The Nelson Mandela Museum in Mthatha says it is making great strides to entrench Madiba‘s values on global platforms.
The museum has signed a memorandum of agreement with the Winchester University in Britain which saw 11 education and film undergraduate students descending on Mthatha.
They are on a 10 day visit to learn more about the values of Madiba. One way of preserving Madiba’s morals is through students from Winchester University currently living in Qunu – the home of Madiba.
They are obliged to visit all Madiba heritage sites in the area to take a leaf out of the book of the late revered statesman.
“These students will be teachers in the future so they will be able to promote the values of Madiba in the UK when they return. And also these students will be teaching in a school in Qunu next week to learn about similarities and differences we might have,” says Winchester senior lecture, Matthew Lowden.
Teaching students about Mandela is not the only goal this museum has. Officials want it to be more than a place where people view items on show at the gallery.
“We signed a memorandum of agreement where we had agreed we will do collaborative research; we will do exchange programs and study visits. What it means for us as a university, remember. We are talking about the values of Mandela so partnering with a national university from England it means we are getting more audience”, says the Museum CEO, Bonke Thyulu.
The students say the tour is insightful.
“I wanted to know more than I knew so I bought his book and read some of it and that’s been very useful when we came here. We’ve been told a lot about his life so I was able to link what I have learned to what I have been told and I’ve learnt new things about him. I didn’t know he was a policeman in the mine so that is interesting to add to my knowledge. I will be able to take it back and show to my people,” says Evie Mobley-Down, Winchester University Student.
The museum has signed a number of agreements with international universities and wants to create a platform for social discussions.
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