Our group worked closely with a local humanitarian organisation to make large bags of toys for each of the children attending the Nelson Mandela Children's Day in September 2003. The bags contained a total of 27,670 toys and 11,000 art supplies. We also supplied 850 new airline blankets for the children.
This is an occasion when many of the brightest and most promising young children in the country come together to be in the presence of President Mandela.
Air shipments from six different countries arrived in South Africa just four days before the Nelson Mandela Children's Day programme on September 26th and 27th 2003. They included nearly 40,000 toys and art supplies which President Mandela then gave as gifts to the children. It often takes weeks to get tax-exempt items cleared by South African Customs. To the surprise of all involved, everything was cleared within 36 hours—barely in time for the gifts to be transferred to a large truck just minutes before its departure for the event in Bloemfontein.
About Sri Chinmoy - The Founder of the Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles
Sri Chinmoy Centres International
