Mandela’s grandson visits Pitt

Prince Cedza Dlamini, of the Kingdom of Swaziland, left his nation without the acceptance or… Prince Cedza Dlamini, of the Kingdom of Swaziland, left his nation without the acceptance or the blessing of his family.

They told him he could make money, be a prince and have fun.

But being born into such an influential lineage consisting of grandfathers Nelson Mandela and King Subhuza II, Dlamini was not content with living a life of comfort and ease.

Instead, he took what he learned from them and his role model, Shaka Zulu, and he has used these lessons to make his voice heard around the world.

On Friday, Nov. 10, the African Students Organization hosted a guest lecture in the William Pitt Union by Dlamini. He had just come from South Africa a week prior, and this was his first visit to the city of Pittsburgh.

“What I do is more of a calling. To be fair, I have grown up with amazing leaders, but it has nothing to do with my family. Growing up, my role model was Shaka Zulu, a man whose army was successful using only spears. I wanted to be that warrior,” Dlamini said.

Dlamini recently completed his undergraduate studies at Tufts University, receiving a degree in international relations. In June of 2004, the United Nations approached the 30-year-old Dlamini to assist in bringing awareness of the Millennium Development Goals.

Dlamini had already been active in attempts to make a difference. In October 2003, Dlamini was named co-chair for the World Youth Peace Summit in Africa, and he has been serving on the strategic development team of the Global Action Youth Network in New York City.

During his presentation at the University, Dlamini discussed what qualities make good leaders. Of eight characteristics, he named passion as being the most important; something he learned while growing up.

“There are two things I have experienced when sitting down with a great leader such as Nelson Mandela. This first is humility. They have a special quality of making others feel special. The other is passion, and that speaks for itself. You cannot have the other seven qualities and be successful if you don’t have passion,” Dlamini said.

He discussed the eight goals of the UN — they include eradicating poverty; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality and, most importantly, developing global partnerships for development.

He listed disturbing statistics that included the fact that 113 million children do not attend school, with 43 million of these children coming from sub-Saharan Africa. Also, currently 42.5 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, 12 million of which are young people. Six thousand young people are infected every day.

The audience also learned that the continent of Asia is now becoming the biggest threat in the spread of HIV/AIDS, because the people there are not learning as fast as possible from the epidemic taking place in Africa.

Dlamini discussed how he found it shocking that many people do not know what the Millenium Development Goals are, stating how the youth plays a key role in making these goals a reality by 2015.

“Of the UN strategies of achievement, what is missing is the youth. Today’s generation of youth is the largest in history, almost 3 billion of the world’s population is under the age of 25. The youth [are] full of ideas, energy and optimism. The achievement of the MDGs is not only possible, but within the reach of our generation. Young people have the vision, the passion and the energy to affect change,” said Dlamini.

A main component of his speech was the need for the youth of the world to unite in making these goals a reality. He also personally addressed the University of Pittsburgh and its potential.

“I am aware that this University is one of the top medical programs in the nation, and I would like to see young people here learn about these diseases and get involved. It is not enough to just listen and get inspired, but to have people experience some of these issues first hand,” he said.

“With educational tours and trips to other nations, young people will get ideas on how situations could be improved,” he added.

Following his speech, graduate students Eliada Nwosu, 26, of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at Pitt, and Nosakhere Griffin-El, 24, of the Graduate School of Education at Pitt, joined Dlamini for a question-and-answer session.

After somewhat heated discussions, an audience member asked the final question: How can one expect the youth of the world to unite as one race, the human race, when there are so many conflicts and differences that tear them apart?

“I have only one hope,” Dlamini said.

“When I talk, I hope to have just one person hear what I have said and not only hear it, but understand. We are all gifted and have a path that we are here for. Different leadership has shown up in different areas. I only hope that will continue, and that the youth will continue to have passion. Our elders have failed us by giving us a world with so many problems. We need to find a way to work together and make a difference in the world,” he said.