Ubuntu in Africa

“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb”.--Nelson Mandela

As part of the Henry Crown Program with the Aspen Institute, I had the opportunity to visit sub-Sahara Africa for the first time. This visit took me to the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa on the beautiful and secluded area of the Spier Estate, established in the year 1692.

On arrival to South Africa, we drove though the infamous N2 highway to reach the estate. We passed expanses of open lands and what looked to be shanty town (slum areas) which caught my eye and would eventually lead to an experience in South Africa later in the visit.

We arrived at Spier to a splendid reception and were overjoyed to greet colleagues that we have been working and studying with in the Henry Crown program. We spend a lot of time together and the 2-year program centered on notions of the good society and increasing ones significance. This time together has allowed the group to form bonds in very strong and meaningful ways.

As guest of the ALI “African Leadership Initiative” we were there as guests of the African leadership members, many accomplished young Africans from several countries: South Africa, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania combined with American and leaders from El Salvador, Costa Rica and Canada. 

We spent the first week reviewing and discussing the readings we had completed prior to arriving..  They range from the great works of old (e.g. Plato) to more modern stories and narratives from Thomas Friedman, President Thabo Mbeki,  Sayyid Qutb, Joseph Conrad, Chinua Achebe, Bishop Desmond Tutu and a wide variety of diverse political, academic and religious scholars.

We use these writing to challenge and or reinforce our own beliefs and cultural and expose similarities and difference on world-views by the attendance and countries represented in the room.  With a theme of “Leading in an Era of Globalization” the narrative centered on themes in these writings coupled with current events in each of our respective countries/cultures. 

Simply put, the conversations are fascinating and widely divergent due to the perspectives presented. You come away more global and more learned in so many ways. 

As the first week came to a close many good friendships were forged as we shared in conversations, dinners, walks in the evening and talked about our opportunities, challenges and fears together.

I now have a stronger and more direct network of young accomplished leaders in many African countries. Their passion inspires, their commitment for progress and change, bountiful in the West, but still very elusive in much of Africa, these current and future leaders have a great deal of responsibility in the next century. They now have friends in the Henry Crown program and all our experiences and talents will be brought to bear to help each other in any way possible.

As we broke from the learning part of the first week, we then ventured into touring many of the areas of South Africa. We visited what is called a “Township”, which from my experience was a nice way of saying a slum or a shanty town. The one we visited was called Khayelitsha. It stretched out for miles and as far as the eye could see in most directions. It was filled with poverty on so many levels with a disease undercurrent as the driver told us how these areas are plagued by HIV/AIDS as well.

We visited with the people in this Township; we walked amongst them, toured their homes, played with their children and visited their humble street shops to buy small trinkets. We found them to be very welcoming, lots of smiling faces and gratitude that as strangers in their world, we would take the time to shake a hand thank them for the time and hospitality.  We even had a chance to visit the self-proclaimed “smallest-hotel in South Africa” here in the Township.

The visit here was my first exposure to true sub-Saharan African poverty and it was eye opening in so many ways, but as important it was also my first experience spending a full week, with 10 hours days with a group of African leaders struggling with their own challenges, some of which are familiar to me, but many of which of foreign to my societal and cultural upbringings.

Lastly, our tour of Cape Town and South Africa led us to Robben Island, the Alcatraz-like island prison where Nelson Mandela spent many of the 27 years he was imprisoned. We walked the grounds with a former prisoner whom shared his heartfelt and real pains of this experience in captivity there.  The uniqueness of this experience was the proximity to recent history. This was not some ancient struggle in millennia past, this was real and it was recent. These events and the ending of Apartheid combined with Nelson Mandela becoming President all happened when I was of age to understand and comprehend in 1994.  A truly unique and treasured experience to have had the opportunity to visit this place. 

In the end this experience was the first step in a journey for us all. 

A step for realizing the common good in our aspirations. 

A step for renewing and building friendships.

A step for sharing struggles and concerns, for having safe harbor to discuss these fears.

A step for hope that at some point the future we are united by the threads of the same human desire for good and peace that are sourced in the themes of family, faith, liberty, freedom, rule of law and self-expression.   

I am inspired and humbled by the people I met and the stories I heard. That each of us has struggles at all levels of our lives, some to a greater extent than others.

I also left thinking about our American culture and the legacy of the United States and how very proud I am of our country, the history, and our people. Our citizens are the most generous in the world and our compassion and love for our nation and each other, is only outdone by our commitment to freedom, liberty and the rule of law and ensuring that no matter what walk of life you are from, you have a chance in America like no other place in the world to take control of your future and to make a difference in your life and ultimately the world. 

I experienced many people with Ubuntu while in Africa. Thank you

Stephen Gillett