AFRICAN TALE
The legend tells that in an African tribe, when a woman finds out that she is expecting a child, she runs to tell the other women. They believe that each person has their own song, the Song of Life. For this reason, a few days later, at dawn, they go into the jungle to discover together the song of the new creature. They walk until they find a clearing on the bank of a river. So they form a circle with their baskets laden with fruit and their gourds full of milk. And they remain silent. After a while, they begin to sing a song in one voice and dance. The pregnant woman, in the center, feels how the Song of Life fills her inside.
After celebrating, the women return to the village and teach the song to the other members of the tribe. During the following weeks, the mother-to-be hums the song while walking through the jungle or resting under a tree.
When the baby is born, the whole community gathers around it and sings the song to welcome it into this world. At the moment of naming him, the whole tribe celebrates a party and sings his song to him.
The years go by and the child learns to control fire and hunt like the adults. Once again, the tribe gathers around and sings their song to him.
When he is lonely or feeling sad, he needs to sing his song himself. The day he gets married he hears his song again along with his wife’s song. And when he has no more strength left and is about to die, the whole community gathers around and sings his song to him for the last time.
But there is another occasion when that song is sung. If one day the man does something wrong, they take him to the center of the village and the tribe surrounds him in a circle. His friends sing his song to him and, for two days, they remind him of all the beautiful things he has done. And he, who felt guilty and sad, discovers again that he is good and loved by others, he is himself again.
The people of the tribe cannot be happy if one of them is sad, because everything that affects one affects the others. They say, then, in their language: UBUNTU. “I’m only happy when we’re all happy!”
