(oo-boon-too)
n. Zulu or Xhosa
word, a traditional African concept.
Ubuntu
is a term for humaneness, for caring, sharing and being
in harmony with all of creation.
“Africans
have a thing called ubuntu. It is about the essence
of being human,
it is part of the gift that Africa will give
the world. It embraces hospitality, caring about others, being
willing to go the extra mile for the sake of another. We believe
that a person
is a person through other persons, that my humanity is caught
up, bound up, inextricably, with yours. When I dehumanize you,
I inexorably
dehumanize myself. The solitary human being is a contradiction
in terms. Therefore you seek to work for the common good because
your
humanity comes into its own in community, in belonging.”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
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