From what I've read, the townships of Cape Town can be a shock for tourists. Townships were created as living areas for non-whites under the old political system of Apartheid. Today, Townships are still home to a large percentage of Cape Town's population. The people who call Townships home often have difficult circumstances and poor living conditions. Everything I've read so far also suggests they demonstrate the vibrancy and spirit of the South African people.
One of the tangible ways this spirit can be seen is in the philosophy of Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a focuse on people's allegiances and relationships with each other.
From Wikipedia:
Archbishop Desmond Tutu offered a definition in a 1999 book:
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.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu further explained Ubuntu in 2008:
One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu - the essence of being human. Ubuntu 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.
Nelson Mandela explained Ubuntu as follows:
A traveler through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?
Ubuntu is seen as one of the founding principles of the new republic of South Africa and is connected to the idea of an African Renaissance. The concept of ubuntu is used in the political sphere to emphasize the need for unity or consensus in decision-making, as well as the need for a suitably humanitarian ethic to inform those decisions.
During this trip, I hope to find my own sense of Ubuntu and come home with a feeling of peace and the knowledge I'm connected to something larger than myself.
One of the tangible ways this spirit can be seen is in the philosophy of Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a focuse on people's allegiances and relationships with each other.
From Wikipedia:
Archbishop Desmond Tutu offered a definition in a 1999 book:
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.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu further explained Ubuntu in 2008:
One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu - the essence of being human. Ubuntu 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.
Nelson Mandela explained Ubuntu as follows:
A traveler through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?
Ubuntu is seen as one of the founding principles of the new republic of South Africa and is connected to the idea of an African Renaissance. The concept of ubuntu is used in the political sphere to emphasize the need for unity or consensus in decision-making, as well as the need for a suitably humanitarian ethic to inform those decisions.
During this trip, I hope to find my own sense of Ubuntu and come home with a feeling of peace and the knowledge I'm connected to something larger than myself.