Comprehension: Mandela's Homeland: a Microcosm of South Africa

It's the place that Nelson Mandela called home. The village of Qunu, where the South African leader grew up, was also the place he retired to after leaving politics.

Watch the video and answer the questions below.  Decide if the statements are True or False.

1.Nelson Mandela used to return to the village of Qunu every December.
a. True
b. False

2. Nelson Mandela believed that young people should learn skills.
a. True
b. False

3. In the rural parts of South Africa two thirds of people earn under two dollars a day.
a. True
b. False

For transcript and answers see below.

Transcript and Answers:

"I was born free, free to run in the fields near my mother's hut, free to swim in the clear stream which ran through my village."

Nelson Mandela was born free here, amid the green hills of the Transkei, in 1918.
And though he came to realise that his freedom, as a black man under apartheid, was just an illusion, his love for his home region never left him.
One of the first things he did after getting out of prison in 1990 was build a home in Qunu, the village where he grew up.
Locals like Nozolile remember seeing him around the village.

"He is a loving person. He doesn't care if you have dirty hands coming from the fields. He will still greet you."

It was Mandela's custom, for years, to return to Qunu in South Africa’s Eastern Cape every December.
After missing the company of children during his long years in prison, he liked the chance to play Father Christmas.

"I know Tata Mandela is a person who loves children. Every Christmas, he would call us and give us toys, things for school, uniforms, shirts, books..."

After his health deteriorated, he gradually withdrew from public life.
When he was still in power, he used to warn them that they wouldn't be getting any special treatment just because one of their own had become president.

"He said to us, 'Yes, I am back, my brothers, but whatever I do cannot start here in this village, now that I'm president.  I want the whole country to know that a person is just a human being. People must be educated so that they could become president too.' "

Despite its famous resident, Qunu has remained a traditional village.
The only sign of something special is the village museum, which runs social and artistic projects for local people.

"One of his greatest passions is the development of the youth through their being given education or skills, rather than being given grants and stuff, but given skills, so that they can earn their own living."

In rural South Africa, two in three black people live on less than two dollars a day and Qunu's no exception.

It's not just the home of the country's greatest hero, it’s a living symbol of the challenges still left to overcome.

Answers:

1. a
2. a
3. a

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