My father was my biggest inspiration. He gave me strength and confidence. He also thought me how to work hard for others without expecting any sort of reward. Growing up as a preacher's kid I saw how my dad worked tirelessly for other people and never complained.

My mother and Mandela are my second inspiration. I see my mother to have the heart of Mandela. My mother never holds a grudge no matter how one may have wronged her. Mandela also thought me about courage and perseverance.

Thought Tanzania under the former president Julius K. Nyerere was one of the countries that provided invaluable support to the South African liberation but they didn't teach much about Mandela and apartheid in schools. So I didn't know much about Mandela when I was little. I started to hear about him around the time he was released from jail and once I saw the movie called Sarafina that was when I started to read more about Mandela and his fight for freedom.

Mandela left us but he left the legacy will leave forever that I think to me is about fulfill human potential. “What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human,” South Africa president Zuma said “We saw in him what we seek in ourselves.” Not everyone can be the first in class, not everyone can be a legend or a champion in sports but if everyone does his/her part no matter how small it is, we will make this world a better place. He was the greatest moral political leader of our time. As the world mourn his passing I pray that everyone honor him by carrying out the good work he started.

Here are some of Mandela quotes:-

Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine as children do. It’s not just in some of us; it is in everyone.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

As we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.

A leader. . .is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.

If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.

There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.

Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. YOU can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.