MOURNING FOR NELSON MANDELA.

Peter Krämer from Hamburg knew Mandela well.

A very personal obituary:

Madiba is dead. Madiba - that's how tenderly and lovingly the South African people called Nelson Mandela. This wonderful man, who received the well-deserved Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, lived for 95 years. This great man was imprisoned for 27 years, eight of which were spent working in a quarry, where he almost went blind due to the heat and intense sunlight. But when Nelson Mandela was finally released from prison on February 11, 1990, already 72 years old at the time, he had the appearance of a man in his late 50s.

Let us remember the words of Queen Elizabeth II, who said when she was allowed to sit next to Madiba for the first time that she felt like a little girl and had weak knees. I also had weak knees when I was informed on 19.11.2004 that Nelson Mandela wanted to meet me 100 minutes after the signing of the “Schools for Africa” cooperation agreement. At my suggestion, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and Unicef International were brought together. The contract was signed by Unicef, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and my Peter Krämer Foundation as equal partners.

This was nine years ago. “Schools for Africa” has been an incredible success: we have given one million children in southern Africa the opportunity to go to elementary school.

THIS MAKES “SCHOOLS FOR AFRICA” THE WORLD'S MOST SUCCESSFUL PRIVATE EDUCATION INITIATIVE.

On November 19, 2004, the time had come. I waited exactly 100 minutes to meet Nelson Mandela. How do you start when you are literally put on the spot? And this from a man who has rightly been honored many times over? I couldn't think of a way to start. Then I was led into Madiba's anteroom. There, Zelda Lagrange, his white nurse, placed Madiba's hand in mine; she held his other hand. This photo beautifully captures what for me was a unique moment.