Editor,Refer to Kim Harrisberg’s article, “Mourning Madiba from a distance” (The New Times, December 18).For someone who was born in a country dominated by social inequality, I like the way the author is teaching reconciliation and love among the people. She was just a small kid when apartheid was abolished in South Africa but grew up with a heart that sees all people as the same, created in the image of God. Nelson Mandela was a great man who brought light to this continent; he showed us that we can peacefully co-exist in harmony, that we can sidestep all that man-made nonsense that separates us.I felt void in my heart at the time the news of his death reached me – I always wished that he could live for many more years until he sees a democratic Africa but we have refused to emulate him.I know that Africa can be a better, hunger-free place if we followed in the footsteps of Madiba. It was all writings on the wall. Why are we blind to not see that? Why is Africa still killing its own people every day? We have lost a hero.Reading the commentary, I could sense Harrisberg’s deep love for Mandela, how she needs the world to be hospitable to everyone and how she wishes peace to prevail in South Africa and the whole continent.Mutara Intore, Kigali
