First Lady Michelle Obama joins volunteers to help build a playground during the KaBOOM! and Congressional Family Service Project at Imagine Southeast Public Charter School in Washington, D.C., June 15. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
AP: Michelle Obama will honor the legacy of Nelson Mandela and the struggle against apartheid during an official visit to southern Africa next week.
For her second solo international trip, the first lady has scheduled stops in South Africa and Botswana where she’ll continue her work encouraging young people to get involved in national affairs. She’ll also promote education, health and wellness.
The June 20-26 trip begins Monday in Johannesburg. Mrs. Obama will also stop in Pretoria and Cape Town in South Africa before moving on to Gaborone, the capital of Botswana. The trip ends with a private family safari at a South African game reserve before the return to Washington on June 27.
She will be accompanied by her daughters Malia and Sasha, her mother, Marian Robinson, and her niece and nephew, Leslie and Avery Robinson.
….Mrs. Obama will spend most of her time in South Africa. She is scheduled to meet with Mandela’s wife, Graca Machel, tour the Nelson Mandela Foundation, where his papers are stored, and visit the Apartheid Museum… The first lady also plans a ferry ride to Robben Island, where Mandela spent 18 of the 27 years he was imprisoned for fighting apartheid.
Mrs. Obama will also meet with Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma, the wife of South African President Jacob Zuma, and with Botswana’s president, Ian Khama.
….A meeting between Mrs. Obama and Mandela was not on the agenda the White House released Wednesday and officials said one would largely depend on the state of his fragile health. The former president, who is 92, suffered an acute respiratory infection in late January that sent him to the hospital for 48 hours.
…Mrs. Obama’s schedule also includes a meeting with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and key figure in the struggle against apartheid.
The Obama Diary 
Thanks chips for this incredible news, LONG LIVE NELSON MANDELA. 🙂
And chip, here is today’s executive order to attract business here in the US:
http://m.ktvn.com/default.aspx?pid=2705&wnfeedurl=http://www.ktvn.com/story/14912505/president-obama-signs-initiative-to-promote-business?clienttype=rssstory
I love how our Lady represents us to the world. I love the ladies of that generation including my daughter and nieces.
Oh, beautiful. This is going to be a very exciting, very emotional visit. I’m really looking forward to it. May they all be safe in the journey together.
I agree!! Can’t Wait!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀
You will have to go to al jazeera, if you want to read about it! Sadly!
I hear you!!
I hope we will have lots of pictures of them in Africa. Let us pray for their safety, and pray they will have a good time . I’m so sorry POTUS will not be going.
I am really sad too that he is not joining his Family, 😦 I guess we will have to wait until he is re elected then he can kick ass. Tonight Gadaffi is celebrating that he has Kucinich on his side. Lame, Lame, and 👿
Rachel is on the Illegal Libya war band wagon.
They are so predictable! The pl is still looking for there candidate?
Did she have Dennis the Menace on?
I think PBO undercut their argument with his crafty statement about this not being a “war” and he said the War Powes Act was constitutional, etc. They did not expect that. Even new PL radio host Norman Goldman, who is also a lawyer and rails against PBO constantly, was low key in his response and noted the legalese and use of language from the act. When I tuned in he really didn’t have much to say other than Dennis the Menance’s lawsuit is going nowhere lol. Rachel was also surprised. They need to stop underestimating PBO!
I think PBO waited as long as he did to give his argument so that he could be technically correct in saying this not a war and US is only supporting allies with logistics and communication. So this is not our 3rd or 4th war as some people suggest….
I had to switch Rachel off. What do these people stand for? They would rather humiliate the President, than be involved in a humanitarian effort to save thousands of lives. I still remember the weekend after the threatened massacre, that picture of all the women and children marching down one street, and the men marching down another street in Libya – all holding signs saying “Thank you”, and I thought about how many o f those people would not be alive that day if NATO had not acted.
Norman Goldman is a screeching, opportunistic, sorry, loser, Ed Shcultz wannabe who speaks from every side of his mouth and is only in it for fame and money…
The man is so gossipy and petty and painful to listen to…a very unintelligent man’s snake oil salesman…
Terribly unimpressive and a complete waste of airtime…
I normally turnoff the radio after Randi, but today forgot as I was caught up working on a deadline and this Goldman fella comes on: what a freaking loser…
And very thin-skinned too…
He railed against a listener who’d e-mailed(?) him a ctriticism…
Ironically, every excuse he offered up in defense of himself were precisely the very same excuses he slams President Obama for and refuses to extend the President…
It was hilarious to hear this loser Norman person…
It was even more hilarious hearing the one caller tell hm what a great ‘leader’ he was and the Norman guy actually lapping up this obviously far-fetched and seriously hysterical fake compliment…
And they all wonder why there isn’t much in the form of ‘liberal’ radio…
Simple answer: They suck…
I just figured out what the pl are doing! You know how republicans are not excited about there field? They are trying to convey the same about the president.
They are trying to divide us! From John Stewarts comments about African Americans to that Forbes article today that said, Hispanics will not save Obama!
Expect the crazy msm to get worse! Rachel is useless. Sadly, when she first started, she was good. Comcast got a hold of her and she is just baaaaaaaad!
I’m just tired of Rachel.
Awesome awesome awesome that Leslie and Avery are going! Is Mama Kaye going too? Great opportunity for the Obama-Robinson clan.
OFF TO THE LAND OF BEAUTY AND PROMISE….I WISH THEY WOULD PUT ME IN THEIR SUITCASE. I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO WITNESSING THIS VISIT!
I can’t wait to see them on this trip.
I’m very excited to see the coverage of this trip. Thank goodness we have TOD because I would never get to see it otherwise.
I am tearing up…the thought of Michelle and Nelson Mandela together……like many,I am such a huge fan of Mandela…
“From Prison to President” Mandela is a true Hero of mine, may God Bless him……
Viva Africa……………………Viva Michelle Obama, I cannot wait for pictures:-)
I am tearing up…the thought of Michelle and Nelson Mandela together……like many,I am such a huge fan of Mandela…
“From Prison to President” Mandela is a true Hero of mine, may God Bless him……
Viva Africa……………………Viva Michelle Obama, I cannot wait for pictures:-)
In Honor of Michelle visiting the Mother Land 🙂
Be prepared for the right and the likes of the other haters like the PL to say something about her trip.
I pray and hope that Nelson Mandela is well enough to meet with them. What an honour and experience it would be for the whole family. Can’t wait for the pics – what an experience for the kids. God’s speed on your journey and I’ll be with you guys all the way!
I cannot believe she is going there! I was at the same places just weeks ago! I bet they go to Pilanesberg National Park, a really nice game reserve. Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaan, why didn’t she go when I was there, I want to see her just once. Can’t wait for the pictures. It will be another couple of days of just sitting in front of the computer longing for more and more photos and videos.