Return to the States- Process of Bringing Ubuntu Home

The return back to the United States has been manageable thus far.  I got picked up from the airport and immediately hit up my favorite food spots with my mom and had bagels for breakfast, penne vodka with salmon lunch, and a lobster Cantonese dinner.  I saw some family, lounged by the pool and did some reading.  These foods and seeing family helped mask any sadness that I knew was looming after the initial excitement of being back home faded.  Besides me forcing myself to stay up for the entire day in order to adjust to jet lag, the first day back was great.  I just woke up this morning at 7A.M. (EST), which is 1:00 PM in South Africa.  The initial emotion that hit me when waking was initial confusion of where I was, shock, and a sense of sadness.  Sadness from not being able to see the faces I’ve seen on a daily basis for the past month, and a sense that something else was missing.  What struck me from my return home so far is the difference in something that is intangible, but a feeling of something missing in the air, the sense of Ubuntu, although being with my family has helped tremendously. 

 

Ah, America (JFK).  Good to see you.

Remembering what my Professor said helped me know that my trip did not actually end yesterday, but in a sense has just begun again.  She told us we could make our trip to South Africa an event or a process.  In an attempt to make this a process, I believe this transition period is important to making sure that happens.  Therefore, I began reading a book that I purchased for my brother, called “Ubuntu!”, an inspiring story about an African tradition of teamwork and collaboration that I hoped would help my brother bring what I learned during my experience to his business and workplace.  The main ideas from this book is how to bring Ubuntu to life wherever you go, Ubuntu meaning the 

“profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others; that if we are to accomplish anything in the world, it will in equal measure be due to the work and achievement of others” (Nelson Mandela).   

During the past couple of years, I have, as any person in their twenties will do, have been experiencing life, the good and the bad, to determine what makes me happy and what doesn’t before settling down.  Unknowingly, my strategy in doing this was to find what makes me happy and go to that place to live.  It is for this reason I strongly considered moving to Hawai’i, for it’s natural beauty, Aloha spirit, culture, people, and way of life.  However, at that time I knew in my mind that I had wanted more professionally and intellectually than Hawai’i could offer. Being at NYU and setting a new career path has validated this decision and being in South Africa has helped me learn a new strategy to my twenties: Stop thinking happiness will come to you based on geography, but bring the happiness you find in other places to wherever you choose to live.

Reading this book was great timing as I have made it my goal to not be down about what is missing from South Africa, but to use this as a challenge to bring that Ubuntu to my life in New York City.  I told my mother that reading this book on Ubuntu will help sum up my past month’s experiences more than pictures and stories will ever do.  It begins with a quote from Steve Biko (1970), a political activist who died for his beliefs: 

“We believe that in the long run the special contribution to the world by Africa will be in the field of human relationship.  The great powers of the world may have done wonders in giving the world an industrial and military look, but the great gift to come from Africa- giving the world a more human face.”

Furthermore, the last things I want to take away from this book to help continue the process of this study abroad trip and hopefully help whoever is reading this further understand and spread Ubuntu are the following:

-       “Ubuntu is a philosophy that considers the success of the group above that of the individual”

-        “To engage another person in an authentic way releases the most powerful energy on the planet”

-       “The first step to bringing Ubuntu to life is discovering it in your own heart. Ubuntu comes from our natural energy within”

-       “Ubuntu starts with recognizing and embracing the humanity, the equality, and the value of each person”

-       “You can’t just do Ubuntu. You have to be Ubuntu”

So here’s to Day 1 of being Ubuntu in the United States…