I Am Because You Are: How the Spirit of Ubuntu Inspired an Unlikely Friendship and Transformed a Community

195 Pages·2015·5.83 MB·English

by  Jacob Lief

PRAISE FOR I AM BECAUSE YOU ARE
“I Am Because You Are is more than the story of two unlikely friends with a shared passion for helping
children get an education. It’s a celebration of hope, resilience, and perseverance, and in Jacob’s telling we
see that when we make a difference in the lives of others, we transform ourselves in the process.”
—Arianna Huffington, chair, president, and editor-in-chief of the Hungton Post
Media Group and author of Thrive
“Jacob Lief has rare courage. Courage to go beyond conventional ways because he truly hears the
disadvantaged young people in South Africa. Courage to be one with them and their communities. And
courage to build something big and new that gives them strength in every aspect of their lives throughout
their growing up. And he writes a wonderfully engaging book.”
—Bill Drayton, CEO, Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
“I Am Because You Are shows us the power of leadership willing to defy industry constraints. Sixteen years
ago, I invested seed capital into Jacob’s vision, because I saw someone who could innovate in a way that
would change the world.”
—Rob Kaplan, professor and senior associate dean, Harvard Business School;
cochair, Draper Richards Kaplan; and former vice chairman, Goldman Sachs
“I Am Because You Are is as fascinating and inspirational as Jacob himself. His story of creating an
incredible island of hope in a South African township is told with excitement and brutal honesty. It reads
both as a great memoir of a young man’s journey as well as a handbook for making a difference on this
planet.”
—Kevin Bacon, actor
“I Am Because You Are tells the compelling story of how Ubuntu Education Fund became a model for
social change the whole world can learn from . . . an institution my grandfather would be proud of and
which continues to build on his legacy. ”
—Kweku Mandela, president, Out of Africa Entertainment and cofounder,
Africa Rising Foundation
“When investing in a business venture, I look for creativity, capability to adapt, and leadership. Deciding
which social enterprises to support is no different; I prioritise ideas, people, and innovation. I Am Because
You Are proves what nonprofits can achieve when they are bold enough to integrate these business practices
into their visions.”
—James Caan, CBE, business entrepreneur
“I Am Because You Are is the improbable story of a young idealist who never lost his passion and who
founded one of the most impressive social projects that I have ever seen.”
—William Voge, chair and managing partner, Latham & Watkins
“In 2013, I visited Port Elizabeth, South Africa, with President Bill Clinton; weaving through the
townships, we found our way to the Ubuntu Centre. It was an inspiring and humbling day. The power of
care, aspiration, and love was so evident. I Am Because You Are brings to life the impact and ubuntu spirit
that I witnessed.
—Lord Rumi Verjee
“Pride is the first word that came to mind [when] reading I Am Because You Are; I feel immensely
privileged to have played a role, however small, in supporting Ubuntu Education Fund. What Jacob and
Banks have achieved in just 16 years is remarkable; they are a worthy example for anyone who hopes to
serve.”
—Dr. Mary Frances Berry, former chair of the US Commission on Civil
Rights; Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and Professor
of History, University of Pennsylvania

To my boys, Madiba and Freedom, for whom a better world awaits, and to
Lindsay, who is the reason that I have made it this far. —J. L.
To Mike and Ocie. —A. T.

CONTENTS
FOREWORD A D T
BY RCHBISHOP ESMOND UTU
CHAPTER ONE: THE MEANING OF A DRESS
CHAPTER TWO: A WHITE BOY WALKS INTO A SHEBEEN
CHAPTER THREE: ONE CRAZY SUMMER IN THE TOWNSHIP
CHAPTER FOUR: FROM HTML TO HIV
CHAPTER FIVE: THE ALREADY-COLORED-IN COLORING BOOK
CHAPTER SIX: OUTPUTS VS. OUTCOMES
CHAPTER SEVEN: OUR MISSION IS THE SAME, NOW LET’S CHANGE EVERYTHING ELSE
CHAPTER EIGHT: TAKING THE STAGE
CHAPTER NINE: A BUILDING WITH WINGS
CHAPTER TEN: THE PATHWAY
EPILOGUE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
GLOSSARY
FOREWORD
I J L J 2006. He bounded into the lobby of my
FIRST MET ACOB IEF IN ANUARY OF
New York hotel, a young man with long, curly blond hair, an infectious smile,
and a palpable passion for South Africa and for his organization, Ubuntu
Education Fund. His energy took over the room. The first question I asked him
was: “What is a young, white American like you doing in the townships?”
He answered, in the unembellished, undaunted way that I now recognize as
his trademark style, “I’m trying to give the kids there the same kind of education
you and I would give our own children.”
Jacob went on to tell me the story of how he and his partner, Malizole
“Banks” Gwaxula, began this important work. They met by chance one night in
Port Elizabeth, South Africa; at the time, Jacob was still a college student, while
Banks worked full-time as a teacher. After a few hours of conversation, Banks
offered Jacob a place to stay and work at his school. They discovered a shared
sense of purpose: to improve the lives and education of children living in the
townships of Port Elizabeth. Together, they had very little to start with, but they
poured themselves into canvasing the community to discover what its residents
needed and wanted the most. They set out to gather donations, and their
ambitious vision for changing lives inspired enormous generosity.
Soon, Jacob and Banks were providing schools with textbooks, basic supplies,
and computer centers. It didn’t take long, however, for the pair to realize that
raw materials weren’t enough, and so they went about creating a support system
that encouraged and enabled children to use their new resources. Later, when the
community sought help in dealing with the pernicious effects of the AIDS crisis,
Jacob and Banks responded with health programs and counseling. On that winter
afternoon, as I listened to Jacob describe what Ubuntu Education Fund had done
so far, and how much more it hoped to accomplish, I realized that it was truly
embodying what its name set forth: Ubuntu is the recognition of humanity in one
another.
This is not just a nice thought or a sentimental set of words in South Africa.
Ubuntu is our defining concept: I exist because you exist. And here was Jacob,
telling me how he, as a student at the University of Pennsylvania, met Banks, a
black South African some twenty years older, and a teacher in the townships,
and how they proceeded to look beyond their superficial differences to their
essential sameness. And more than that, they looked beyond their own needs and
comforts and saw the needs and discomforts of the people who surrounded them.
South Africa cast off an oppressive regime in favor of a democratic society,
and it did so without war. The reconciliation process that followed continues to
inspire oppressed people across the globe. And yet the inequities of apartheid
linger. A particularly harmful aspect of that legacy is an educational system that
lags far behind our capabilities. The Bantu Education Act of 1953 established
policies based on the idea that some children neither need nor deserve an
education, that reading, writing, and arithmetic are wasted on someone destined
to dig a ditch. Because of these policies, township schools sank into a state of
disrepair and laxity too great to easily overcome. But, unlike so many before
him, Jacob was able to see a hunger to learn in our children—children who
crowded three to a desk, even if they had no pens or paper or chalk to write on
their classroom blackboards. Through Ubuntu Education Fund, Jacob and Banks
sought to relieve that hunger, to bring the sustenance of education to a
generation of children.
Jacob and Banks also recognized that a child needs more than books and
pencils to succeed at learning. A child must feel safe, must be supported, must
be healthy and eat well. As the AIDS epidemic spread in our country, we
watched the virus’s acute impact on children. Many were HIV-positive and
struggling with its symptoms. Others were supporting their families because
their mothers or fathers were sick and could not. Still others had no parents at
all, left orphaned by the disease.
For several years, the important work of dealing with the effects of HIV/AIDS
became derailed by politics. Some wanted to argue about its causes, argue over
what remedies were most effective and how the epidemic might be staunched.
Meanwhile, thousands of children were being caught up by illness and death.
They were being asked to grow up before their time, to become caregivers when
they themselves needed care. Throughout this time, as the government failed to
resolve these issues, Jacob and his colleagues steadfastly offered support and
advocacy to those in need. Their work remains important. There is nothing so
tragic as seeing a child stripped of his or her childhood. Ubuntu Education Fund
helps children reclaim some of the freedom and the joy that comes from
knowing that you have someone to rely on, to help you face the difficult tasks, to
listen to your deepest fears, to share in the pleasure of learning, and to revel in
the delight of play.
While Ubuntu Education Fund offers children great resources and intensive
intervention, perhaps more crucially it teaches children that they deserve the
same quality of attention and supplies as anyone else. Defeatism may be one of
the most insidious by-products of poverty. If you expect that nothing good will
come of your life, why reach for anything better? By bolstering the self-esteem,
the confidence, and the self-awareness of children in the townships, Ubuntu
Education Fund gives them the tools to work hard, to dream large, and to expect
great things to happen.
At that January meeting, Jacob convinced me to speak at Ubuntu’s first gala to
be held in New York City. Soon after, I became the organization’s patron, and
over the years, I’ve spoken at many of its functions, both in London and in New
York. I’ve watched it grow from a handful of people working hard to stretch a
few thousand dollars to an organization that, in September 2010, opened a state-
of-the-art $6.5-million community center. The first generation of students has
now graduated from university. In turn, Ubuntu has been recognized around the
world. Jacob is a fellow of the Aspen Institute’s African Leadership Initiative
and has been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
The organization has been recognized by the Schwab Foundation Social
Entrepreneur of the Year Award and has often been highlighted at the Clinton
Global Initiative.
After the many years we struggled to rid our country of apartheid, nothing
makes me prouder now than to see South Africa give birth to organizations like
Ubuntu Education Fund, whose work illuminates the vast difference between
simply touching a child’s life and truly transforming it. Ubuntu draws deeply
from its community, and the community draws deeply from it; they have formed
a relationship that beautifully demonstrates how we all depend on each other to
thrive. Through it, we can envision a future when every child believes he or she
deserves the best, and reaches for it.
Look at the origins of Ubuntu: Jacob didn’t arrive in Port Elizabeth with the
attitude that he knew all the solutions to its problems or with notions of a quick
fix. He came with a humble spirit, with curiosity and compassion, with a desire
to learn from the people he chose to serve. He met Banks, who demonstrated the
spirit of ubuntu by inviting this young stranger into his home and into his family,
and joined him in a working partnership that depends on respect and trust. In this
way, the seeds of Ubuntu Education Fund were planted, and now they have
borne fruit.
—Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language. It speaks of the very essence of being human.
When we want to give high praise to someone we say, “Yu, u nobuntu”; “Hey, so-and-so has ubuntu.”
Then you are generous, you are hospitable, you are friendly and caring and compassionate. You share
what you have. It is to say, “My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours.” We belong in
a bundle of life. We say, “A person is a person through other persons.” It is not, “I think therefore I am.”
It says rather: “I am human because I belong. I participate, I share.” A person with ubuntu is open and