The eyes of the world are focused on South Africa with the 2010 FIFA World Cup (which started last Friday www.fifa.com). My heart is cheering for South Africa, but not as much for their soccer team as for their country. I feel like I'm holding my breath, praying that everything will work well. It's not only the games that need to run smoothly for this event to be considered successful. And when July 11th comes around to celebrate the champions and close the World Cup, it will be yet another check on South Africa's list of things accomplished to move one step further from apartheid and one step closer to becoming a unified nation.
South Africa is definitely in the world's spotlight, way beyond the soccer field. There is an article in this month's National Geographic (see ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/06/south-africa/fuller-text) entitled Mandela's Children. There is so much to be said about restitution and reconciliation, and I think that the world has a lot to learn from South Africa (see more on restitution and reconciliation in tomorrow's blog). My favorite part of the National Geographic article comes from Dr. Marjorie Jobson who said, "It's up to each individual South African to participate actively in restitution. You know, the power of one. The power one person has to perpetuate our violent past, or the power one person has to contribute to a just, peaceful society." I think that applies to every individual in each country of the world, not just South Africa.
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