On the South African Leg of the “Great Teachers of BRICS” Initiative

To mark Nelson Mandela’s Centenary, on 15 – 20 November 2018 the regional public organization «BRICS. The World of Traditions» (Russia) held a peace-promoting cultural and research expedition «The Great Teachers of BRICS» which embraced several South African cities including Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg.

The expedition is aimed at popularizing the heritage of the «Great»: South African anti-apartheid stalwart Nelson Mandela, Russian writer and thinker Leo Tolstoy, Chinese philosopher Confucius, father of the Indian nation Mahatma Gandhi and father of Brazilian diplomacy Baron de Rio Branco. The project was organized with the support of the relevant government agencies of South Africa and Russia as well as the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation in Durban, the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg and Door to Door foundation in Magabheni Township.

The delegates started their journey in Durban, where they presented the exhibits of the Leo Tolstoy Museum at Yasnaya Polyana to the students of the University of KwaZulu Natal and the Durban University of Technology. The next day Lyudmila Sekachyova and her colleagues took part in the campaign «BRICS Teachers’ Square», having planted five national trees of the BRICS countries on the territory of the Resistance Park in Durban. While in Kwazulu-Natal, the delegates also visited Indian township Phoenix associated with the settlement built by Mahatma Gandhi.

During the visit to Pretoria the delegates payed tribute to the Wall of Names situated in Freedom Park and met with Russian compatriots in the Russian Orthodox Parish of St. Sergius of Radonezh in the nearby Midrand. The final destination of the expedition was the University of Johannesburg, where the delegates presented their project to the students and professors of the University of Johannesburg. Lyudmila Sekachyova hopes that her project has substantially contributed to strengthening cultural ties between the BRICS nations as well as building friendly, respectful and trusting relations between them.