With Stefan Howells ’86 and SCORE in South Africa By Br. Paul Diveny, OSB
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he sun was just hitting the top of iconic Table Mountain as the plane began its descent into Cape Town’s international airport. I had to remind myself that it was winter here at the bottom of the southern hemisphere. Below me the land was ringed by a deep cobalt sea and the human settlements clung to the coast or crept up the steep slopes as far as they dared. It was my first time in South Africa – in Africa at all, for that matter and I was excited about the week ahead. I was looking forward to the annual conference of the International Boys Schools Coalition, but I was also very eager to reconnect with a special alumnus, Stefan Howells ’86. Stefan and I had been exchanging e-mails for the last few weeks and he had offered to spend as much time with me as he could in the three days before the conference. I hadn’t seen Stefan in a very long time; but, over the years I had heard various reports about the interesting work that he was doing in South Africa. Now I was finally going to see for myself. “Just landed” I texted and continued “let you know when I’m checked in”. It was an easy ride from the airport to the hotel. Once in my room I called Stefan to arrange a meeting time. Thirty minutes 28
DELBARTON TODAY
later he pulled up outside and we were off. It was already noon, so we needed to hit the road if we wanted to see everything before dark. In the car, I began to pester Stefan with questions. There was so much I wanted to know. Fortunately, he was a ready partner in this exercise. Our first stop was the Drakenstein Correctional Centre formerly known as the Victor Verster Prison and it was here that Nelson Mandela spent the last 14 months of his 27-year imprisonment. “I stayed up all night watching TV when I was a student, waiting for Nelson Mandela’s release and watched him walk out of the gates at that prison. It was a couple of years later that I first met him there, when he launched the election campaign for our first democratic elections. I am a great admirer of Mandela and his principled leadership style based on service, humility, fairness and justice, always ready to reach out to everyone and yet also human enough to admit fault. To complete the circle so to speak, I went to the same place to sign the condolence book when he passed away, but he continues to be a great inspiration for me and what I do.” That this was the first place Stefan wanted to show me set the stage for everything else that would follow.