
In the Xhosa language of South Africa,
the word ubuntu refers to the belief in a universal bond of brotherhood
and sharing. Jacob Lief C’99 first experienced this concept during a visit
to the Zwide township in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, the summer before
his senior year at Penn. So it is fitting that when he created a non-profit
organization to improve education conditions in the black townships of
that country, he named it the Ubuntu Education Fund.
Lief
first went to South Africa as a high school student in 1994 to observe
the country’s transition to democracy. His interest piqued, he came to
Penn eager to pursue African studies and soon came under the tutelage
of Dr. Mary Frances Berry, the Geraldine R. Segal Professor of History,
who had been a leader of the Free South Africa movement. Lief began doing
independent studies with Berry, and had the opportunity to return to South
Africa in the summer of 1998. However, things did not run smoothly at
first.
“The
organization I went down there with was a complete scam,” he recalls.
Facing the next four months without a job, Lief got on a train and went
to Port Elizabeth. He soon fell in with a family in the Zwide township
and lived with them, learning firsthand the concept of ubuntu.
“These people who had absolutely nothing invited me in to sleep on their
mattress and eat from their bowl.”
Lief
observed the high unemployment and economic problems that are rampant
throughout the country. Children in the schools where he worked would
sit five to a desk in classrooms without chalk. Although apartheid had
been officially dismantled, wide discrepancies persisted in the education
system, with most benefits going to predominantly white schools, where
students could afford higher tuitions. Lief returned to Penn determined
to help out the impoverished schools.
With
the help of some friends and Dr. Berry, who acted as head advisor, Lief
raised $10,000 to buy educational resources for the Emfundweni Primary
and Ndzondelelo Secondary schools. “We took this money down to South Africa
and put it back into the economy. And we got the textbook ratio down from
10 students to 1 old textbook to 5 students to 1 new textbook.” Once every
student had notebooks, pencils and pens, and every classroom had a desk
and chair for every student, exam scores shot up.
Encouraged
by its initial success, the fund has decided to move from strictly supplying
resources to tackling issues of sustainable development. The organization
has enlisted support from 35 businesses and put together a board of directors
and a board of advisors. One new goal is to increase student proficiency
in computers and information technology. Another is to improve health
and AIDS-awareness education.
Zwide
township has been a constant partner. According to Lief, “They invite
us with open arms. In fact, when I was down there the first time, my grandfather
passed away, and I couldn’t get back in time for the funeral, and people
down there asked if they could name their first library after my grandfather.
I was very honored.”
“Ubuntu
is a concept that I would like to raise my family by,” Lief says. “They
really live and die by this idea that it’s humanity that connects us,
and everyone’s given a second chance.”
These
children “are so hungry for knowledge. We want to feed the fire while
it’s still burning. It’s almost cruel not to.”
For more information on the Ubuntu Education Fund, write to: 3721 Midvale Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19129-1758; or call (215) 951-0330 ext. 162.
—Kevin Lee