The culture of ‘UBUNTU’ comes from Africa—I AM BECAUSE WE ARE. It’s a Zulu phrase. The bedrock of the phrase is respect for oneself and others around too. So today I want to share this very nice short story from Africa based on the motivational culture of ‘Ubuntu.’
One day, a western anthropologist went to Africa to study the social behaviour of an indigenous tribe. He proposed a game to the children and they willingly agreed to be part of it. He put a basket filled with fruits underneath a tree and told the children that whoever would reach the basket first would win the whole basket and could eat the fruits all by themselves. He lined them all up and raised his hand to give the start signal. Ready. Set. Go!
The children took each other’s hands and started running together. They all reached the basket at the same time. Then they sat down in a big circle and enjoyed the fruits together, laughing and smiling all the time. The anthropologist could not believe what he saw and he asked them why they had waited for each other as one could have taken the whole basket all for themselves. The children shook their heads and replied, “Ubuntu, how can one of us be happy if all the others are sad?”
Desmond Tutu explains Ubuntu with these words: “One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu – the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can’t exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can’t be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality – we are able to see ourselves in other people, our experience in the world will inevitably be a richer, kinder, more connected one. If we look at others and see ourselves reflected back, we inevitably treat people better.
This is ubuntu. Ubuntu shouldn’t be confused with kindness. However, kindness is something we might try to show more of, but ubuntu goes much deeper. It recognizes the inner worth of every human being – starting with you. A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.
Ubuntu teaches us that absolutely everyone on this earth is of equal value because our humanity is what matters the most. Instead of comparing ourselves to others, we should value other people’s contributions to our day-to-day life.
What a great lesson to be learned from this story! And what a better world it would be if there were more people with Ubuntu. Tremendous things come about in life when we are willing to watch out for the benefit of the entire group rather than focusing on the benefit to ourselves. I can tell you that from my own experience that my own success has always been greatest when I focus on helping others around me to succeed. None of us exist in isolation in this world. We are all interconnected and we all have so much value we can bring to one another’s lives if we are willing to. Those children in Africa understood something that we as adults could all take a lesson from.
May we all live our lives with a spirit of Ubuntu! May we welcome all interactions because each interaction whether good or bad allows us to express our humanness. Let us spread happiness and joy wherever we go.
