Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
People in South Africa are following Mandela's recovery closely
Churches across South Africa are holding prayers for Nelson Mandela, who has been in hospital for four days being treated for pneumonia.
Several hundred people gathered at the Regina Mundi church in Soweto - once a focal point of the struggle against apartheid.
On Saturday, South Africa's presidency said Mr Mandela, 94, was breathing without difficulty.
It said excess fluid had been drained from the lungs to ease his breathing.
There are no details yet on how long he will remain in hospital and no statement on his condition has been given for the past 24 hours.
After Mr Mandela was admitted to hospital late on Wednesday, President Jacob Zuma said people "must not panic".
The former president first contracted tuberculosis in the 1980s while detained on windswept Robben Island.
His lungs are said to have been damaged while working in a prison quarry. This latest spell in hospital is his fourth in just over two years.
Nelson Mandela: Key dates
- 1918 Born in the Eastern Cape
- 1943 Joins African National Congress
- 1956 Charged with high treason, but charges dropped
- 1962 Arrested, convicted of sabotage, sentenced to five years in prison
- 1964 Charged again, sentenced to life
- 1990 Freed from prison
- 1993 Wins Nobel Peace Prize
- 1994 Elected first black president
- 1999 Steps down as leader
- 2004 Retires from public life
- 2005 Announces his son has died of an HIV/Aids-related illness
Mr Mandela served as South Africa's first black president from 1994 to 1999 and is regarded by many as the father of the nation for leading the struggle against apartheid.
Pleural effusionThe statement read by presidential spokesman, Mac Maharaj, on Saturday said that Mr Mandela had been admitted to hospital "due to a recurrence of pneumonia".
It said: "Doctors advised that due to the lung infection, former President Mandela had developed a pleural effusion which was tapped. This has resulted in him now being able to breathe without difficulty.
"He continues to respond to treatment and is comfortable."
Mr Maharaj, a prisoner on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela in the 1960s and 70s, said the presidency "would like to acknowledge and thank all who have been praying for, and sending messages of support for, Madiba and his family."
Madiba is Mandela's clan name and is widely used to refer to him.
The hospital Mr Mandela is attending has not been disclosed.
Last December Mr Mandela was treated for a lung infection and gallstones - his longest period in hospital since leaving prison in 1990.
In February, he was treated for a stomach condition.
When asked whether people should prepare for the inevitable, Mr Zuma told BBC News: "In Zulu, when someone passes away who is very old, people say he or she has gone home. I think those are some of the things we should be thinking about."
Pneumonia
- Causes inflammation of one or both lungs in the chest, usually due to infection
- Disrupts process whereby oxygen is taken into the body and carbon dioxide removed
- Interruption of oxygen to the tissues can be fatal, but modern antibiotics are good treatment
- Can lead to pleural effusion - excess fluid accumulating between the two pleural layers, the space that surrounds the lungs
But he stressed that Mr Mandela had been able to handle the situation "very well" so far.
BBC Africa correspondent Andrew Harding says South Africans have been praying for the recovery of Mr Mandela, who remains a moral beacon in the country despite withdrawing from public life almost a decade ago.
Despite his long imprisonment, Mr Mandela forgave his former enemies and as president urged South Africans of all races to work together and seek reconciliation.
In 1993 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
His main home is in Qunu, a small rural village in Eastern Cape province, where he says he spent the happiest days of his childhood.
However, doctors said in December he should remain at his home in the Johannesburg neighbourhood of Houghton to be close to medical facilities.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Prayers for ailing Nelson Mandela
Dengan url
http://worldartikelku.blogspot.com/2013/03/prayers-for-ailing-nelson-mandela.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Prayers for ailing Nelson Mandela
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Prayers for ailing Nelson Mandela
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar