Each year Hewitt chooses a theme for the year. This year’s theme is Ubuntu.
Ubuntu (oo-BOON-too) can be traced back to Bantu languages in South Africa. The concept of Ubuntu is used in a variety of ways in different parts of Africa.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu gives a stirring definition,
“Africans have this thing called UBUNTU. It is about the essence of being human, it is part of the gift that Africa will give the world. It embraces hospitality, caring about others, being able to go the extra mile for the sake of others. We believe that a person is a person through another person, that my humanity is caught up, bound up, inextricably, with yours. When I dehumanise you, I inexorably dehumanise myself. The solitary human being is a contradiction in terms and therefore you seek to work for the common good because your humanity comes into its own in belonging.”
Watch Desmond Tutu talk about Ubuntu:
Watch Nelson Mandela talk about Ubuntu:
Watch President Clinton talk about Ubuntu:
