A personal experience in the presence of a man who transformed a nation and changed the world: Nelson Mandela.

Abstract

At this time in history, I consider myself very privileged to have spent some three hours in the presence of President Nelson Mandela as a Howard University faculty member in the late 1990s. Then, President of Howard University, H. Patrick Swygert bestowed upon President Nelson Mandela, Esquire an Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters. I can only equate this experience to my four mile walk up the Bedaling Wall (Great Wall) in China (a magnificent ancient wonder of the world), and trying to relate this event to something only fortunate souls have had the chance to enjoy. I also treasure the once in a lifetime visit to the Republic of South Africa in 1998 when the Association of Black Nursing Faculty, Inc., Chi Eta Phi Nursing Sorority, Inc., and the Department of Nursing (University of Botswana) sponsored the trip as an attempt to establish partnerships, share common interests and discussion in how to meet health needs of emerging majority and disadvantaged populations in the world, including mainly, the continent of Africa, in the 21st century. This short memoir can only piggy-back the massive coverage in the media that began almost instantly as a long anticipated event (death of Nelson Mandela), but startled upon its occurrence.