Second Harvest
5 MINUTES OF CARING

FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2009

All About Ubuntu By Sam Davidson

RELATED

Significant Work

Want your work to mean something? Want to see an example of significant work? Ashley Logsdon details one organization that ...

Fairer Trade

More things than coffee can be fair trade.
Celebrate Fair Trade Month.

It's Fair Trade Month, and we at Cool People Care are no strangers to the concept. We love the work that organizations around the world are doing to ensure a better life for farmers, workers and artisans. Once such cool organization is KEZA, which is dedicated to developing sustainable fashion businesses from women's cooperatives in Africa. KEZA's take on fair trade is that it is all about Ubuntu, which literally means "I am who I am because of who we all are." If we're all better off because of our purchasing decisions, then the world will only get better.

SPECIAL CONTEST: What does Ubuntu mean to you? Tell us in the comments to this article and one lucky person will win two fair trade necklaces from KEZA.

I Did It To date, you've saved 0 minutes of caring on CoolPeopleCare.org.
Click Here To View Your Saved Items
POST A COMMENT
Deborah Moseley commented on Friday, May 8, 2009 8:36 a.m.
Perhaps we should say "Ubuntu" when we meet people instead of the generic "good morning"! We are ALL better off because of who we ALL are. Social living is in the relationships we have. In a world of "it's all about me" leave it to the people at Cool People Care to remind us. Thanks!! I love the necklaces I have purchased/received from my step daughter. I get so many compliments each time I wear them. But best of all- I get to tell the story behind them. Ubuntu!
Melba Baxter commented on Friday, May 8, 2009 8:36 a.m.
UBUNTU - I taught my children to respect other people, our city, our state, our country and our world. I ask them to do what I do; share resources whether they be monetary or material or spiritual, etc. I encourage them to affect their world in good ways. When we affect our own little corner of the universe in good ways we make a ripple that can spread beyond our own little "village".
April Vrugtman commented on Friday, May 8, 2009 8:39 a.m.
I am compassionate because my mom is compassionate. I am scientifically inclined because my dad is too. I am honest to a fault because my brothers are the opposite. We are who we are because we react to those around us. We see what they do and the results they get and this makes us who we are.
Renee Boone commented on Friday, May 8, 2009 8:47 a.m.
Later this month I am hosting a bead party for BeadforLife, a similar organization that helps women in Uganda sell the beads and jewelry they make so that they can own a home, provide for their families, learn about having their own businesses, and develop a sense of community and pride in their work and their people. They've built a neighborhood in which people from all different tribes live together. There was concern about how this would work in region in which tribal conflict and warfare are an everyday worry. However, these families, many single-mother families in which the husband was killed in such warfare, are living peacefully, helping each other and building strong communities. These people are living in a spirit of Ubuntu. They are independent individuals who seem to recognize that their world is not isolated from that of their neighbor or even that of women in the United States and other countries who proudly wear their handiwork and share their stories with friends. Ubuntu is a new term for me and it encapsulates so much of what many individuals and organizations are trying to do. The "we" of Ubuntu does not refer to just my circle of friends, my professional colleagues, my family, my fellow citizens, or my religious group. "We" is all of us, every person who lives and breaths in the world today. Every individual impacts a greater community in some fashion and that impact can have positive or negative effects. We have the choice everyday, in small and large ways, about how we are going to move through this world -- whether we are going to become an agent of destruction and self-centered enterprise or join in a circle of support and constructive progress. The 5 Minutes of Caring each day is a reminder that there are small ways that every person, every day can live out Ubuntu and perhaps these Ubuntu-guided small actions will infuse our bigger actions and our communities, both large and small, so that "I" can become something of which "we" can be proud.
Tim Gossett commented on Friday, May 8, 2009 8:57 a.m.
Ubuntu speaks to something that is lost in our "I am all that matters" world: that individuals are better when communities are strong, when we think about our impact on one another, and when we depend on each other.
Corrie Ann Gray commented on Friday, May 8, 2009 1:42 p.m.
Ubuntu

I am who I am because of the plumpness of Earth
the continuous stream of energy that encompasses me and
those around me.

I am who I am because of my neighbor
in another land
nurturing their fields, their children, their faith
touching all fields, all children, and all faith.

I am who I am because of the wild lands that
struggle to survive
reverberating against the climate of change
fighting one last battle to thrive.

I am who I am because of you
because of him
because of her
because of them
because if it
those who have come before and those
who follow my footsteps.

I am who I am because of who we all are
what we are and
why
we are one.

© 2009 Corrie Ann Gray
Elizabeth Bleiberg commented on Friday, May 8, 2009 2:05 p.m.
OK, I am the mother of a teenager, which may make you tremble with...untold anticipation of the next line! I am who I am because of who we all are, and my child is likewise learning along with me.
Eileen Walsh commented on Sunday, May 10, 2009 12:06 p.m.
This reminds me of Brett Dennen's "Mosaic Project." Which is a wonderful CD and benefits children everywhere, if you were interested. The above poem is beautiful, and I think it is truly amazing that the author felt so inspired by the concept of Ubuntu that they were able to write a few verses about it. Collectively, each person in the world makes up a part of what "individuality" stands for. We are unique because we stand different and celebrated from every other individual on earth. If we were only one person on earth, we would be only one, and therefore lose our individuality as reflected by those around us. Just as Corrie Ann Gray was able to be inspired by Ubuntu, we are all inspired by each other to be individuals and stand unique. We are able to celebrate the beauty of the world because of the diversity that exists among people. In my philosophy class last semester, we learned about Kantian points of view in which it is "every man for himself," do what you need to do and worry not about others. This theory has been proven wrong over and over again, because we can not exist or even practice our own individual trade with out others. We exist because of everyone else around us, and therefore celebrate all the individuals of the world because collectively, we can exist, through each other, inspired by each other, to promote peace among diversity and uniqueness among individuals. Celebrating all those around us as the root of our soul is Ubuntu. And I love the world around me and the people that surround me that make me who I am, and make me appreciate every minute of God's diversity on this planet.

Please log in or register to post comments on this article.

FIND US ON THE SOCIAL WEB