The Xhosa have inhabited the Eastern Cape of South Africa for centuries and view and live life in ways that are second-to-none: their daily relationship with their ancestors (to whom they turn for guidance and protection), widespread philosophy of Ubuntu – based on the notion that I am because of you, command of multiple languages, extraordinary ability to endure and forgive, unparalleled relationship with music, and smiles that are too perfect to believe.

We came to know the Xhosa in 2008, when Martha T. Cummings traveled to South Africa to celebrate her 50th birthday. Her friend Stephan Mientus and she decided to go on safari in the Addo Elephant National Park and then tour the country. It came as no surprise, though, that Cummings, a lifelong educator, soon found herself visiting local schools in Nomathamsanqa Township. The conditions were impossible to believe. Little did she know then what was to come. What she did know then was that the blatant and shocking inequalities in educational opportunities had to be addressed.

That urgency became clear after a conversation with hotel staff during her second visit in 2010. Cummings sat down with several young workers, all 21 - 24 years old, to ask what they wanted to be. One-by-one, she heard, “I wanted to be a nurse.” “I wanted to be a policeman.” “I wanted to be an EMT.” “I wanted to be a teacher.” When they finished, Cummings asked them if they realized they had all spoken in the past tense. They were quiet for a bit until one staff member, Luyanda, put his hand on her hand and said, “Oh, mama, those dreams are over for us now.” The rest of the staff nodded.

Three months later, Universal Promise was born. The first promise was to honor our promises. We have seen far too many short-lived vows, initially fueled by excitement that soon crumble under the weight of obstacles and a diminution of interest. That does not describe us. Now, over a decade in, we know change happens. Umntu ngumntu ngabantu. A person is a person through other people. Otherwise, why are we here?

Our Founder Martha T. Cummings, renamed Nobuntu (aka Humanity) in South Africa, is a native of Southboro, Massachusetts, majored in Anthropology at Bryn Mawr College, and studied at the Università Italiana per Stranieri (Perugia) and the Dante Alighieri School (Firenze). In 1980, Martha began her 40+ years in the field of education.

For five years, she taught mathematics and Anthropology, coached numerous sports, and served as an administrator at Purnell School, a progressive boarding school for girls in New Jersey. Cummings left Purnell to spend several months in Perugia, Italy, where she studied the first language of her maternal grandparents. Cummings returned to the USA to teach and serve as Middle School Dean at Poly Prep Country Day School in New York, and then headed back to her native Massachusetts. At The Rivers School, Cummings continued to teach mathematics and coach, soon took over the helm as Head of Middle School, leading the move to coeducation, and was then appointed the first-ever Director of Diversity. Several years later, Cummings moved to Rhode Island to form her tutoring company, where she focused on a variety of curricular areas.

Running her own company gave Cummings the freedom to travel, which led her to South Africa to celebrate her 50th birthday. Cummings’s mother, Antoinette Ragonese Cummings, always emphasized education as a key to independence and happiness, which she defined as an augmentation of the mind, not the wallet. Grounded in respect for education, Cummings knew that the paucity of equitable academic opportunities in Nomathamsanqa Township would forever fuel the stubborn cycle of poverty. Her decision to found Universal Promise and focus exclusively on education was the direct result of decades of reverence for its power and permanence.

Cummings won the Anti-defamation League's Golden Teacher Award and is a published author of two books and several articles and speeches. She speaks three languages: English, Italian, and Ob, a made-up language in which her sister and she are fluent.

“Why do you do work in South Africa when there is so much need in the USA?”

When people pose that question, I reply by asking if they have ever been to South Africa; 99% of the time, they say no. I knew most would never ask that if they had seen what I saw: that cruel, relentless chasm between the haves and have-nots. I know some believe that charity begins at home, but what is home? Is it whoever lives within our walls, in our town, in our state, or in our country, or is home the Earth? Is home a feeling? In the end, it should not matter where we do something, as long as we do something.

As to why I embraced the Xhosa of South Africa, I have never met anyone else with whom I so spontaneously fell in love: their culture, ancestral respect, humor, dancing, drumming, singing, multilingualism, smiles, gratitude, and grit. It was also their lingering hope that not all promises would forever be broken despite nearly everything they'd experienced to the contrary.

I remain in awe that they still espouse the promise of humanity and allow us to earn their trust each day.

Martha T. Cummings
Founder and Executive Director