What is Ubuntu? It is a classical African concept that focuses on people's allegiances and relations with each other. It roughly translates to mean "I am what I am because of who we all are." Archbishop Desmond Tutu defined it as such...
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...Ubuntu is the essence of being human. It 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--Ubuntu--you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.
Sit with that for a moment. Ubuntu is a beautiful thing. It is what we strive for at CADC when we articulate and align ourselves with our core values: respect, caring, participation, teamwork, trust, honesty, understanding differences, responsibility, following rules, and community. The staff works tirelessly to create a meaningful and enriching program that will allow us to nurture not only the intellectual curiosity of our campers but their humanity. At the end of five weeks, we want the kids in our care to see themselves as part of a larger whole; to recognize that they matter and that the choices they make are significant and impactful, not only for themselves, but for the world around them. In our approach to children, we honor them as individuals AND as an integral part of the community at large. The absence of just one of them would affect us all; we are who we are because they are with us and because they are with each other. That is ubuntu.
I Am Important, and Together We Are Powerful.
PS: African drumming rocks!
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