Ubuntu and the spirit of interconnectedness that drives Scouting globally

The 90’s was a time full of hope and change in South Africa, as we watched the release of Nelson Mandela and watched in awe the work that he and people like Archbishop Desmond Tutu undertook to unify and heal a country and people that had been through so much.?

During this time and in the years after Archbishop Tutu often spoke about Ubuntu, describing its most fundamental meaning as ‘I am because we are’.?He said, “Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can’t exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness … We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.”

This essence of the meaning of ubuntu being in each of us, rooted in our connection to others is something that is at the heart of Scouting for me. It is at the heart of the work that happens in schools and communities around the world everyday where young people work together, regardless of their race, gender, faith or economic situation. Seeing their groups and their communities more than just as individuals but as the sum of all their parts and actively lifting up those communities through their efforts to be active citizens that address the challenges that they face.?

It exists in the offer of one Scout to another to share a meal, donate a uniform or change their programme to ensure it includes everyone who wants to join. It exists in the work of a Scout Group to clean up a community, fundraise and provide food for those who don’t have it or advocate on behalf of a cause. It is embedded in many of the anecdotes we have in Scouting but most certainly in one of Baden-Powell’s most famous quotes ?‘leave this world a little better than you found it’. This spirit of Ubuntu flows throughout Scouting, and for me I see it at the heart of everything we do at all levels in our movement.?

Four years ago, the way in which WOSM supported Scout organisations fundamentally shifted and WOSM Services was born. The movement was clear that we needed to ensure that we offered quality support to every member organisation regardless of their size and location in the world. That we were a global movement of interconnected organisations that needed to ensure that we used that interconnection to lift each other up.?

This fundamental shift to aligning globally the way in which we offered support has driven incredible work over the last four years. The movement swelled with support and over 200 volunteers with specialisms across Scouting were recruited and trained to become WOSM Consultants, available to any National Scout Organisation that could benefit from support, free of cost. This global pool has used their skills to develop, guide, support and make a difference to 80% of our 225 associations and organisations around the world.?

Archbishop Tutu once described a person with ubuntu as "open and available to others, affirming of others”. This is what is at the heart of our aspirations for WOSM Services, here to support when it is needed and to celebrate the achievements of each other. As we look forward to the next three years of WOSM’s triennium I am excited to see the work that will develop this even further, the willingness to tackling challenges and developing how we continuously improve. More consultants being brought in, development of new areas of support, making is easier for organisations to ask for help and innovating ways for our movement to more easily seek and provide peer to peer support.?

Even more than this I am proud and humbled everyday by the huge efforts that make all this support happen.?Of our volunteers and staff around the world who tirelessly strive to bring us all closer to each other, ensuring that no-one is left behind and that this spirit of ubuntu lives at the heart of who we are a movement.?