Ubuntu: Reflecting on our Collective Humanity.

While this is not my first international trip, Uganda is the most welcoming place that I have ever visited. So much so, that it feels like home. On our first day here, we visited the Khadafi Mosque. As our guide talked to us about the history of the building and the region, Islamic faith in Uganda, and the various ethnic groups that made Kampala what it is today, we were reminded that this continent—endearingly referred to as “Mama Africa”—is and will always be home for all of humankind. While he seemed to be talking about all of humanity, for the first time—as an African-American—I felt like I was a part of the African Diaspora. While it may not have been the experience of anyone else on the trip, I definitely felt a real connection to a history and ancestry that has been lost due to a long history of slavery and general racial stratification in the United States. While I may never be “African,” I truly have filled a gap of longing in my life by visiting Uganda.

The first day is only one of many experiences here that evoked feelings of Ubuntu, a southern African philosophy. The way I like to think about Ubuntu, which is the way that I learned it during my visit to South Africa, is simply “I am who I am because of who we all are.” For me, this means that everything about myself is tied to the lives and experiences of everyone else in my community, in my country, and in my world. While we may have different experiences and histories that make each of us unique, our experiences are not wholly independent of each other. When anyone is oppressed, I am oppressed as well.

This worldview was not only evoked in thinking about my own ancestral ties to Africa, but it has been particularly apparent in the presence of the children we have interacted with. Visiting the young people at the UYDEL center was especially emotional for me. At home, I used to work at a program sponsored by my undergraduate university at an elementary school on the southwest side of the city. There, I was a restorative justice practitioner, primarily guiding several groups of students in peace circles—a community oriented method of discussion—where we talked about anything from conflict resolution, grief, gang violence, sexual assault, and day-to-day struggles that adolescents face. While these children did not come from slums, the surrounding community dealt with a whole host of issues that children should not be forced to experience. In the smiling faces of those children as they shared with us their songs, drama, and dance, reminded me of my own students back home. Touched by the similar resiliency and joy despite the abject circumstances that brought them to the center, I was brought to tears during the entirety of their performance. It was amazing to see how our joyous and sorrowful experiences are all connected in some way.

The spirit of Ubuntu has followed me through the entirety of my trip, and I am looking forward to seeing it more during the rest of our travels.