Meeting Nelson Mandela's Bodyguard.

Yesterday, 14 pupils from Year 5 were invited to hear Chris Lubbe speak about his experiences working for Nelson Mandela when he was President of South Africa.  It was very inspirational so here are the pupils' views in their own words.

  

"Yesterday, I learnt that in the past black people didn't have the same things as white people so the black people were treated unfairly because of their black skin. In trains, black people had very little space and white people were sitting very comfortably and when a black person was sitting on a white persons' bench, a policeman could very easily arrest you or take you down very brutally. Chris's mum tried to sit down because she was very ill and sick and a bad policeman found out she was sitting on a white persons bench. He didn't help her to get to hospital, he just put her down on the cold floor. Chris started crying very much. When he called another black person to help to go to a phone to call and ambulance but he found a call box after half an hour. This ambulance finally came and took her to the hospital. The hospital man found out she was in a come. How horrible was the white people in the past and how sad. It's not important what colour skin we have. Everyone is important."

"I learn that black people and white people were separated and it was called apartheid.  Chris Lubbe told us he went on many trips around the earth with Nelson Mandela and met people like Michael Jackson and Beyonce etc.  

"I learnt that if you try your best and try to change something that's not supposed to be around then you can achieve it if you try and if you want to do something with your life then do it and don't give up.  My favourite part was when he said about how he went against apartheid and tried to get rid of it and also I liked it because when he met Nelson Mandela they came together to destroy apartheid and that's why I want to do something with my life and to change the world in a good way."

"Yesterday I learnt that apartheid was really bad and when a policeman came near a person near a white person's bench if they were coloured a really bad thing happened.  Chris Lubbe went to prison for standing up to apartheid and he had a very good friend who got shot because he stood up  to apartheid and a lot of other people got shot.  I also learnt that Chris because Nelson Mandela's bodyguard because of how tall he was and how big his shoe size was."