SA Rocks

I’m not talking about the Linux operating system when I speak of Ubuntu. I am talking of the great African concept that we are intertwined, that we are not islands and that I am my brothers and sisters in Africa and they are part of me.

This is what Shari Cohen over at the Huffington Post has been left with on her travels through South Africa. Her article is an incredibly positive one written by a self-proclaimed cynic and it’s good to read. It’s good to see that I’m not a mad man and that many, many other people across the world are realising that South Africa in fact does rock, hard!

Here’s a snippet:

I have been truly humbled on this trip. And while I have my gripes regarding development here, I cannot say one negative thing about how South Africa has handled its duties as host and hostess to the world. If I could say one thing to sum up being here during this once-in-a-lifetime experience, it would be that I’ve learned the value of Ubuntu, and that when found and offered in abundance, the world is indeed a better place to live in.

So, if South Africa accomplishes nothing more on the playing field, it will still have won as a host country. I am a cynic, no doubt about that. And yet I have to admit, I’m a little teary just writing this because I leave for home next weekend and I will be leaving a little piece of myself here in South Africa. I just hope I have learned enough to bring back a little piece of Ubuntu to my homeland, where perhaps with a little caring and a little water, it will take root as naturally as it does here, in the cradle of civilization. It’s funny, many people in America still ask me, “are the people in Africa very primitive?” Yes, I know, amazing someone could ask that but they do. And when they do, I usually explain that living in a mud hut does not make one primitive, however, allowing kids to sell drugs to other kids and engage in drive-by killings — isn’t that primitive behavior? I think it is. When I think of Ubuntu and my recent experiences here, I think America has much to learn from Africa in general, in terms of living as a larger village; and as human beings who are all interconnected with each other, each of us having an affect on our brothers and sisters.

Be sure to head over to Huffington Post and read the full article now!

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Ed’s not: This article was written by Andrew Whitfield.

This amazing South African has established, with the help of his friend and colleague Jacob Lief, a truly powerful organization. It is powerful because it is empowering young South Africans to rise up beyond the circumstances into which they were born. It is developing human capital for a better, brighter future.

In 1999 Banks, a school teacher, and Jacob, an American student, met in a shebeen and struck up an unlikely friendship. A few months later Jacob returned to Zwide with $7000 and Ubuntu Ecucation Fund was born. Today Ubuntu is still in Zwide thanks to the strong relationship between Banks and Jacob, and continues to change the course of countless lives.

Ubuntu Education Fund is focused on improving the lives of HIV infected and affected children in Zwide Township by educating them and providing them with the support they need to shed the shackles of their past and present. By providing psycho-social support and sponsoring their education, Ubuntu is giving these children a chance they would never have had. Their children are attending some of the country’s top private schools in St Andrews College and DSG, and going on to UCT and Rhodes University where they are exposed to a world beyond their wildest dreams. Education is the keystone of this project. “We measure success in realistic terms” says Jordan Levy of Ubuntu. Degrees and jobs are important outcomes for Ubuntu, and they work hard at ensuring that their children have access to opportunities.

While fundraising is a crucial factor in any enterprise of this kind, emphasis is placed primarily on the community. The Ubuntu model is all about engaging with the community and developing mutual respect and a level of trust. “We have the focus, grassroots connections and legitimacy of a Community Based Organisation and the know-how of an International Organisation”, says Levy. He concedes that there have been tough times but by staying the course and building local relationships in the community their cause has prevailed.

When questioned about fundraising Jordan tells me, with a confident portion of pride, that 85% of every Rand raised finds its way back into projects in Zwide. “Ubuntu is run like a business.” By paying competitive salaries and attracting highly qualified individuals they are able to be sustainable.With offices in New York, London and, of course, Zwide, Ubuntu is a serious organization attracting a serious following. Support from their patrons Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu and Hugh Masekela as well as support from the Clinton Foundation; ensure that Ubuntu is taken very seriously beyond our borders. The tragedy is that very few people within our borders know about the work that Ubuntu is doing. Help to raise their local profile by spreading the word. Check out their site and join their Facebook group. If you are in PE, pop in and have a chat – their work will blow your socks off (if the wind doesn’t).

Malizole “Banks” Gwaxula is a great South African without whom this amazing project would not be possible. It is he who represents the spirit of Ubuntu and the pride of his community and his country.

For more info: http://ubuntufund.org/

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I had the enormous privilege last week of stepping in to lecture at UCT, in Dave Duarte’s place (which is VERY daunting I must tell you! He has people sitting in the aisles). The sheer size of the class is staggering, some fiercely bright Commerce students sparkling between those that aren’t there for anything other than obligation, this course being part of the core curriculum. There’s a saying that when 1 teaches, 2 learn, and never more so than this experience for me.

I tend to hang out, real.world & virtually with pioneers who operate actively in the participation economy and I had some assumptions crashed mercilessly. For example: when I asked one of the classes who uploads videos to share on Youtube, NOT ONE hand went up 8-*
I was floored!
With the ease with which we can shoot video on mobile phones?! I was speaking to a born.digital crowd for goodness sake. Or maybe not. Thanks to Telkom bottlenecking our bandwidth and charging like an enraged bull for communications, we don’t have the freedom to connect and share that we could. This has stunted our growth horribly, and leaving South Africa trailing behind, holding onto some tatty old has.been echo from the 80′s/90′s of economic empowerment of the elite.

Isolation creates mutants (think Galapagos) which may be good in part, in that we have to be more resourceful & creative about making a plan. Or we could lose our brightest minds who choose the path of least resistance, and head for a culture where greed of the few doesn’t impede the productivity and potential of a whole nation. Developing nations are the ones who can benefit MOST from the emergence of freely shared tools, global distribution, online commerce and opensource everything. What will it take to get the vampires from draining the life from this country?

Someone needs to point out how ubuntu is counter.intuitively one of the most progressive, enlightened and profitable economic models humans have experimented with. Like the resurgence of yoga, many global thought leaders (even Clinton LOL!) are vaunting the sexiness of this ancient African philosophy: where doing good & doing good business aren’t mutually exclusive.

It isn’t a communist delusion, but healthily democratic, and shares the best aspects of the ‘net – transparency, collective problem-solving, opensource sharing and co.creating culture serve the individual as well as the whole. Realising and amplifying the possibilities that tech.enabled innovation coupled with the natural ubuntu-like culture it engenders may be our last hope, not just in SA, but as a species.

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