After weeks of parties, concerts and visits with heads of state leading up to the big day, Nelson Mandela celebrated his 90th birthday Friday surrounded by family in his rural South African home.
Ten grandchildren crowded around him to sing him "Happy Birthday" -- and the whole village turned up to hear it.
Elders in traditional dress came to pay their respect, sheep were trucked in to the property and a company of young women sang and danced in preparation for a big celebration on Saturday. Five hundred dignitaries are expected to show up for that party.
He told a small gathering of reporters that his "behavior" was responsible for his longevity.
The legendary human rights crusader spoke to the media for the first time in years to delivering a message calling on the world's wealthy citizens to assist the poor.
"There are many people in South Africa who are rich and who can share those riches with those not so fortunate who have not been able to conquer poverty," Mandela told The Associated Press at his home in Qunu, a rural region of southeastern South Africa.
"If you are poor, you are not likely to live long."
He also expressed sadness that his life's work kept him from spending more time with his family.
"I am sure for many people that is their wish," he said. "I also have that wish that I spent more time (with my family). But I don't regret it," he told AP.
Mandela's granddaughter told Canada AM her family is grateful they can fete a man whose presence they missed for decades.
Ndileka Mandela said the man she had come to know as a child as "larger than life" would be honoured on Saturday with a party for 500 guests. However, Friday was a quiet day to be spent with close friends and family, time he missed due to the three decades he spent in prison for his prominent role in South Africa's fight against apartheid.
Ndileka said that as a child, she got to know her grandfather via news reports, as well as from the letters he would write to her for her birthday. She only got to meet him for the first time when she turned 16 and travelled to his prison on Robben Island.
"At the end of the visit he gave me a box of chocolates because he said that my visit was a bittersweet memory for him," Ndileka said in a phone interview from South Africa.
Mandela was released from jail in 1990 and led negotiations that brought down the racist white regime that had been governing the country. In 1994, he was elected South Africa's first black president in the country's first ever democratic elections.
Mandela's age has not slowed him down. He is now arguably one of the most prominent activists working to eradicate poverty, illiteracy and AIDS in Africa.
In this country, the Canadian arm of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund works to educate Canadians, especially children, about the plight of South Africans under apartheid rule, co-founder Bahadur Madhani told Canada AM on Friday.
The organization also raises funds to support grassroots children's programs that the Fund runs in South Africa.
Mandela's birthday also marks the 10th anniversary of his marriage to Graca Michel, who was 52 years old when she married a then 80-year-old Mandela.
