• Readers: four pupils, prepared to read from within the body of the gathering.
• Music: any African music would be appropriate, e.g. Zebra Crossing by The Soweto String Quartet (RCA Victor).
• Pictures on OHT. These can be found on websites in the name of Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela, both easily accessible via www.teoma.com or www.google.com or www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/ and www.anc.org.za/people/mandela.html

Those were the words of Nelson Mandela at his acceptance speech when he became the first black South African to become President of the state. In it, he was setting the scene for putting an end to the decades of racial hatred that had been the lot of South Africa.

From 1948-1994, South Africa was legally a racially divided state under a system known as 'apartheid'. The word means 'separate development' and the theory was that if the races of South Africa were kept apart, they could preserve and develop, undiluted, their own traditions and customs. In reality it meant that the white race dominated the black people of the country.

And deprived them of almost all basic human rights.

In 1984 Desmond Tutu became the first black South African to become Archbishop of Cape Town. Whilst most other black leaders were in prison, Archbishop Tutu was to become the outspoken critic of apartheid both within and outside South Africa. Passionate about justice, he rooted his work in prayer and meditation and this was worked out in every aspect of his life. He led acts of civil disobedience against the state's unjust laws. When asked why he broke the law, he replied...

When Mandela was elected as President, he set up the Trust and Reconciliation Commission and put his friend Desmond Tutu in charge of it. Its aim was to encourage both victims and perpetrators of apartheid to come forward and tell their stories. The hope was that this would bring the evil into the open, so that it might be forgiven and dispersed, and the ground prepared for the creation of a society where all could begin to live at peace with one another and respect each other. Many victims of apartheid came forward and told their stories. The families of those who had been killed told of their grief and anger. A few of those who had been the perpetrators of the injustice and violence admitted what they had done.

Some were reconciled and forgiven. Others were not reconciled.

BUT... if no beginning is made, no progress is made.

Truth and reconciliation also apply to us in this country. We need to work at building a rainbow nation, where all feel at peace with each other. Where we have faced up to our prejudices about each other, admitted them and then put them away from us. A nation where we allow each other the freedom to grow and develop and allow each to make their contribution.

A society which will include and value equally:

• Men
• Women
• Asylum seekers
• Those from different racial backgrounds
• (Those of a different sexual orientation)
• (add others of particular relevance to your area or situation).