Matthew Caretti

Ubuntu

Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, 2011

Back home, there is much talk about the 99% and the 1%. Sometimes, though, it’s hard to tell the difference.  Here it’s plain to see—shoeless children in ragged shirts and skirts, their classrooms empty and scarred.

Odd words there, like share and respect, are understood here without need for debate or discussion.  No zero-sum game; life is a nod, a smile, a hand lent without expectation. People are people through other people.  The drums call us.

hand in hand
the village dance
soon learned