My humanity is bound in yours ...

“Africans believe in something that is difficult to render in English. We call it ubuntu, botho. It means the essence of being human. You know when it is there and when it is absent. It speaks about humanness, gentleness, hospitality, putting yourself out on behalf of others, being vulnerable. It embraces compassion and toughness. It recognises that my humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.”

This is undoubtedly one of my favourite quotes. Humans have this amazing ability to love and be loved and this quote highlights the importance of this wonderful gift. This is, in my opinion, is the sole reason we were placed on this earth.

It is easy to become weighed down by all the bad in the world but to me this quote is proof that good people still exist and there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Last week, I was fortunate to hear from many kind and inspiring people who have made a difference and touched many lives. As part of our community orientation programme our class with other health sciences disciplines were exposed to three days of ... inspiration.

On day one of orientation we had the pleasure of meeting Daniel. Daniel has athetoid cerebral palsy, a movement disorder characterised by fluctuating muscle tone. As a result Daniel is wheelchair bound and dependent on others to complete functional tasks of daily living. Daniel attended a school for physically disabled children and, despite his high intellect, was placed in a class for the intellectually disabled. Eventually a teacher realised Daniels full potential and taught him how to use a computer. Daniel used this skill to write and present motivational talks. Due to his condition Daniel takes hours to write only a few pages and, because his speech muscles are affected, it is very difficult for him to talk. Despite this, Daniel is determined to share his story.

Daniel started his talk with a though provoking question. He asked “what was your first thought when you saw me.” Immediately the room became uncomfortable because, unintentionally, we had judged Daniel and labelled him ‘disabled.’  Daniel spoke about the hardships of growing up and never feeling ‘normal.’ On one occasion Daniel walked into a shop and some people laughed because he was different. As Daniel matured he realised that his disability was part of who he was and instead of trying to be normal he embraced this part of himself. Daniel is a fantastic example of success despite adversity and a valuable lesson can be learned from his story.

Another talk that stood out  was a talk by Joe White. Joe came from an affluent family in America where, in his opinion, ones worth was directly related to material goods, but an inspirational trip to South America highlighted the value in helping others. This revelation inspired Joe to start missionary work which lead him to the valley of a thousand hills in Durban. Joe arrived in South Africa shortly after apartheid and the valley of a thousand hills was predominantly African. Despite being one of the few white people in the area Joe immersed himself in the community. Joe noticed that the ‘rich were getting richer and the poor were getting poorer’ as a result of a capitalist society. He believed the only way to combat this was to address the problem at a grassroots level by teaching people valuable life skills that would allow them to better themselves. Consequently, Joe began a non profit organisation aimed at achieving just this. Joe told a wonderful story of two men, one of the men had recently got out of jail and the other man was a drug dealer. These men attended Joe’s course in order to learn the layout of the building so that they could break into it and steal from them. Today, one of these men attends a prestigious university overseas and the other runs the non-profit organisation.   This story emphasised the success of Joes programme. Through his programme many people have found employment and were able to better themselves and their families.

Lastly we had a lovely lecture on the state of our country and the state of the world. The lecturer began by asking the class: “How are we doing?” “How is the country doing?” “How is the world doing?” The lecturer used creative methods to highlight the state of South Africa and the world. It made me realise that I had become so caught up in my world that I had very little knowledge of the problems that people in our country and in other parts of the world face. Society is so concerned with me, myself and I that we have very little energy left to care for others. This highlights the importance of what Desmond Tutu said regarding ubuntu. We have lost sight of “essence of being human” which is to love and care for others. As Occupational Therapy students we are privileged to be exposed to these perspectives. Over the three days of orientation I was inspired and ... changed.