Luvuyo Mandela, great-grandson of Nobel Peace prizewinner and former South African president Nelson Mandela, recently spoke to the students in grades 4-8 at the Hill School. Mr. Mandela's presentation explained the history of racial segregation in apartheid-era South Africa, comparing it to Jim Crow laws in the United States. He also described his great-grandfather's long imprisonment and political activism.

Showing a slide of his great-grandfather laughing with a group of children, Mr. Mandela reflected on his great-grandfather's love of his family. He asked Hill students, "Who is the most important person in this room?" Mr. Mandela went on to emphasize that children are the most important as they are the creators of the future.

Introducing Mr. Mandela was Jeannie Van Metre (Hill '93), local associate of Porcha Dodson of Los Angeles, CA (also Hill '93), whose non-profit organization, Project Knapsack, matches students in the U.S. with African peers for aid and cultural exchange.

This year, Hill sixth graders will write letters to South African pen pals at Molalatladi Primary School in Soweto. Molalatladi students will receive not only letters from their American counter-parts but also backpacks full of school supplies.

Hill School faculty are work across disciplines to support Project Knapsack and to enrich the letter-writing experience. Sixth grade homeroom teachers Lucy Turner and Susan McCaskey oversee this program in which students have learned about the late South African musician and activist Miriam Makeba, researched and illustrated a South African butterfly, found their pen pals' location on a series of increasingly detailed maps, and researched the history of apartheid and the life of Nelson Mandela in Hill's library.

Additionally, history teacher Mike Wipfler assigned the students to write a letter to former South African president F. W. de Klerk as if in the year 1991, taking issue with specific provisions of apartheid laws and advocating their repeal.

"The pen pal project fits in very well with what we do at the Hill School," Ms. Turner said at the Luvuyo Mandela assembly, referring to Hill's emphasis on community.

"Our sixth graders will build one-on-one relationships with peers in another culture. I personally believe that such relationships are the single most important factor in creating a different kind of world."