Ubuntu I Am Because We Are Parables Of The United Human Spirit

"It's yet another perfect prescription by the pediatrician author; a right dose of wit and wisdom, hope and humor, in these trying times." - VIDYA BALAN, Actor Dr Shilpa Aroskar, bestselling author of YOLO, returns with a nuanced, bitter-sweet take on daily life in the pandemic. A frontline warrior herself, she shares the experiences of its perils, as well as the myriad shades of human emotion and behaviour hidden behind the masks. With her trademark wit she weaves untold stories of people from all spheres of life, in pandemic times. Be it finding love in times of quarantine, virtual weddings, E-School, or mastering the art of boredom in lockdown, every chapter offers a prismatic view of life with a message to ponder. These pages are about being vulnerable yet strong, being fearful but facing it, of counting one’s blessings in an upside down world, and living with an attitude of gratitude.

"It's yet another perfect prescription by the pediatrician author; a right dose of wit and wisdom, hope and humor, in these trying times." - VIDYA BALAN, Actor Dr Shilpa Aroskar, bestselling author of YOLO, returns with a nuanced, bitter-sweet take on daily life in the pandemic. A frontline warrior herself, she shares the experiences of its perils, as well as the myriad shades of human emotion and behaviour hidden behind the masks. With her trademark wit she weaves untold stories of people from all spheres of life, in pandemic times. Be it finding love in times of quarantine, virtual weddings, E-School, or mastering the art of boredom in lockdown, every chapter offers a prismatic view of life with a message to ponder. These pages are about being vulnerable yet strong, being fearful but facing it, of counting one's blessings in an upside down world, and living with an attitude of gratitude.

In 1998, Jacob Lief, a 21-year-old American university student, met school teacher Malizole "Banks" Gwaxula in a township tavern in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. After bonding over beers and a shared passion for education, Gwaxula invited Lief to live with him in the township. Inspired by their fortuitous meeting—which brought together two men separated by race, nationality, and age-and by the spirit of ubuntu, roughly translated as "I am because you are"—the two men embarked on an unexpectedly profound journey. Their vision? To provide vulnerable children in the townships with what every child deserves-everything. Today, their organization, Ubuntu Education Fund, is upending conventional wisdom about how to break the cycle of poverty. Shunning traditional development models, Ubuntu has redefined the concept of scale, focusing on how deeply it can impact each child's life rather than how many it can reach. Ubuntu provides everything a child needs and deserves, from prenatal care for pregnant mothers to support through university-essentially, from cradle to career. Their child-centered approach reminds us that one's birthplace should not determine one's future. I Am Because You Are sets forth an unflinching portrayal of the unique rewards and challenges of the nonprofit world while offering a bold vision for a new model of development.

The essential guide to Ubuntu, the South African philosophy which teaches that our common humanity and interconnectedness is key to living a better life. "This book will open your eyes, mind and heart to a way of being in the world that will make our world a better and more caring one." --Archbishop Desmond Tutu Ubuntu is a Xhosa word originating from a South African philosophy that encapsulates all our aspirations about how to live life well, together. It is the belief in a universal human bond: I am only because you are. And it means that if you are able to see everyone as fully human, connected to you by their humanity, you will never be able to treat others as disposable or without worth. By embracing the philosophy of Ubuntu and living it out in daily life it's possible to overcome division and be stronger together in a world where the wise build bridges, not walls. These 14 lessons from the Rainbow Nation are an essential toolkit to helping us all to live better, together. In stories that recognise our common humanity, our connectedness and interdependence, Everyday Ubuntu helps to make sense of the world and our place in it. Exploring ideas of kindness and forgiveness, tolerance and the power of listening, it shows how we can all benefit from embracing others. Including practical applications and mindful exercises, it is an inspirational guide to a more fulfilling life as part of the large family to which we all belong.

The aim of this book is to provide a way to do justice to an African language of faith. In systematic theology, anthropology and philosophy of religion, similar debates about how to interpret an African language of faith are ongoing. Trying to avoid the ‘othering’ discourses of past generations, scholars are careful to take seriously what people in Africa say without portraying people’s beliefs as weird or backward. Yet, in their desperate attempts to avoid othering, these theologians, anthropologists and philosophers often painfully misconstrue the language of faith in Africa. Understanding the language of faith in Southern Africa is not an easy task. How should we take seriously the form of language that often seems so strange and different? I argue that, after African inculturation theology and black liberation theology, a better way to make sense of being a Christian in Southern Africa is to pay close attention to people’s language of faith. The way in which people speak of the spirit world or powers in Africa appears strange to outsiders, and the sense of community and the holistic worldview differentiates the African way of life from its Euro-American counterparts. When proper attention is paid to the use of concepts like spirit world, power, community and holism, language of faith in Southern Africa is neither as strange as it may seem, nor as romantic. By investigating these distinguishing concepts that colour language of faith in Southern Africa, this book contributes to future projects of both fellow theologians who try to construct a contemporary African theology and those who are interested in theology in Africa given the well-known southward shift of the centre of gravity of Christianity.

The Mistakes I Never Forget is the story of the struggle of a young man, Gautam—who moves to Bangalore, the silicon city of India—in hunt of a lucrative job in a software company. He has completed his engineering degree, but struggles to speak English fluently. This makes his employers’ think he is not qualified enough and refuse to give him a job. He shares space in a dingy one room apartment with three other young men, Lawrence, a nerd, Kamesh a hulk, and Madhan, who doubles up as their chef—all struggling for months to find software jobs and make ends meet. Even his roommates and friends ridicule him because of his language shortcoming. However, when a beautiful, talented young woman, Reshmi, falls in love with Gautam, his friends are amazed and question the why and how of this relationship. Reshmi’s works in the software industry, but dreams of being a choreographer. Will she fulfill her dream? Will Gautam get a job in a software company despite his stuttering English?

A Jesuit priest and founder of Homeboy Industries traces his experiences of working with gangs in Los Angeles for three decades, sharing what his efforts have taught him about faith, compassion, and the enduring power of radical kinship.