There is an ancient Bantu word in Southern Africa called “ubuntu.” It is a classical African concept with no equivalent English word that compares. It can only be described as a philosophy, a way of being. It’s not something you say, it’s something you do. It’s something you are.

Roughly defined, ubuntu is the connection with others and the willingness to see not just yourself, but all people, do well. Ubuntu is the thread connecting the spider web of humanity, and it is through this web that we discover ourselves and the potential of those around us. Ubuntu is human engagement in an existence of co-creation. It is a life lived with an open mind, open hands and an open heart.

Nobel Peace Prize winner and native South African, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, says it like this: “It is about the essence of being human, it is part of the gift that Africa will give the world. It embraces hospitality, caring about others, being able to go the extra mile for the sake of others. We believe that a person is a person through another person, that my humanity is caught up, bound up, inextricably, with yours.”

I am lucky enough to know this ubuntu. For me ubuntu is the family that raised a little girl with unconditional love. Ubuntu is the teachers who challenged her to achieve and guided her along the way. Ubuntu is her friends who were always there in good times and bad. Ubuntu is that girl, all-grown-up, staring with awe out of a plane window over Africa. Ubuntu is the family she’ll meet there who won’t give up no matter the obstacles. Ubuntu is all those who will touch her life in the future. Each and everyone of them share a connection rooted in integrity, compassion, and generosity.

After 27 years of imprisonment in apartheid South Africa, Nelson Mandela knows what ubuntu is, too: “Ubuntu does not mean that people should not address themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?”

Imagine what the world would be like if we took more time to ask not how we can improve ourselves, but how we can empower those around us to make the world better for all. What we can do to contribute.

Admittedly, as I was writing this I realized how much of my own ubuntu I’ve let unravel since being away from Africa. I spend so much of my day vainly trying to improve myself, whether it’s hours at the gym, being engrossed in some book for my master’s dissertation or worrying about finding funding for next year. I’m just as guilty as anyone for not finding the time to live more responsibly, more graciously. It’s often those times when I’ve asked myself not what people can do for me, but what I can do for them, that my life has been more productive and fulfilled; when I’ve been happiest.

It shouldn’t be a challenge. I need not look hard to find ubuntu in daily life:

It’s felt in the beat of joyous street traffic and people making their way through the day. Ubuntu.

It’s in the honest laughter of friends sharing private jokes. Ubuntu.

It’s in the hard work of a doctor working to save a life, a teacher steering a pupil towards success, a lawyer researching an important case, a construction worker toiling away to provide for a family. Ubuntu.

It’s in the reconciliation of former enemies. Ubuntu.

It’s in the formation of new friendships. Ubuntu.

In crisis and triumph. Ubuntu.

In tears and laughter. Ubuntu.

In generosity and hardship. Ubuntu.

Because out of many we truly are one. And many there are.

Ubuntu…

2 Responses to “Ubuntu”

1. Ann Thompson Says:
   June 11th, 2009 at 8:39 am

   What a thankful story to hear today. After yesterday’s tragedy at the Holocaust museum and others in past weeks, it is refreshing to hear the hopefulness of your story. Let’s hope more read your story than those who read stories filled with hatred. Keep writing.

2. This Ordinary Day « Be The Change Says:
   June 22nd, 2009 at 2:53 pm

   [...] Ordinary Day Jump to Comments I recently was lead to the blog This Ordinary Day and have falled in love.  Six days a week one of the many contributing writers shares their [...]

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