Ujima African Proverb
The meaning of the proverb is just because one set of people may have caused harm or unhappiness in your life that does not mean everyone will hurt you. You have a choice every day to either focus on what separates or focus on what holds together. Everything and everyone you hate is written across your heart, in the end, you are causing more pain to yourself than the people you despise.
A crab walks so walks his children. - African Proverb from Liberia
Being a force for
good, Ujima, in someone's life can help build a lasting community bond. When
you help others, you give off positive vibes, which can rub off on your peers
and improve your friendships, according to a study by the National Institutes
of Health.
Both parties will
contribute to maintaining a mutually beneficial dynamic. Whether with a large
group of people in a volunteer organization, or just between two friends
exchanging words of advice, helping people creates a feeling of community.
“Face-to-face activities such as volunteering at a drop-in center can help
reduce loneliness and isolation,” according to the Mental Health Foundation.
Kindness is contagious, according to a study by researchers at the University of
California, Los Angeles, and the University of Cambridge and University of Plymouth
in the United Kingdom.
“When we see someone
else help another person it gives us a good feeling,” the study states, “Which
in turn, causes us to go out and do something altruistic ourselves.”
How do you pronounce
Ujima?
Ujima is a Swahili
healing word pronounced OOO-G-MA. Ujima is collective work and responsibility;
to build and maintain our community, while working with others to solve our
problems.