Ubuntu
I would like to start today’s entry by asking you three questions:
- In the past month have you helped a stranger, or someone you didn’t know who needed help?
- In the past month, have you donated to a charity?
- In the past month, have you volunteered your time to an organization?
Ubuntu
Ubuntu is difficult to define as there is no direct translation to English. It is often translated as humanity or humanism, but those definitions are insufficient. One way that new words are acquired in a language are when no existing word does what the new word does. A lot of loan words in Korean are technologies brought here from other countries. In a similar way, ubuntu has been adopted into English. Ubuntu comes from a Bantu language, Zulu or Xhosa. However, there are similar concepts in ten other Bantu languages.
A common definition you will find is, “I am because you are.” This quote comes from the Christian African philosopher, JS Mbiti but the full quote is actually, “I am, because we are; and since we are therefore I am.” There is a clear sense of belonging and looking after each other. The ubuntu philosophy is to put yourself second, to help others when you can, and to be welcoming to all humans. Nelson Mandela described ubuntu like this: “A traveler through a country would stop at a village and he didn’t have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but it will have various aspects.” Mandela gives us an example of ubuntu, but wants us to know there is more to ubuntu than that.
Ubuntu can be described as African humanism. It focuses on compassion, generosity, dignity, humanity, honesty, magnanimity, empathy, understanding, forgiveness, reciprocity, and sharing. After the Western world colonized Africa, ubuntu became a critique of Western ideology. The European settlers imposed their own form of civilization, which relied on capitalism and racial exploitation.
I feel like capitalism is the main reason why we didn’t have a word like ubuntu in the English language. Altruism can exist in a capitalist state for sure, but there is much less reliance on others. Self-reliance is considered a virtue in the Western world. But, I am wrong about a lot of things, so I decided to try to look into this idea. My research lead me to the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and their Gift Giving Index.
Gift Giving Index
Remember those three questions from the beginning of this article? Well, the CAF interviews people from all over the world and asks them those three questions. I have some questions about their methodology (low sample size and restrictive questions), but it was interesting to see who they consider to be the most giving countries. This gift giving index was started in 2009 after the financial collapse. Based on their research, the top 10 countries (from first to tenth) are: USA, Myanmar, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Canada, UK, Netherlands, and Sri Lanka. If you are wondering, Korea was 57th out of 126 countries surveyed.
Have You Helped a Stranger?
Let’s start with the first question: In the past month, have you helped a stranger? African countries are the most likely to help a stranger. 7 or the top 10 countries most likely to help a stranger are African countries. The CAF’s report specifically credits ubuntu as the reason. The biggest shock was that Liberians were the most likely to help a stranger. Most of what I have read about Liberia is sad and unfortunate, so I am happy to hear that they at least help each other out. At the bottom of the list are current and former communist countries and countries with more socialism. People rely on the government more than each other.
Have You Donated Money?
The second question looks at donating money. Religion seems to have a big effect on whether someone is likely to donate money. Myanmar is at the top of the list as up to 90% of the population follows Theravada Buddhism. The CAF report claims that is the main reason for their location on the list. The countries at the bottom of the list are ones that have economical issues and the people might not have the means to make donations.
Did You Volunteer Your Time?
Finally, the CAF looks at volunteering time. Nearly one fifth of the adults in the world volunteer. Sri Lankans donate their time more than other countries with 46% of adults participating in volunteering. Turkmenistan is a surprise sitting at second. Apparently, Turkmenistan sometimes makes volunteering mandatory. Some people call this voluntold, a portmanteau of volunteer and told.
The Pandemic
The CAF took a break in early 2020 as the pandemic made data collection unsafe. However, they resumed their surveys over phone and internet connections. In the face of the pandemic, there were many shifts in the index. In particular, South Korea shot down to 110th out of 114 countries. Korea ranked 112th in helping a stranger, 59th in donations, and 100th in volunteering. You know, the first time I heard ubuntu was from a Korean. Perhaps we need to be more mindful of ubuntu during these difficult times.
Reflection
I could learn a lot by adapting ubuntu as well. If I were to answer these questions today, I would score 2/3. I don’t recall helping a stranger in the past month or even year. I don’t really know what qualifies, so maybe I have without realizing it, but I wouldn’t say it is a normal thing for me. In Korea, people generally keep out of other people’s business. And even though I could click yes on the other questions, I would not say that it is my normal state. An acquaintance had to have surgery, so I donated some money. I usually don’t donate money unless I know the person. And, I only volunteer when I am voluntold. Our institute does a fair amount of work in the community. Last month, we baked some ‘bread’ (red bean paste and green tea pastries) and then delivered them to special needs school. Well, as far as I know that is what we did.
Anyways, if you made it this far into the article, WELL DONE! I sort of got distracted with this entry. One thing I like about Joel’s challenge (words from around the world) is that my research is brining me to new websites. In my regular entries, I see and use the same websites a lot. I try to find other sources to make things more interesting, but there is a good reason why I use the same websites a lot: They do a good job uncovering the origins of phrases. Anyways, thank you for reading today’s long post. I will try to make tomorrow’s entry a little shorter.
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https://www.facebook.com/ESL-ToyBox-112152010890485
Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_philosophy
https://en.unesco.org/courier/octobre-decembre-2011/i-am-because-you-are
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/ubuntu-south-africa-together-nelson-mandela/
https://www.cafonline.org/docs/default-source/about-us-research/cafworldgivingindex2021_report_web2_100621.pdf
https://www.cafonline.org/docs/default-source/about-us-publications/caf_wgi_10th_edition_report_2712a_web_101019.pdf
https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4272&context=sspapers&httpsredir=1&referer=#:~:text=Ubuntu%20can%20best%20be%20described,ngumuntu%20ngabantu%20in%20Zulu%20language.