Recently, I have started to read a book called God is Not a Christian by Desmond Tutu. He discusses tolerance, interfaith and oppressed groups. In one chapter he discusses an African worldview, they refer to as UBUNTU, which is a term representing the idea that “a person is a person through other persons.” No matter where we come from we need other humans, otherwise we cannot function completely in the world. It teaches us not only trivial things like walking and talking, but it teaches to get along with other people. Tutu makes a comparison to Descartes who is famous for believing the phrase “I think, therefore, I am.” Tutu changes that view into “I am because I belong.” We are created to be part of a family, we are created for togetherness, and we are human and also subhuman. This is a beautiful thing, all people need is other people to learn, grow and think. This really made me begin to think of all the people I know in my job and the commonality among all those who struggle. That is the sense of belonging, being in connection, being vulnerable to allow other humans to enter their hearts. The students have been abandoned and left to fend for themselves, therefore not learning Ubuntu. Ubuntu encompasses generosity, hospitality, compassion, caring and sharing. When this lacks, life becomes grey and the path unclear, especially for young people who are trying to find their way. Without the experience of belonging in a group of other humans, we cannot know what is right and what comes next, therefore, making “bad decisions.” For teenagers who are lacking a supportive family and home environment are told they make bad decisions, this makes me shake my head. These may seem like bad decisions, but they had to make this decision not knowing the right thing to do and without having other people to watch and collaboratively learn together, they are left in the dark to do this alone. Troubled young people may be from poor families and may be “less fortunate” so to speak, however, it is not the material things that make them “less fortunate” because they lack what is important, other people. Especially in today’s society, even the families who are rich with material possessions, lack human beings. Unbuntu speaks of the intrinsic worth of a person as not dependent on extraneous things such as status, race, creed, gender, or achievement. I believe for many families today, rich and poor, this has been lost. Materialism has gone beyond its essential purpose and use. Tutu described groups of people who had Ubuntu, as families who worked together and learned to develop as humans with one another, if we could achieve this we could see a switch, we would be compassionate and gentle, we could use our strength on behalf of the weak, and we would not take advantage, we would treat others as what they are: Human beings. Although this may be thought of as an old concept, however, today in African family life, Ubuntu is still greatly admired and followed. Our western world has moved towards individualism. This creates loneliness, even when surrounded by people. An example to illustrate this is the typical bystander scenario. There is an attack across the street and passerby’s can walk past without being involved. More and more people have learned to separate them self from other people. Ubuntu lessens the distance with others, and it eliminates the status of success and failure, it gets rid of the idea that we can discard other people because they are poor or different. Ubuntu reminds us that we belong in God’s family, which is the human family. Take a moment, walk down the street, acknowledge people around you. Acknowledge your family and allow them to belong with you, don’t move them into a dark and unclear road, and allow them to live in God’s family. Try to understand the African worldview of Ubuntu, because the greatest good, says Tutu, is the communal harmony.
