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SAWABONA STORY

Members of the northern Natal tribes of South Africa have a beautiful tradition. When a member of the tribe does something harmful and wrong, they take that person to the center of the village and the whole tribe surrounds him. For two days, they tell that person all good things he has done to each one of them.

The tribe believes that every human being comes into the world as a good being, and in the pursuit of happiness, love, peace and security people make mistakes. The tribe sees those mistakes as a scream for help. They unite to lift that person and to reconnect him to his true nature, which he had been temporarily disconnected.

The members greet each other by saying “Sawabona” which literally means “I see you” as a way to say “I respect you, I value you, you are important to me”. In response people say “Sikhona” which means “I am here” as to say “Then I exist for you”.

This tradition acknowledges the connection that we share as human beings and our gratitude to one another by “Until you see me, I do not exist” and “When you see me, you bring me into existence”.

This inspiring story from the African tradition has inspired each one of our Sawabona Association leaders to work together emphasizing teamwork and collaboration to our world and each existent individual. We believe on humanity through recognition of one another in each other’s uniqueness and differences.

OUR MISSION

Sawabona Association leaders believe in human kindness through humanity towards others. There is sincere warmth within our social work, resulting in our collaboration with communities from all over the world.

Our association believes that to be human is to affirm one's humanity by recognizing the humanity of others and to establish respectful human relations with them independent of their nationality, ethnicity, race, religion or skin color.

We appreciate each other through our differences and work to lift each individual in our society and bring the leadership and strength within them.

We work together to empower and enrich communities around the world and especially the less fortunate.

We believe that education brings improvement within communities and we work hard to spread awareness and information to every society.

Through social work, our leaders seek to improve the quality of life of individuals, families, groups and communities through teaching, coaching and assisting for the benefit of those affected by social disadvantages such as poverty, mental and physical illness, disability, racism and social injustice.

Sawabona Association is committed to social justice and the well-being of oppressed and marginalized individuals and communities. We promote the beauty of diversity while respecting the differences within each other’s backgrounds. We recognize the importance of each individual in our world and our practice of social work focuses on areas such as, human, community and environment development.

HOW IT WORKS

By understanding the responsibilities that come with our connection, our founder, directors, ambassadors and medical advisory board realize that we rise by lifting others.

In order to improve the world that we live in and create great future changes from what it is now to how we want it to become in the future, we understand that by bringing people together from across nations we can promote a bigger impact on issues of common interest. Our work depends on relying on each other to achieve the greatest results we can achieve together.

Our leaders work together on creating and developing new projects with national and international non-governmental organizations, philanthropies and corporations in order to inspire fresh ideas, create new solutions and ensure a healthy future for humanity and the planet.

From fundraising events, seminars, lectures, volunteer work and community service our team of leaders will act as a collaborator, coordinating and implementing result-driven projects to create a great impact and sustainability.

Sawabona Association relies on active collaboration with effective organizations and nonprofits who share our goals and can magnify our impact.