South Africa marks Mandela’s centennial birthday

South Africans celebrated on Wednesday the 100th anniversary of late anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela’s birth with ceremonies, speeches, and acts of service, including a tree-planting ceremony and a clinic opening. In Cape Town, volunteers painted numbers on the homes in a slum to help health workers track down people living with HIV and tuberculosis. Mandela spent 27 years in prison for speaking up against white-majority rule. He became the country’s first black president in 1994, four years after his release. He died in 2013 at age 95.

In Johannesburg, former U.S. President Barack Obama spoke to about 200 young leaders from across the continent. He reminded them that Mandela started at a young age and encouraged them to pursue change and work against corruption. “Find a way you’re not selling your soul,” he said. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a statement said Mandela served as a prominent advocate for equality and justice. “Rarely has one person in history done so much to stir people’s dreams and move them to action,” Guterres said.