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A TASTE OF FREEDOM Former South
African president Nelson Mandela spent 27
years as a political prisoner on Robben
Island. He dug into the rocky soil with his
bare hands to create a vegetable patch that
was just one yard (0.9 m) wide and shared
his harvest with fellow prisoners. People visit
his garden today as a monument of kindness,
perseverance, and hope.
If Mandela’s humble garden had the power
to transform lives, what could we do with
the space, tools, and technology available
in our cities?
“ To plant a seed, watch it grow, to tend it and then
harvest it, offered a simple but enduring satisfaction.
The sense of being the custodian of this small patch
of earth offered a small taste of freedom.”
—NELSON MANDELA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA
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