This is a Native American proverb that teaches us that respect for people is a paramount virtue in society. That proverb reminds me of several proverbs that I heard as I grew up in the village. We have this one: Mtu ni watu, that is, our humanity is defined by the humanity of others. If we respect and care for them, we raise our own humanity to monumental heights and thus live our humanity to the fullest.
That is why the Native Americans believe that we should not make enemies and instead be friendly and humane to everyone. Our own African philosopher from Kenya, John Mbiti, says it well: I am because we are and because we are, therefore I am. In other words, I cannot speak of myself without the “we” and the ‘we’ does not exist without the ‘I’.
This is African philosophy at its best, but not that Africans have a monopoly over wisdom in this area, it is that there is so much to learn from the philosophy of our ancestors. On that philosophy we can stand tall and bring it and our treasures of wisdom to the global arena. We indeed have plenty to share in the area of philosophy with the rest of the world and with our children still to be born.
One of the major differences between ourselves today and our ancestors is their wonderful sense of community and their relentless care and concern for everyone in the community. In this area they are giants, we are but little stunted people. Respect for community defined their everyday experience, whereas today we tend to be more selfish and materialistic. They put humanity on a pedestal, but we today tend to put material things on a pedestal. There is so much to learn from them.
But in all fairness we must admit that there are some of us, perhaps many of us, who understand the richness of this philosophy and practise it daily. We, the readers of The Arusha News, read the story last week of how Arusha Rotarians have committed themselves to construct a state-of-the-art Blood Bank in Arusha in the premises of Mount Meru Referral Hospital. This is indeed a superb example of Rotarians and other stakeholders who believe that a hundred friends are too few and one enemy is one too many. This is a super example to all as they try to reach out to those in need. It is the best way of demonstrating our humanity.
