Africa Rising— the Awakening of a Continent to its Highest Potential
A Vision
The Ubuntu philosophy is based on the interconnectedness not only of human beings — “I am because you are” — but also on our interdependency with nature’s elements (both living and inanimate), and the intertwining between past, present and future. Ubuntu is a life force that has shaped African culture for centuries past. How can it be brought back, revived and used as an inspiring force to reshape Africa’s future?
What does that look like on a societal level? How can it impact health, education, governance, leadership? And how can the Ubuntu.Lab example more globally inspire transnational societal renewal and transformation in the 21st century and beyond?
Ubuntu.Lab is the budding actualisation of a visionary dream: that of stirring Africa towards a journey of self-awakening and empowerment, at the confluence of individual possibility, collective opportunity and historical timeliness. Originally the brainchild of Aggie and Martin Kalungu-Banda, two Africans from Zambia “living in diaspora”, Ubuntu.Lab has taken the online-offline, large-scale, low-cost learning model developed by the Presencing Institute team of practitioners, and fine-tuned it to the unique peculiarities of its African context, in collaboration with Julie Arts who brings immense experience in online-offline learning and facilitation.
In our modern era, observes Martin in a podcast interview, Ubuntu still manifests itself through certain key behaviours. “Whether we recognise it or not, it does exist, it has been inherited from our ancestors, it has power and influence, and is deeply embedded in the essence of human relationships.” For instance, historically the first gesture when welcoming a traveller has been to attend to their physical needs: water, food, and then introduction and dialogue. The divide between “them and us” is the result of a mental creation, of boundaries drawn up in recent history. “We are all brothers and sisters and there is no true human distance between, say, Zambia and Egypt”.
How would a government operate “in the force of Ubuntu”? How does Ubuntu relate to leadership? Martin says:
“It’s about service, about using the instrument of power to gain a wider perspective, in order to serve society better. Leadership is not merely position and power unto themselves: privilege must be harnessed to hear and see more, to better help those who are struggling. Leadership in the spirit of Ubuntu is thus about responsibility to listen to what is going on, so that nobody is left behind. The weaker elements are identified, so that talent and resources can be mobilised to build capacity where it is needed. Because in Ubuntu, if one side of humanity is poor or suffering, the rest is also poor and suffering.”
The Plan
The pilot cycle of Ubuntu.Lab unfolded in two phases and over eight months: a first phase consisted in training the hub facilitators, and in a second phase the trained facilitators deployed the acquired capacity building format to proactively recruited participants across Africa. In order to move Ubuntu.Lab learners from awareness and intention to practical implementation of change-making prototypes and projects, a range of innovative learning frameworks, tools and practices were made available by the project enablers. The capacity building design consisted in a combination of online and offline learning, to quickly and effectively reach thousands of people across the African Continent within a short period of time: using a videoconferencing platform and customised e-learning platform, combined with face-to-face workshops conducted by trained facilitators.
In a first phase lasting from April to June 2018, 178 hub facilitators under the stewardship of nineteen national coordinators from as many countries across the African continent were trained online by Aggie, Julie and Martin to host and lead offline in-person learning sessions with a focus on inspiring creativity and innovation among learners. The facilitator training phase culminated in a face-to-face facilitators’ meetup in Lusaka, Zambia, in August 2018, after which time the lab launched into its second eight-month phase.
In this second phase of Ubuntu.Lab, 300 learners from 15 African countries — some organised into hubs, others on an individual learning journey — experienced a blend of core activities and practices, involving 90-minute live sessions, conversations, application of learnings, and online Ubuntu Cafés — an open space for participants to engage in dialogue on any issue of importance to them.
Objectives were to:
- connect fellow change enablers across Africa
- teach and practise new approaches
- innovate new solutions
- strengthen individual and collective leadership capacities
The various phases of the Ubuntu.Lab journey have been visually captured and amplified by the tireless and heartfelt artwork of Ubuntu.Lab team member and visual harvester Olaf Baldini, who has also shared more about his scribing process in this recent article.
At the closing of an online co-Presencing session from December 2018, Martin shared this reflection about the process:
“Online learning has as much transformative power as face-to-face, if well orchestrated. Societal transformation has never been this possible. The stories of seeds of transformation arising from today’s journaling process were simply astounding and humbling. Adjusted to suit the context of Africa, the 17 journaling questions are reported to have made the participants today access levels of knowing they had never experienced before.”
Impact and Outcomes
Framed as a five-year-long initiative, Ubuntu.Lab has recently witnessed the graduation of its first cohort at the close of its initial prototype cycle, last April 2019.
Measurable societal impact includes the above mentioned cohort of 300 learners, under the guidance of 178 hub hosts from 19 countries and 18 hubs, and the generation of considerable social media awareness: the introductory video posted on Facebook has to-date garnered over 29 thousand views. Numerous collaborations and partnerships have been formed, including organisations such as WWF, YMCA, universities, ministries, NGOs and prospective banks.
Participants are reporting feelings of increasing connectedness with Africa, an awakening to its natural, cultural and historical richness, a belief in its potential to thrive, its diversified unity as one continent.
Jessica Chisompola from Lusaka, Zambia, exclaims: “Alive! I feel alive! I feel I am realizing my potential. Today I saw people in tears, others were hugging each other during the listening exercise. I have a new definition for Ubuntu. It is finding healing, carrying each other’s burdens and holding each other when the going gets tough… Ubuntu is intentionally listening to others and through dialogue finding solutions with them.“
Judy Owiti reported from Kenya “that the Mombasa participants have ‘refused to leave’. The Ubuntu magic is on and the participants are still discussing one hour after the session was supposed to end… The conversations just kept going. People here are hungry and excited. I am pleasantly surprised.“
Helen Zunduna shares her discovery of sensing things from a systems-perspective, through realising “how much she needed to connect with those around her as an instrument of change by being empathetic and making a deliberate conscious decision to listen, not to what she wants to hear, but to what others are trying to communicate.“
Alison McCallum of South-Africa appreciates the need to think, learn and experiment together “One of the things I discovered is that I held some preconceived ideas… I was wrong in all… It is a humbling experience to hear another‘s story told with such candour” and Alice Nyamai, freelance writer expresses the sense of empowerment that the programme has unleashed in her: “I believe Ubuntu will be my leverage to instill the change.”
Next Steps
Ubuntu.Lab is now gearing up for a next cycle, through its first phase of initial facilitator training, towards the launch of its second cohort in June 2019.
The future impact it aspires to achieve through its five-year plan of building up momentum includes reaching thousands of African citizens who are passionate and committed to making a difference for their local community, their country and their continent. This will hinge on the capacity of facilitators and conveners to skilfully lead innovation and change. The big vision includes engaging with African organisations and institutions whose respective missions resonate with the Ubuntu principles, and activating prototypes towards making the UN SDGs a reality on the continent, through nurturing the multi-stakeholder and cross-sector partnerships needed to shift Africa’s future.
Ubuntu.Lab will support the birth of hundreds of prototypes that will emerge from the lab, and the new business and social enterprises created by learners and graduates of the programme with a view to generating employment.
Practically speaking, during the next four years Ubuntu.Lab aims to:
- train at least 600 local facilitators to a point where they will be capable of taking learners on an effective innovation journey
- support innovative prototypes that will have demonstrated their potential to solve societal challenges
- raise an investment of $2.8 million over a period of 3 years to reach at least 10,000 learners.
Ubuntu.Lab will support the birth of hundreds of prototypes that will emerge from the process, and thus the new business and social enterprises created by learners and graduates of the programme, with a view to generating employment.
Objectives are not new, but something in the approach to creating transformation has possibly been shifted by the Ubuntu process: in the manner of listening to others, in coping with adversity, in evolving from a “me” to a “we” mindset for finding ways forward. In an Ubuntu.Lab learner’s words, the journey has “inspired me to create the future I dream of by working hard. Resources are not everything, but your mind is a great asset. It’s not only about me: I need to nourish others, too.“
Ubuntu.Lab is a customised journey for transforming Africa’s self-awareness as a continent. The experience is exquisitely African, yet it has the power to touch all human hearts. Ubuntu inspires hope and renewal for all of humankind, because it advocates for a rediscovery of the connectivity of our existence that ultimately goes well beyond Africa.
In essence — Ubuntu: I am, because you are.
How to get involved
- As a participant — kindly note that this is a course intended for people who live and work in Africa: you can learn more and register here.
- As a supporter: do you feel called to support the Ubuntu.Lab initiative through your personal creative talents? Please reach out to Aggie Kalungu-Banda.
- As a funder: do you feel called to support the Ubuntu.Lab initiative financially? Please reach out to Aggie Kalungu-Banda. You can also make a donation by going here.
