Dear Nelson Mandela...Get Well Soon

Nelson Mandela, first president of post- Apartheid South Africa, was admitted to a military hospital Saturday for medical tests. South African President Zuma told the public there was "no cause for alarm" over the 94-year-old's health, who, Zuma said, was receiving medical care "which is consistent for his age." The statement gave no other details. Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison for fighting racist Apartheid rule, became South Africa's first black president in 1994. He served one five-year term. He later retired from public life to live in his village of Qunu. His last public appearance was in 2010 when his country hosted the football World Cup. Although there was official reassurance concerning Mandela's health, he is viewed as a father figure in this nation of 50 million people. Each hospital trip raises the same worry about the increasingly frail founder of the African National Congress - that the man who helped bring the nation together is slowly fading away. In 2010, Mandela was admitted to hospital for a minor diagnostic surgery for an abdominal complaint. In January 2011, Mandela was again admitted to a Johannesburg hospital for what officials initially described as tests but which turned out to be an acute respiratory infection. He was discharged days later. Mandela contracted tuberculosis during his years in prison. He also had surgery for an enlarged prostate gland in 1985. The South African military has taken over caring for the aging leader since the 2011 respiratory infection. At 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria on Saturday night, everything appeared calm, and there was no sign of an additional security presence. Mac Maharaj, a presidential spokesman, declined to say whether Mandela had been flown by the military from Qunu to Pretoria. He also declined to say what the tests were for. ~~~~~ Dear Nelson Mandela, we are thinking of you and praying for your full recovery - you who are the brightest and most enduring of the world's symbols of racial harmony and the true fellowship of all people. Get well very soon.