Standing tall at the heart of Manhattan, the 102-story Art deco skyscraper known as Empire State Building remains an outstanding landmark in the city that never sleeps and a favorite setting for storytellers and moviemakers.

The Empire State Building has appeared in various movies and television shows and is considered a symbol of romance and danger. One of the most memorable movies featuring the building was “Sleepless in Seattle” starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. Released in 1993, it was inspired by the 1957 film of Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in “An affair to Remember”, where the bird lovers agreed to meet atop of the Empire State Building to fix their love affairs. Thanks to the romantic scene showcased on top of the building, the place went on to inspire more romantic movies and different genres. Since then, the Empire State building has been defined as an American pop-culture icon that instilled numerous groundbreaking ideas.

No longer the tallest building but still stands majestically!

Although the Empire State Building is no longer the world’s tallest building, it has perfectly kept its magnificence thanks to its unique design. The building is a 102-story Art deco – short for Arts Décoratifs, modern styles combined with luxurious materials – skyscraper located in Midtown Manhattan, New York. It stood as the tallest building in the world until 1971, when the World trade Center, also the Twin-towers, was built. Following the September 11th attacks, the two buildings collapsed, and the Empire State Building found again its status as the city’s tallest skyscraper until 2012. As of 2020, the building ranks seventh in the list of the tallest buildings in New York City. It holds the position of the ninth tallest completed skyscraper in the United States, the 49th tallest in the world, and the sixth tallest freestanding structure in the Americas.

Empire State’s symbol.

Classified among the Seven Wonders of the modern world, the 102-story Empire State Building was the product of a fierce competition between Walter Chrysler, of the Chrysler Corporation and John Jacob Raskob, of General Motors. They competed against each other to build the tallest skyscraper in the world. The Chrysler Building was completed first in 1930 and claimed the title until the Empire State Building was completed and seized it in 1931. The Chrysler Building stood 1,046 feet high, whereas the height of the Empire State Building was 1,250 feet. The construction of the Empire State building began on March 17, 1930 and officially opened on May 1, 1931. The entire building only took one year and forty-five days to complete. Its design was changed fifteen times before it was entitled the world’s tallest building.

Regarding the name of the building, it derived from the nickname of the U.S. state of New York “Empire State”. In addition to being an American cultural icon, it is also an enduring symbol of New York. In 1980, the building was designated a “city landmark” by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and added to the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark in 1986.

The Empire State Building’s Art Deco architecture is what especially made the towering a popular tourist attraction. Between 10,000 and 20,000 people visit it each day.

Sources: The New York State Education Department / Britannica

Between March 2020 and March 2021, the number of people shifting occupations has significantly increased. More people are now seen to turn to either freelance or self-employed work due to uncertainties in the labor market.

Starting one’s business has become a new trend and many aspire today to be an entrepreneur. Nevertheless, gearing towards an entrepreneurial career is always challenging. Beforehand, as a new entrepreneur, you must be willing to acquire new business skills. You also need to dig out the secret of entrepreneurial success and greatness. Most entrepreneurs agree on one thing: a common desire for knowledge that compels them to keep learning and to read a lot.

Reading is a secret weapon for all successful entrepreneurs. Not only does it help in building a lifelong educational self-improvement, but it is also the best way to learn about all relevant topics for running a business. One apparent example that illustrates that idea is the habit of the world’s wealthiest people, who are mostly self-made people and successful entrepreneurs. Reading is among their daily routines. Data show that 88 percent of entrepreneurs read for at least 30 minutes a day – compared to just two percent of the general population.

One of those self-made billionaires is Oprah Winfrey, the American woman who built fortune through her own daily talk show. So, to become the next Oprah Winfrey or other inspiring entrepreneur, it is highly recommended to include reading in your daily habits. To help you, here are five books that may serve you as guides towards your entrepreneurial journey.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. This is a classic book about leadership and success. This book helps entrepreneurs have the right mindset and act in an effective way in order to succeed both at the personal and company levels.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. It is primarily a self-help book that focuses on how to handle people and make them like you. It is also a business classic people need to read since it teaches how to be a better entrepreneur.

The Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy. It shares ideas, methods, and techniques for entrepreneurs to sell faster and easier than before. This is a must-read book for every entrepreneur who wants to grasp the key to a flourishing business.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. The book teaches about financial education, personal investment, and business building. Another great read for every entrepreneur and even non-entrepreneurs!

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Think and grow rich is an all-in-one book. It gives you invaluable tips in goal setting and achievement, entrepreneurial thinking, effective leadership and financial freedom.

It is important to note that reading book is a necessary, but not the only condition for a thriving business and being a highly effective entrepreneur. Successful business owners constantly keep developing new habits.

Sources: Lifehack / Entrepreneur

Some foreigners often get confused about Madagascar until they meet Malagasy people in person. Most of them have always believed that Madagascar was an island that only houses lemurs and fossas. A perception long shaped by … a cartoon!

Madagascar as a DreamWorks Animation.

In 2005, the world’s famous American animation studio known as DreamWorks produced an animated comedy film called “Madagascar”. Despite some critics around the plot of the animated movie and against all expectations, the film has come up trumps. It even became the sixth highest-grossing film of 2005. Who does not know this film with its cheerful original soundtrack “I Like to Move It”?

The plot summary relates the adventurous journey of four animal friends from New York, USA. The film opens with Marty, the zebra, who celebrates his tenth birthday and wishes to experience the wild. Marty and his friends – Alex, the lion, Gloria the hippo, and Melman the giraffe – spent all their years in New York’s Central Park Zoo. One day, on his anniversary, Marty grew bored with his daily routine and wanted to break it by following the zoo’s penguins who already planned to escape. The adventure of the four friends then started when they found themselves in Madagascar – where they met king Julien, the famous lemur– after they were shipped off to a Kenyan wildlife preserve and the penguins hijacked the ship.

After a big hit, the film launched a franchise and came up with “Madagascar Escape 2 Africa” released in 2008 – a sequel to the 2005 film, “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” (2012); and “Penguins of Madagascar” (2014).

Madagascar in real life.

Although the animated movie seems a bit far-fetched, it shows somewhat aspects of Madagascar. Some animals only Madagascar is home to are featured in the movie and play a key role in the plot. One of them is king Julien, the legendary lemur. When talking of Madagascar’s wildlife, what comes first in mind is “lemurs” because this species is native only to and endemic to the island. In the film, Madagascar is depicted as an island governed by lemurs and blessed with a rich biodiversity.

Here are five important facts about Madagascar that sometimes go unnoticed:

• Madagascar is the fourth largest island on the planet, of about 587,041 square miles, after Greenland, New Guinea, and Borneo. Madagascar is among the largest island countries in the world – with more than 28 million inhabitants in 2021 (based on Worldometers data).
• Madagascar is a sovereign state in the Ocean Indian officially proclaimed Democratic Republic of Madagascar in 1975. The island is currently named Republic of Madagascar.
• Madagascar has natural and cultural riches that make it a unique destination.
• It has a large population and is a melting pot of different cultures.
• The island is one of the world’s richest biodiversity hotspots with high rate of endemism. It is home to five percent of the world’s species. About 95 percent of Madagascar’ reptiles, 89 percent of its flora and 92 percent of its mammals exist nowhere else on Earth (WWF).

Madagascar is far from being a jungle. Madagascar is more than a cartoon. The little information most foreigners know about the country comes from an animation movie. And that can be misleading!

Sources: Los Angeles Times/JumpStart Games/ The Telegraph/ Britannica/ ONTM.

Every four years, the most talented athletes from around the globe compete in the major international multi-sport event, commonly known as “the Olympic Games”. However, basically, the event happens every two years: the Summer Olympics every leap year and the Winter Olympics two years after each leap year. The famous competition took its root in the ancient Greece where it was staged every four year at Olympia, Greece.

Throwback to the ancient Olympic Games.

The history of the Olympic Games goes back to the ancient Greece 3,000 years ago. Their inception was first inspired by the ancient Olympic Games – a series of athletic competitions among representatives of Greek city-states to honor Zeus. Historically, the year 776 B.C. was told to be the year when the first games were organized. At that time, “Olympiad” – a period of four years – was the unit of time used in historical chronologies.

The real origin of the Olympics remains blurring and unknown. Yet, the date of 776 B.C., is often used as a reference and cited in written sources. Since the purpose of the games was traditionally to honor Greek God, historians linked them up to mythology. The myths of the origin of the Olympic Games identify Heracles, later Hercules, and his father Zeus as the progenitors of the games. According to legend, Heracles was the one who entitled the games “Olympic”, and who established the custom of scheduling them every four years. The myth maintains that after Heracles completed his twelve labors – a series of episodes concerning a penance Heracles carried out – he built the Olympic Stadium as a tribute to his father, Zeus.

Highlights on the modern Olympics.

Some time after reaching a milestone, the Olympics declined due to the outbreaks of wars and then was abolished in the early Christian era. It took about 1,500 years to see the Olympic Games emerge again. The event resumed in the late nineteenth century, thanks to a French nobleman and educator named Pierre de Coubertin. Pierre de Coubertin believed that he could revive the games with the idea of establishing an educational program in France based on the ancient Greek notion of a balanced development of mind and body. As he advocated for the revival of the Olympic Games, Coubertin attempted to convince sports delegates and representatives about his project. After being rejected several times, he finally found support from nine countries – Belgium, England, France, Greece, Italy, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and the United States.

The revival of the Olympic Games, then, took place in 1896. The modern Olympics were born. To honor the Greek games, the first modern Olympics were organized in Greece where thirteen countries competed. On these first events, nine sports were on the agenda: cycling, fencing, gymnastics, lawn tennis, shooting, swimming, track and field, weight lifting, and wrestling. The evolution of the Olympic Movement – governed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) founded by Pierre de Coubertin – resulted in several changes in the games later in the 20th century. The Winter Olympics were added first, meant for ice sports. Then followed the Paralympic Games for athletes with disabilities, the Youth Olympic Games and finally the World Games – sports not contested in the Olympic Games. Nevertheless, the Summer Games remain the focal point of the modern Olympics and offer a wider scope of events.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 Summer Olympics have been postponed and are currently happening until August 8 in Tokyo, Japan.

Sources: Bureau of Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 Preparation / Scholastic / Penn Museum.

After graduating from high school, students are compelled to choose on whether continuing their studies or not, which sometimes make them face different challenges. Deciding which university to apply for and what kind of program to follow is a quite different matter. Those who intend to pursue their studies, however, must get prepared to deal with other constraints regarding their academic choice including the costs of university tuition fees. Luckily, in the U.S., most colleges and universities offer both resident and international students scholarships.

If you are a student desirous to study in the U.S. but do not have the necessary means to cover the costs of your studies, take a look at this list of scholarships available in the U.S. that may help you get funding.

Academic scholarships.

An academic scholarship is generally awarded to students who demonstrate a high level of scholastic aptitude and performance. It is a merit-based scholarship that recognizes the academic achievement of the student. Most U.S. universities offer merit scholarships that cover the full cost of a four-year academic program. For example, Indiana University – Bloomington awards a study grant through the merit-based Wells Scholarship, the Ohio State University – Columbus through the Eminence Fellows program, and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation through its National Merit Scholarship Program.

Athletic scholarships.

Athletic scholarships are very common in the United States. They are mainly awarded to an individual proving an outstanding ability and performance in sports. This can be also an amount of financial aid awarded to a student-athlete from the college athletic department. This is the case for NCAA Division I and II Universities – The National Collegiate Athletic Association – offering athletic scholarships and guaranteeing student-athlete’s success both on the field and in the classroom.

Community service scholarships.

A community service scholarship is a volunteering-based subvention for college students showing strong commitment to their community through volunteering for instance. We can quote the Equitable Excellence Scholarship, which can award up to $25,000 to U.S. citizens who engage in positively impacting their community. It is similar to the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, which provide grants for both in-state and international students.

Scholarships for hobbies and extracurricular activities.

Passion, talent and special interests can help a student get their studies fully funded. This is the case for hobby and extracurricular-based scholarships which allow students to leverage their extracurricular activities and translate them to financial awards. The Stuck at Prom Scholarship Contest gives away $20,000 in cash grants to students who make the best prom attire out of Duck Brand Duct Tape – a duct tape outfit. Another example is the Archibald Rutledge Scholarship Program offered by the South Carolina Department of Education, which rewards skills in creative writing, dance, theater and visual art.

Military scholarships.

The U.S. has a variety of military scholarships available for military staffs, their spouses, and veterans. Most military scholarships and grants are often reserved to students who pursue subjects of obvious application within the military field such as medicine and military strategy. Moreover, all the branches of the U.S. military – the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Coast Guard – can offer them partial or full scholarships through what is called Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program.

Sources: U.S. News & World Report / Top Universities

A dream come true! These are the words that best sum up the story of Madam C.J Walker – the first African American woman to be a self-made millionaire.

Born Sarah Breedlove on December, 23, 1867 on a plantation in Delta, Louisiana Madam C.J. Walker was the daughter of Owen and Minerva Anderson Breedlove – both formerly enslaved. Due to hardships and in order to be a homeowner, she had to get married at the age of 14 with a man named Moses Mc Williams. In 1885, they had a daughter called Lelia, later known as A’Lelia Walker, who became the central figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Two years later, her husband died leaving her to raise up her only daughter on her own.

A dream that was born from scalp problem.

When Sarah moved to St. Louis to join her brothers and worked as a laundress, she started to lose most of her hair due to a scalp ailment, which is mainly triggered by poor hygiene and diet. She also noticed that many poor black women suffered from the scalp disease, leading her to find solution to cure it. She experimented with different ingredients until she was eventually able to design a secret formula that helps stimulating hair growth.

Up to that time, Sarah got her life more and more improved when she began to sell her products door-to-door in her neighborhoods in St. Louis. In 1905, she moved to Denver where she met Charles J. Walker and to whom she got engaged. Starting from then, she changed her name by taking her husband’s and finally became the well-known Madam C.J. Walker. After her name changed, she founded her business and traveled for a year to promote her products by selling Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower, a scalp conditioning and healing formula that she maintained she always dreamed of.

The birth and growth of Madam C.J. Walker’s empire.

In 1910, Madam C.J Walker set up a laboratory and beauty school in Indianapolis, the known nation’s largest inland manufacturing center, and she settled there. In addition to the factory and beauty salon, she also founded a training school. Her career knew a significant milestone as her business continued to grow and her annual sales increased, and she was repeatedly referred to as a millionaire over the last few years of her life. Apart from being a businesswoman, Madam C.J Walker was also highly involved in social and political activism. She advocated for the advancement of black Americans and for an end to lynching. When in Harlem, she took special interest in the anti-lynching movement of NAACP or National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She contributed $5,000 to the association.

She worked hard throughout her life, but too hard to the point that she developed some health issues. She got increasingly sick and then died in 1919 in New York. Madam C.J. Walker’s life journey and experience proved that it is possible to reach success and fulfill one’s dreams through hard work, perseverance, and faith.

“I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there I was promoted to the washtub. From there I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations… I have built my own factory on my own ground.”  Madam C.J. Walker, July 1912.

Sources: Madam C.J. Walker website / National Women’s History Museum.

Cartoons play essential part in children’s growth, whether it is in terms of emotion, relationship and education. They are undoubtedly the most popular entertainment meant for kids. The rise of the industry of animated films over a century pushes more and more children to watch cartoons and learn more from them.

As children grow up, they start making new discoveries and want to know everything. They are definitely shaped by what they are used to seeing and hearing around them. Childhood is a critical stage that helps construct the personhood of any younger children. As a parent, making your kid’s childhood successful is not always an easy work and some parents struggle in many aspects. This is why they need to bring out new approaches using various teaching methods and valuable life lessons for their kids, like cartoons.

It is undoubtedly true that using cartoons as a part of educating kids has both its positive and negative sides. Yet, they remain useful. So, cartoons are seen as one of the best and appropriate learning methods for young children. Not only do they contribute to their full personal development but also allow them to be socially integrated, since these animated movies teach them how to deal with people and certain situations. Here are how cartoons can be beneficial for kids and help them increase their social and learning skills:

• By watching cartoons, kids develop cognitive skills which allow them to boost their logic and problem-solving ability, their visual and auditory processing, and their attention.

• Watching cartoons makes kids bilingual or multilingual. Cartoons can expose kid learners to a wide variety of languages, thus likely raising their linguistic ability.

• With cartoon shows, children are more likely to release their creative mind and build an imaginative power. Thus, they become more and more inspired to create new things based on the cartoon they watch.

• Cartoons are helpful for providing opportunity for self-expression and developing positive attitude among kid learners.

• Through cartoon shows, kids learn lessons and morals which are very important things. Every good cartoon holds a special purpose with moral subjects behind it that give the kid new knowledge and encourage them to keep learning.

By keeping in mind the last point, it is important to note that cartoons are not only made for children, but for everyone. Cartoons convey life lessons that everyone need to grasp. Animated movies based on fairy tales produced by Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks, for instance, teach us about love, courage, patience and success. Anyway, parents must remain cautious as more and more cartoons are now designed for older audience.

Sources: Kern Pioneer/ “Cartoons in language teaching and learning”, Ms. Sajna. C, International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, Volume 119, No. 12, 2018.

“The perfect game, the sandlot, 42: the Jackie Robinson Story …” When it comes to American sport movies, baseball turns out to be the most spotlighted. Played with bat and ball between two opposing teams who take turns batting and fielding, baseball has long been America’s favorite pastime. It holds an important place in American society and instills national pride.

The history timeline of baseball in the U.S.

Baseball is an American family tradition. Often referred to as America’s national pastime, the game has been passed down from generation to generation. It dates back from the Civil War but staged a turnaround and got popularized during the Civil Rights Era taking place mainly during the 50s and the 60s. The story of baseball in America begins by 1839 with a Civil War hero named Abner Doubleday who is accredited with inventing the game in Cooperstown, New York. This is the part of the story that relates the first professional baseball games. However, the amateur version of the game is told to take root in England by the mid-18th century.

In 1845, a man named Alexander Joy Cartwright developed the rules of baseball and the first official game of baseball was played between the New York Knickerbockers – one of the first organized baseball teams of that time – and a group of cricket players. In 1876, the National League was established, with William Hulbert as president shortly after the American Baseball Association, also known as the Beer and Whiskey League, was created.

In 1884, the first African-American player named Moses Fleetwood Walker joined the major leagues despite the growth of Jim Crow laws and the exclusion of black players from professional leagues. Several decades have run when Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson made American history when he broke the “color barrier”  in 1947 and baseball finally led the way on integration. Before then, between World Wars I and II, the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted its first five players. In 1943, more than 500 major league players served in World War II including 37 Hall of Famers. This is also the date when the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League emerged. It was established in part to compensate for the loss of many of the best major leaguers to the war effort.

In 2000 for the first time, the major league baseball season opened in Tokyo, Japan, opposing Chicago Cubs and New York Mets. In 2002, Tsuyoshi Shinjo, an outfielder for the San Francisco Giants, became the first Japanese player to take part in a World Series game – the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) inaugurated in 1903 and first broadcast on TV in 1947.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

The Hall of Fame or the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was established in 1939 by a Cooperstown philanthropist and businessman named Stephen Carlton Clark. He sought a way to celebrate and preserve the “national pastime”  by asking support to found the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. His idea was welcomed and three years later the Hall of Fame building officially opened. The museum’s collection contains more than 40,000 artifacts, 250,000 baseball photographs and images, and three million library items.

Today, the museum records approximately 260,000 visitors each year, making it the top sport Hall of Fame in North America.

Sources: National Baseball Hall of Fame / Baseball and The Tenth Inning

Thanks to its various origins, ranging from Southeast Asia to East Africa, Madagascar has become the melting pot of many diverse cultures. Today, each region has its own customs and traditions making the cultural diversity of Madagascar. The Famadihana – or exhumation – is, for example, commonly practiced by the people dwelling in the highlands of Madagascar.

Practicing Famadihana as a tribute to ancestors.

Every seven or nine years, traditional Malagasy family members reunite to celebrate the famadihana which literally means “the turning of the ancestors’ bodies”. Like any typical family reunion, it is an occasion for relatives to meet again and spend time with their loved ones, both alive and deceased. The famadihana has long played an inextricably link between the world of the living and the dead. For Malagasy people, practicing exhumation is a way to show respect to their ancestors and to honor them.

Historically, the Malagasy burial custom famadihana emerged in the 1820s from the repatriation of soldiers’ remains and from ceremonies of tomb-to-tomb transfer as kin started to build new sepulchers made of stone (Pier M. Larson, 2001). The famadihana is commonly found among the Merina Malagasy whose entire way of life (and death) is based on kinship.

In the ancient times, the day after someone’s death, the dead body was buried temporarily, usually in a single grave. After at least two years, the corpse is exhumed and given another burial in which it is entombed in the family burial place (Susan Mc George, 1974). This second burial has been made one of the biggest ceremonies in the highlands of Madagascar after wedding. The second burial was celebrated with a huge family gathering around a big feast.

How the ceremony is organized and celebrated.

A few months before the D-day, relatives, whose deceased ancestors share the same tomb start discussing about the plans and the dates of the ceremony, which often fall between July and September. Just like a wedding ceremony, practicing a second burial takes time to prepare, consumes energy and costs a lot of money.

During the ceremony, neighbors and locals are invited to join the family – or the “tompon-draharaha” – and share with them what is called “vary be menaka” (sometimes spelt varibemenaka), a meal that is composed of rice and pork or beef. After that, the family proceeds to the “Famonosana”, or “the wrapping ritual” along which music and dance. Once the bodies are removed and neatly wrapped with new shrouds, festivities keep going and the attendees dance while holding the newly wrapped dead bodies of their ancestors or family members.

Over the last few decades, more people in the highlands have gone reluctant about practicing famadihana for many reasons including religion and financial issues.

Sources: “Austronesian Mortuary Ritual in History: Transformations of Secondary Burial (Famadihana) in Highland Madagascar”, Pier M. Larson, Ethnohistory (2001) / “Imerina Famadihana as a secondary burial”, Susan Mc George, 1974 / The culture trip.

There is an African proverb that says: “I am a person through other people. My humanity is tied to yours”. This proverb gives a clear idea of the Zulu concept called Ubuntu. Nelson Mandela, the inspiring symbol of freedom, tolerance, and humanity, features the perfect embodiment of the spirit of Ubuntu.

Mandela and the concept of Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is a South African term that took its origin in the Nguni language – a group of Bantu languages spoken in Southern Africa. Ubuntu literally means “humanity”. It is sometimes translated as “I am because we are” or “humanity towards other”, or “Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu” in Zulu. It may then take different names in different countries and languages and cover various aspects, but the concept remains the same. Ubuntu is simply a way of life. It underpins the concept of an open society that is bound in each other. This means that human beings are all connected and that one can only grow and progress through others’ growth and progression.

Throughout his life, Mandela had always tried to share the spirit of Ubuntu until he became himself the personification of Ubuntu. He understood the ties that bind human spirits, leading him to devote his entire life to serve humanity. In his endless pursuit of freedom and justice, Mandela was constantly up to apply this “I am because we are” concept. By adopting the spirit of Ubuntu, which highlights respect, helpfulness, sharing, community, caring, trust and unselfishness, Mandela could lead South Africa to a peaceful post-apartheid transition. It has also made him a great source of inspiration of many people not only across Africa but from all other the world.

As a human rights lawyer and peacemaker, Nelson Mandela figured out that humanity is all about oneness and that the success of humanity lies only on treating others the way we treat ourselves. He once said:

“A traveler through a country would stop at a village and he did not have not to ask for food and water. Once he stops, the people give him food and attend him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu, but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should address themselves. The question, therefore, is, are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve? These are the important things in life, and if one can do that, you have done something very important which will be appreciated.”

Nelson Mandela International Day.

Mandela Day is celebrated on 18 July every year. In November 2009, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) declared this date as “Nelson Mandela International Day”, in recognition of Nelson Mandela’s contribution to the culture of peace and freedom. In addition to honoring his legacy, it is also a day dedicated to reminding about everyone’s ability and responsibility to change the world for the better. The perfect time to take action and inspire change!

Sources: United Nations / Global Citizen / Mandela Day