With Living Values Education being in its 6th year in South Africa, a country into whose fabric Ubuntu is naturally woven, it is inevitable that educators acquainted with LVEP would come to realise the hand-glove relationship of these two systems.

The LVEP team which is now operating under the auspices of the recently formed LIVASA (Living Values Association of South Africa) hence organised an Ubuntu-Living Values conference in Cape Town in September to start off the process of establishing how Ubuntu which is values based living dating back to pre-literate, pre-industrial and pre-scientific times can be given structure within the context of education by LVEP. The conference was ceremoniously opened by Dr Koka, Director of the Karaites Institute of Afrikology. This event was an opportunity for meaningful discussions and sharing of experiences on Ubuntu.

This conference will be followed up by roundtable discussions, workshops and story-telling sessions in all parts of the country to ensure the inclusion and participation of all who have a role to play.

Ubuntu is the fundamental philosophy of African thought and it embodies an insight that is universal. It incorporates the concept that the human race is a family, that we have been created for interdependence ...... there is room for everyone, for every culture, race, langauge, point of view. It embraces hospitality, respect, generosity, compassion, gentleness, magnanimity, forgiveness and reconciliation. It is the essence of humanity. It is Ubuntu that enabled Nelson Mandela , our former President and the many victims of the atrocities of Apartheid to have mercy on their tormentors; it is Ubuntu that gave rise to the amazing scenes of forgiveness that were witnessed at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings.

A poet, Thembile Ka Pepeteka who attended the conference was so inspired by the vision of a marriage between Ubuntu and LVEP that he wrote the following poem in the early hours of one morning during the conference: (Kleinmond is the place in Cape Town where the conference was held; ?klein? means small ; ?Punt? is the place in Africa considered to be the origin of Ubuntu; ?ntate? is a term of respect and ?Ntu? means God).

Was it that klein

Like a matchstick light

In the moonlight night?

Or a tiny full stop

On the foot of the hill

That cause a flop

On the beginning of the stream

O Kleinmond blues.

Did we pour our hopes

Into a leaking calabash

To keep our void?

Or planted our seed

On virgin ground

To feed minds in diasporas,

Who need shepherds and fertilizers

To grow in peace

And give fruits?

Did we leave the comfort

Of our homes in vain

Kleinmond blues?

Chilly, Chilly moonlight

Piercing through the grass

Of trembling branches

Of firm trees,

Heralding the dawn

Of eternal stream

That come from punt

Via the valley of

Kleinmond womb

Where ntate Koka

Poured libation to plead

With Ntu to unite

Living values of love

And the pinnacle of hope: Ubuntu

Oh living blues

A young adult says: ?Values education has made an awesome impact in my life; it has changed me in many ways and has most certainly built my character. Though I always heard about values and knew that they were there, I didn?t really know how to build my character using values. I did not know that there was any benefit in having values in yourself.....?

Educators using LVEP invariably speak of and report on the all-round improvement in their students ? improvement in concentration, social, personal and writing skills; no scribbling on desks, library books and walls; no breaking of toys in pre-schools. In addition to this, values education has also proved to have a powerfully positive effect on ingrained negative habits:

?I discovered that I had a kleptomaniac in my Grade 3 class and didn?t think that it was at all possible to help change him. When we did the value on honesty he played the part of the honest miner in a play that we were performing. He afterwards wrote to me saying that he was going to try not to steal any more.?

 
Teachers themselves always personally benefit from the LVEP training sessions:

?Values education gives the key to learning the greater awareness necessary for good co-operative living, self awareness and appreciation.?

?Very enlightening ? my mind has opened up to my own values and I am also happy I was able to reflect - I feel refreshed!?

?I now know that without values even the most advanced societies will fall.?

?I realised how important values are to one and how they impact on one?s life.?

?It has changed my life and my teaching.?

 
A report from a pre-primary school:

Christel Joseph and Yvette Chetty, a teacher and the principal at the Kid-eo Pre-Primary School in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa report the following:

?We have a school of 21 pupils from 3 to 6 years old. We have implemented Living Values: An Educational Program as part of our daily curriculum since February 2000. By August of 2000 we completed the units on peace, respect, love, honesty, responsibility and happiness. We are currently working on cooperation. I would like to share some of our experiences with you.

The children seem to be working with a more loving, peaceful temperament;

There has been a noticeable decrease in broken and damaged equipment and toys;

The program enhances creativity and imagination;

There is a tremendous boost in self-confidence and general cooperation amongst the children;

A distinct increase in the language skills and vocabulary has been observed;

?Time out? is almost non-existent;

Given the usual short attention span of young children, we are continually astonished that the children work enthusiastically on projects and enjoy their Values lessons without boredom setting in; and

The children are steadily developing a capability for reasoning and a sense of caring for themselves and others.

As one of our Living Values lessons we visited the SOS Children Village, a home for orphans. Our Kid-eo kids sang songs and recited poems on the values that they had already learned and demonstrated the values of love by hugging each child from the SOS Children Village. We are happy to report that the SOS Children Village Pre-Primary School was suitably impressed and they too have now implemented LVEP as part of their curriculum.

We, as teachers, have been transformed as well. We have become more creative and patient and enjoy our work a lot more. We look forward to the continued growth and development of our pupils as we progress through the year.?