Pronounced 'Oo - boon - too', Ubuntu is a philosophy like no other.
Simply described, I am because we are together.
In a world that sadly remains so divided, Ubuntu is special. Stemming from a South African anti-apartheid movement, Ubuntu has been understood by Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandella, embraced by Bill Clinton, channeled into championship basketball and now directed at climate change. But a little about that later.
"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" - Desmond Tutu. (Boudreau, 2012).
It's good to be ambitious and driven. It's good to know what you want and to shoot for it, but, its easy to get lost while doing so. So focused on success we often become egoistical, narrow-minded and destructive. I guess I could relate this to the companies so focused on profiting from drilling for oil, they do not consider the lives of the local people or the deep water oil spills they continually cause. Just a coincidental example there.
Read up on Exxon's newest #dirtybusiness plans in Guyana below...
...but back to Ubuntu. It speaks of integrity, empathy and humanity. Some key points we all need to re-evaluate in our day to day lives and also when facing the climate emergency.
Saving the world...
Overwhelming? Yup.
Possible? Yup.
How? Well, lets start with Ubuntu.
Channeled into each of Re-Educating Earthlings books is a sense of interconnectedness, between one another and nature, and hope in the face of adversity.
Ubuntu education enhances a collective consciousness of compassion and conservation and thats exactly what I incorporate into each story. Not only is teaching children about the differing human-animal conflicts around the world important, instilling a connection to nature and empathy to one another is equally crucial. Don't you think?
In the words of Bill Clinton "We have to find a way to triumph together" (May, 2013), now more than ever.
And thats it, in a nut shell. Ubuntu. Looking into ourselves in order to understand the earth, and protect it, together.
Peace out, Earthlings x
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