July was a strenuous month for all South Africans. Their national hero, Nelson Mandela, lay in a hospital bed in Pretoria, the nation's capital, fighting for his life as doctors tried to treat him for a recurring lung infection. As the country's people sent an endless stream of good wishes and prayers to the inspiring statesman, their thoughts turned to July 18 – Mandela's 95th birthday.

On this day in 2008, while celebrating his 90th birthday in London's Hyde Park, Mandela commented, "It is time for new hands to lift the burdens. It is in your hands now."

He was calling for people across the world to celebrate his birthday by acting on the idea that each person has the power to change the world.

In November 2009, the United Nations subsequently declared July 18 to be Nelson Mandela International Day in recognition of Mandela's "values and his dedication to the service of humanity" and to acknowledge his contribution "to the struggle for democracy internationally and the promotion of a culture of peace throughout the world."

Nelson Mandela, a lawyer, anti-apartheid activist, banned person, 1956 treason trialist, Robben Island prisoner, Nobel laureate and the first elected president of a democratic South Africa, spent 67 years trying to make the world a better place, and so people are encouraged to spend at least 67 minutes of their time on Mandela Day doing community service.

This year, because of Mandela's hospitalization, local and global interest in Nelson Mandela International Day was higher than at any time in the past. Ordinary people across the world, along with celebrities and government leaders, found simple ways to honor Mandela's ideals, donating unread books to a local library, picking up litter or going to an old age home to spend time with the elderly. Others helped build schools, cooked for orphans or shopped and ran errands for housebound invalids. The ways in which people can serve their communities are only limited by a person's imagination.

Mandela Day has now gone beyond celebrating Nelson Mandela's life, and has morphed into a global call to action that is meant to help everyone understand that they can have a positive effect on the people around them.

Mandela once said: "What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead." The best way to honor this man and his legacy is to take action, inspire change, and make every day a Mandela Day!

THE EDITOR