Temple Students Celebrate Mandela Day In South Africa
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Today is Nelson Mandela's birthday and in South Africa, that's a special day of service.
One group of Temple University journalism students got to participate, as part of a foreign reporting project.
Temple journalism professor Karen Turner has been leading seven students around Johannesburg and Cape Town for the past four weeks, as they explore topics such as the role of women in post-Apartheid South Africa, and the income inequality that persists 20 years after the end of white rule.
"Our program actually has the students doing reporting, so it's more than just let's go in, let's see all the touristy things," she says.
A highlight, she says, was meeting Archbishop Desmond Tutu, just before his recent hospitalization, and travelling to the Mustadafin Center in the colored township of Mitchell Plains for Mandela Day:
"It was a youth center, they were putting together a sports day so we're there cheering them on, getting to know the students."
Turner says in addition to the remarkable experience, the students come back with stories for their portfolios.