It seems like getting ready for the Ubuntu journery to Sierra Leone has been in the works for a long time and yet the packing seems to never end. One of our Africa University friends attends school in Evanston now as he works on his Master's of Divinity. His photo at the left sums up what Ubuntu means in a few words. Ubuntu an African word for which there is no single word translation in the English language. Ubuntu means they are generous,
hospitable, friendly, caring, and compassionate. They share what they have. It
also means my humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in theirs.
We belong in a bundle of life. We
say 'a person is a person through other persons.' It is not 'I think therefore I
am.' It says rather, 'I am human because I belong.' I participate, I share. A person with ubuntu is open and
available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others
are able and good....Harmony, friendliness, community are great goods.
Social harmony is for
us the greatest good."Desmond Tutu quoted from No
Future Without Forgiveness (London: Random House, 1999), 34. So it is around this Ubuntu Journey to Sierra Leone, I have been preparing for the past several months. The journey isn't about what I can take to the women in SL but what is it that we have in common? What lessons will I learn from my sisters in Sierra Leone? How will we join hands to make our corner of the world a better place for those around?
To know that friends and family are praying for me and our team is always a comfort. My hope is that I will be able to also send notes providing WIFI is on somewhere. They can't be long (you are relieved already) but hopefully it will give you an idea about where we are going and what we are doing Here's a link to where you will find glimpses of the UBUNTU Journey to Sierra Leone. Bonnie Albert
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