The HVF in South Africa
The year 1994 was an epochal year in the history of South Africa. It was the year that signalled the end of apartheid in this stunningly beautiful but hitherto traumatised land.
At his Presidential inauguration, Nelson Mandela addressed the nation thus:
“…The time has come for African, coloured, Indian, white, Afrikaans and English to say that we are one country, we are one people. The time for healing of the wounds has come. The moment to cross the chasms that divide us has come. The time to build is upon us.”
Those heady, unforgettable days are now behind us. How do we turn the dreams into reality? The primary school of which I was headteacher, I. R. Griffith Primary in Gauteng province, has eight hundred children. As the school moved from being exclusively for white children, to one that welcomes all the children of our “rainbow nation”, a challenge awaited the staff and the community. There was a need to find a commonality, a unifying factor.
As a community, we realised that whatever our background, we all wish to be treated the same way. We wish to be treated with kindness, thoughtfulness, respect and friendliness. In our interaction with others, we value concepts such as honesty, perseverance and teamwork. These are core values that can make us – child, parent and teacher – of one mind.
Our school will always be indebted to the Human Values Foundation. Your learning modules on values education were guidelines in many lessons and assemblies. The Human Values Foundation in the UK helped a South African school more than six thousand miles away to find its true humanity. You helped us find the Mandela way of reconciliation, peace and goodwill.
Dr Richard Hayward
South African schools interested in purchasing material might like to contact Richard Hayward on rpdhayward@yahoo.com for details of special South African rates.