Graça Machel speaks six languages, she’s been the first lady of two African countries, and having undergone military training as a young woman, can take an assault rifle apart and put it back together like the freedom fighter that she once was.

At the age of 53, when many of us would be contemplating scaling down – not up – she agreed to become Nelson Mandela’s wife. “Agreed” because for her it wasn’t love at first sight. But he wooed her like the old-fashioned gentlemen that he was, sometimes driving his bodyguards to distraction with unplanned stops to buy her sweet treats. They married on his 80^th birthday and he famously said she makes him “bloom like a flower”. But apart from the 27-year age gap, for Graça Machel it was a role that came with many challenges – tremendous public scrutiny, extensive family wrangling and more.

Their lifelong dedication to children is the other big passion they shared. Given the protracted civil war in her native Mozambique, her life’s work has been advocating the rights and education of refugee children and children in warzones. Her work for the United Nations Children’s Fund strengthened the case for landmine clearance to be included in all peace agreements. She also chaired the first-ever UN Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children.

At the age of 62 she joined her husband and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu as founders of The Elders, a private organisation that works for good by operating outside conventional diplomatic channels. One of their many focus areas is equality for girls and women.

In 2010, she established the Graça Machel Trust, when she was 65. Taking on a big role again, an age when most of her peers were moving into retirement. But the drive of this remarkable woman, and her will to champion the causes close to her heart, continue to invigorate her.

They are active across Africa, protecting children’s rights and dignity, working on child health and nutrition, education, the economic and financial empowerment of women, ethical leadership and good governance.

There are no easy solutions to any of these and each one represents a stark reality check about the state of our world. But the work that Graça Machel does in shining a light on such issues, offers one of the best illustrations you’ll ever find of what Gandhi said – “You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

Sources: Graça Machel Trust, SA History Online, CNN