INTRODUCTING HARMONY TO AN ONLINE CLASSROOM
Do you recall the first slide we discussed when we introduced the idea of natural equality?
The image showed six skeletons. One represented a poor person, another a wealthy one. There was a Black person and a White person, a Christian and a Muslim. In death, their skeletons were indistinguishable. The point was simple but profound: at the most fundamental level, we return to the same truth. We are equal.
From there, we reflected on humility. All of us share the same life cycle—birth, living, and death. As a Society of Harmony, we chose to focus on the moral principles that enable us to live well during that limited period of being alive on this planet. The central question is not abstract: How should we live?
There are many moral compasses that guide human life. Some are religious. Religions offer structured frameworks for virtuous living. Cultural traditions do the same. Some societies have not adhered to formal religions, yet they are deeply guided by values embedded in how they understand the world. These values are transmitted through stories, taboos, and shared understandings of right and wrong. In Africa, long before the arrival of foreign religions, we had our own moral worldviews that governed conduct and community life.
For thousands of years, humans knew how to live together. They made rules and followed them. They understood boundaries. One of the most enduring moral principles to emerge from this long human experience is the Golden Rule. It can be traced to ancient civilisations such as Egypt and China. Its warning was clear: do not do to others what you would not wish done to yourself. Importantly, this principle extended beyond human relationships to include reverence for nature.
Later, the rule was reformulated into the affirmative command to treat others as you would wish to be treated. However, in that transition, nature was excluded—despite the fact that we are embedded in it and entirely dependent upon it. This omission has had serious consequences.
As a Harmony society, we therefore chose to focus deliberately on virtues—those foundational values that make life meaningful, balanced, and sustainable. This is why our first Harmony goal is Humanity Education: to strengthen our ability to hold Indigenous knowledge and modernity in balance, without being engulfed by either.
We want to understand how our ancestors lived and related to nature. What relationships did they have with soil, water, air, plants, forests, animals, mountains, and rocks? What did they eat? How did they celebrate life events? Why did they worship, and how? What meanings did they assign to names?
Names matter. They carry memory, identity, and worldview. My Chagga birth name is Naaikye, which translates as “She should be thanked.” Shortly after I was born, my father rushed past the midwives and told my mother that the child should be named after his deceased mother. When asked how he knew the baby was a girl, he explained that his mother had appeared to him in a dream, reminding him that she had not been honoured. My parents already had two daughters. My name carried meaning, memory, and responsibility.
Yet, influenced by the belief that European names were superior, I chose to prioritise my Christian name, Regina. I was ashamed to be called Naaikye at school. This is an example of a harmful perception we must confront if we are to restore reverence for our heritage.
The danger we face today is that we are severing the umbilical cord that connects us to our ancestral knowledge. I include myself in this. In doing so, we inherit an internalised sense of inadequacy—an “I am not okay” stance—that requires healing.
Harmony education seeks to remind us that we are okay. Each person enters this world with unique gifts, alongside cultural and intellectual inheritances that enable them to contribute meaningfully.
This is where our journey begins.
This is where our journey begins.
