Ubuntu.
A noun. Pronounced OO-BUHN-TOO.
Translated it’s an African philosophy that means “I am because we are.” We’re interconnected in ways big and small. We’re dependent on each other both as individuals and as a society.
To achieve our own goals, we must help others achieve theirs.
Ubuntu Life is also the passion project (a for-profit company I’ve invested in) and life’s work (a foundation I give to that supports children with special needs in Kenya) of one of my oldest and dearest friends, Zane.
My recent trip to Kenya to visit him and see the work he’s doing, on the surface, may feel like it has nothing to do with commercial real estate. But the reality is, we’re all interconnected. We’re all dependent on each other. And we’re all working together to help each other achieve goals…whether we’re investing in real estate or building an engine to help a marginalized population of already marginalized people in a poverty stricken region of the world.
Read on for more about Ubuntu Life (the global brand and the foundation). My hope is this week’s newsletter helps you focus in on your own mission and purpose, as it did for me.
ZANE’S JOURNEY
I say Zane is one of my oldest and dearest friends because we met when we were 5 thanks to our parents attending church together. We grew up together and then branched off to different colleges to chase life dreams.
Zane was bound for medical school, but before diving into that world, he chose to take a gap year and perform mission work in Kenya.
He’s called it a trip in search of meaning.
He found it.
It was there that he met Jeremiah and forged a powerful friendship that led to regular brainstorming sessions to identify ways to serve a local Kenyan community, especially those living on society’s margins.
FINDING PURPOSE
Driven by a shared vision, Zane and Jeremiah created a Center for children with special needs, providing them with medical care and life-changing therapy.
Before the Center, caregiving was a full-time job for the mothers of children with special needs. With more time, some of the mothers asked “now that our kids are being cared for five days a week, can you help us do something productive with our time?”
They could. And they did.
What started 20 years ago as a handful of women learning to sew on manual sewing machines has now transformed into a thriving social enterprise employing over 150 full-time makers that are changing their lives and the world.
Ubuntu Life today is a for-profit company – a global brand – that sells jewelry, bags and shoes.
Purchases provides each mother with sustainable employment, health insurance and a living wage.
Funds from the sales help support the original mission that by July 2022 had grown to become a 22,000-square-foot Children’s Wellness Center that houses a special needs school, pediatric medical facility, pharmacy, community health education space and therapy center.
BUILDING A LEGACY
Seeing the incredible work of Zane and his partners up close made me think deeply about mission and purpose.
I’m focused on bringing our investors returns, much like Zane is in Kenya.
And I’m driven to build a business with you all where we can all enjoy the fruits of that success together – whether that be building a legacy for our families or making more money so we can invest in the philanthropic causes that speak to us.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Shop here. https://www.ubuntu.life/
Donate here. https://ubuntulife.foundation/