The rainbow nation has an incredible superpower… it has the spirit of Ubuntu! Now that is being used to start Ubuntu Army farms for people in need.
Durban, South Africa (10 September 2020) – Clint McLean started the Ubuntu Army shortly after South Africa went into lockdown. The group was established to help people connect and do as much good for others as possible. While the group grew legs and became a tool, a catalyst for change, Clint saw it for what it really was; the birth of a new rainbow nation!
The group’s description states that the ‘Ubuntu Army is a collective of ordinary, everyday, garden variety South Africans, harnessing their own particular skills to help the most vulnerable members of our society face COVID-19, primarily by making, donating, sourcing, funding and delivering masks and sanitizer to these marginalized communities.’
The Ubuntu Army has launched a farming project called “Ubuntu Farms” that is already inspiring others to get involved. They recently set up 22 food gardens in the Bhambayi informal settlement.
Clint wanted to establish a project that would live beyond the pandemic. Food security is a big topic at the moment as people have become reliant of food parcels. Food parcels are not sustainable but growing food is. Clint asked his son Fin to head up the Ubuntu Farms project.
“We started off by giving food and masks through a feeding scheme at St Peters Catholic Church on Point Road in Durban City. We were giving food to the foreign nationals and working off a list of 2300 people who were not receiving aid from the government. My father, Clinton Mclean, started this project. He created the website called Ubuntuarmy.org and developed various Facebook pages for certain things such as Ubuntu link, Ubuntu food chains and Ubuntu Care. These groups were designed for different ways of giving.”
Fin is currently studying at the Stellenbosch Sustainable Institute but has been home due to the pandemic. Eager to help his father. Fin got friends involved and together they set out to deliver 20 Ubuntu Farms to foreign nationals living in Bhambayi.
“The garden starter package consists of 9 compost bags, around 100 seedlings (Spinach, lettuce, red lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, peppers, chilis, coriander, mint and tomatoes), certain seeds (spinach, lettuce, spring onion and green beans), a how-to-farm guide developed by me and a 20l bucket.
We aim at giving these packages to around 100 people over the next few months.”
“We are also looking at developing a system that allows people to donate these garden packages to people in need. Ubuntu Link aims at connecting the people who can give with the people that need. All donations are in money vouchers for spending at Shoprite stores. Now we are looking at donating gardens on Ubuntu link to support the empowerment of one’s self and building your own garden.”
Clint hopes the project will restore the act of growing your own food. You can join the Ubuntu Army here and get involved with the various projects via the website here.
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