I remember my Mother coming home from one of her many journeys to Africa in love with the word, UBUNTU, which means, “I am because we are.”  The synonym in English is Humanity.  She taught me that the philosophy behind this word is that we find our humanity through our relationship with other humans.

I first came across this photo of African children with the accompanying story.  An anthropologist proposed a game to a group of African tribal kids. He put a basket full of fruit near a tree, and told them that whoever got there first won the sweet fruits. When he said “go,” they all took each others’ hands and ran together, then sat and enjoyed the fruits together. When he asked them why they had run together, as one could have had all the fruits for himself, they said: “Ubuntu. How can one of us be happy if all the others are sad?”

Happy Thanksgiving Mom,

*<[:o)