"Umuntu, muntu umulandu wa Bantu"

Zambian ubuntu Bemba proverb.



Adapted from Seminarian Kennedy Katongo, OMI. In Today's Catholic. Friday, June 19, 2009.


"As I look back and reflect on my time as a volunteer with Catholic Charities Refugee Services, I feel honored, privileged and blessed to have been of service to the individuals and the refugee families that I encountered.

"This experience reminds me of my experience back home in Zambia, when I worked with with the refugees from Angola who were fleeing their country because of the civil war.

"Thus, as a human being, a Christian and a Missionary Oblate, I feel that reaching out to my brothers and sisters in need is a mission we are all called to undertake.

"As one of the Zambian ubuntu Bemba proverbs states, Umuntu, muntu umulandu wa Bantu, that we are who we are because of other people.

"This proverb clearly points to the fact that, as human beings, we are interdependent, and we always need each other on our life's journey.."

Good point!