Report/Photos of Nelson Mandela International Day With Prof. David McQuoid-Mason

Report/Photos of the

GAJE and Roya Institute for Global Justice virtual celebration

Nelson Mandela International Day

on 17th July 2021.

Part 1 “Nelson Mandela: The International Human Rights Icon and the Man behind the Icon – Some Personal Reminiscences.”

Speaker: Prof. David McQuoid-Mason

Participants: About 70 people from 23 countries on the different continents around the world

Afghanistan ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ซIndonesia ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉRussia ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ
Australia ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บIran ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ทSouth Africa ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ
Bangladesh ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฉKyrgyz ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฌSpain ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ
Canada ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆMoldova ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ปThailand ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ญ
Czech Republic ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟMontenegro ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ชTurkey ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท
Georgia ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ชNetherlands ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑUK ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง
Germany ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ชNigeria ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฌUSA ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ
India ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณPoland ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ23 Country  ๐ŸŒŽ

Moderator: Prof. Jeff Giddings

The Session started with a song played by Johnny Clegg (With Nelson Mandela) – Asimbonanga  (1999)

Thereafter, Prof. David McQuoid-Mason shared a brief background of Nelson Mandela and how he received his name โ€˜Nelsonโ€™ at his school, how as an individual he was, when Nelson Mandela realised that pacifist resistance wonโ€™t change the government. In 1961, he was arrested for treason during the state of emergency and he defended himself in the Court of Law. Prof. shared Nelson Mandelaโ€™s struggle against apartheid during his lifetime. He also shared his journey with soulful, kind hearted and full of joy personality Mandela to bring a positive change in the society.

Subsequently, few participations asked questions from Prof. McQuoid about his experience as a teacher and about his in flora and fauna where Prof. also shared his story on how he was inspired by portraits and decided to write books for children as well as parents.

Part 2: Celebration of Appreciation for David’s Justice-based Efforts and His Impact on Clinical Global Movement

Moderator: Prof. Ernest Ojukwu 

The second part of the session started with a song played by: Drakensberg Boys Choir – Shosholoza (2008) (original version)

This video has a brief clip of Nelson Mandela in it. Apparently, he has said he used to sing this song to help him with the hard labor of Robben Island.

– Prof. Catherine Klein

Prof. Catherine Klein thanked Prof. David for being an extraordinary teacher, agent of change, one of the visionary organizer of GAJE and a friend. She also shared few pictures with memories and the journey of Prof. David with GAJE.

Prof. Maxim Tomoszek

Prof. Maxim shared what Prof. David means to his teaching career and highlighted two extra ordinary experiences which shaped his teaching career.

One of them was a discussion about stimulations and few faculties were having difficulty in implementing it in their courses. To this David shared his experience with those faculties how he organized a moot court at a football stadium with the objective to make them understand that wonderful teaching can be done at any setting.


– Prof. Leni Widi Mulyani

Prof. Leni shared her experience her first encounter with GAJE and David, first CLE session, first clinic and that GAJE has made a great impact in her teaching life.

Closing Remarks: Prof. Leah Wortham 

Prof. shared five quotes from Nelson Mandela:

  • Education is the most powerful weapon that you can use to change the world
  • There is no passion to be found playing small in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.
  • A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.
  • There can be no greater gift than that of giving oneโ€™s time and energy to helping others without expecting anything in return.
  • What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived, it is what difference we have made to the lives of others.

At the end of the session, Prof. Filip Czernicki (Co-President of the Global Alliance of Justice Education (GAJE) and President of the Polish Legal Clinics Foundation) and Prof. Seyed Masood Noori (Founder and Executive Director of the Roya Institute for Global Justice), thanked Prof. David McQuoid-Mason, the moderators, technical team, and all participants around the world for joining the event.

Mahak Rathee

Global Representative (India)

Roya Institute of Global Justice