Ubuntu is a quality that includes the essential human virtues; compassion and humanity and it is often translated as “I am because we are”, or “humanity towards others”.
In No Future Without Forgiveness, Desmond Tutu wrote: “Ubuntu […] speaks of the very essence of being human. [We] say […] “Hey, so-and-so has ubuntu.” Then you are generous, you are hospitable, you are friendly and caring and compassionate. You share what you have. It is to say, “My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours.” We belong in a bundle of life. We say, “A person is a person through other persons.”
[…] 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, or treated as if they were less than who they are.”
The value of Ubuntu is resonating in more people each year, and we would like to focus this time on the work conducted by the Ubuntu Leaders Academy in Lisbon, who are now taking their classes to many other countries such as Zimbabwe. The Ubuntu Leaders Academy (ULA) aims to develop the values of servant leadership, ethics of care and bridge-building in young people with high leadership potential from vulnerable contexts and who seek the common good of their communities. For more information about the academy, please click here.
The Tutu Foundation UK has formed a wonderful relationship with Ubuntu Leaders Academy and are planning on partnership projects, stay tuned by keeping up with future blogs if you are interested in participating.
‘Image by Freepik‘