believes that "when the rich meet the poor poverty will come to an end and when the poor meet the rich, riches will have no meaning".

Something inside of us shifts when we are faced with the reality of a circumstance because what you see in front of you is not just a statistic on a piece of paper, but rather the face behind that statistic.

So we encourage you to make this a lifestyle and be the change that you long to see in this world, and make everyday a Mandela day.

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Created on 26 July 2012.