Ubuntu

3 min readOct 1, 2015

As I reflect on my first week in New York, I cannot help but appreciate a famous South African statement “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu” which can be lightly translated to mean a person is a person because of people. The statement actually means that it is the family, friends and community that builds the character and personality of any individual. It implies that without the support of interpersonal relationships, no individual will be able to live a full and abundant life.

Seven of the eleven Acumen Global Fellows 2016 Cohort sat along a long table over a late lunch. This was our first informal group meeting but not necessarily my first. I had had the priviledge to meet one of the fellows the previous day but the topics of conversation were the same. The atmosphere was alive and exciting but haunted by some conflicting emotions of fear and anxiety. We were all trying, in our different ways, to establish whether we had made the right decision or if we even deserved this opportunity.

One thing was clear among all of us; we had all sacrificed a lot to be here and we now questioned the worth of our decisions. As each one of us described their different circumstances, we seemed to immediately identified with them. We certainly came from different backgrounds — no two people were from the same country, but that late afternoon, we were all speaking the same language. My fears, my anxieties started to subside. In spoken and unspoken words, we had already started knitting a support net — individually we wouldn’t survive, but I was certain that together we were going to make it.

The week that followed this lunch was insightful. It seemed Acumen had already discovered that Global Fellows needed each other, within a cohort and across cohorts. So as we arrived at Acumen on the Monday, we were welcomed by the incredible Acumen family and the Acumen Global Fellows 2015 Cohort. As I listened to each fellow’s story, I heard the raw pain in their voice, I imagined the tenacity that had brought them back from the field, and I appreciated the sacrifice that they were making; to experience all those emotions again, just so we could learn from them. After all said and done though, none of the outgoing fellows would have done it differently; regardless of the challenges, they would all happily enrol again if they had to choose.

The fact was the fellowship was going to be challenging but beneficial. The sacrifices that we had made were going to be worth it, if we opened ourselves to it. Many questions still had not been answered. The future was unclear but within days of the fellowship, I was sure I had made the right choice. I felt privileged that Acumen had chosen me. I was in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing.

The confidence I felt at the end of the first week was certainly the opposite of what I felt when I arrived in the beautiful and glorious city. How then can I explain the differences between the person I was at the end of that and the person I was when I arrived in New York? Ubuntu… yes! The people surrounding me were able to give me the strength and confidence I needed to chase away my fears. It’s the people around me who helped me turn the chance I was given into a real opportunity. It is the people in our lives that truly make us who we are and enable us to become who we want to be.

This is therefore a special dedication to the people who have made me and who are making me; my family, my friends, but most importantly in this season, the Acumen Global Fellows Team and the Global Fellows 2015 and 2016 Cohorts! Thanks guys! You rock!