By Oliver Holmes
Archbishop Desmond Tutu's alma mater said on Friday it is launching an Internet archive with thousands of documents and audio tapes on the life of the South African Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
The 4.5 million-pound project will provide a free, interactive digital resource about his humanitarian teachings and South Africa's struggle for democracy, King's College said.
King's computer experts will collaborate with the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town to digitize up to 200,000 pages of documents and over
1,000 hours of live audio.Hundreds of hours of video as well as films, photos and personal letters will also be included.
King's estimates the archive could have 93 million potential users and said it would be delivered free to all schools across South Africa as a teaching resource.
"As one of the great leaders of out time -- and, incidentally, a King's College alumnus -- Archbishop Tutu continues to bring messages of hope to a troubled world," said Professor Richard Trainor, King's college London principal.
Tutu studied at King's in the 1960s and in 2004 returned to the college as a professor in post-conflict studies.
The Desmond Tutu Digital Archive will be launched in Cape Town on September 25 when the human rights veteran celebrates his 75th birthday at a reception hosted by the British High Commissioner, Paul Boateng.
"I am humbled to be at the center of such an initiative, but if it can help spread understanding and, dare I say it, love, around the world, then surely it must be a good thing," said Tutu, who turns 75 on October 7.
Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited.
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