2 augustus 2015
For 23 years already working as a
development worker/technician/advisor (what’s in a name) in Africa, and still
wondering the joy and energy some locals expose to change the course of life.
Over the years I’ve crossed many
paths of wonderful astonishing people, people with a clear vision, a dream for
a better future, a dream grounded in the day-to-day reality.
Life goes on
Asking an old lady (Actually I
called her “Maman”, since I lived here in the hills of Mushubati-Gitarama for one
week in 1992 as part of an intercultural training. Since her husband died, she
lived in the big house with one of her sons, who was the head master in the
local primary school, a boy and a girl from a poor family. The girl was working
during school-break to gain her school-fees. Years later she became one of the
best extension workers I’ve ever met in Africa.) after the Rwandan genocide why
she was cultivating her field, far beyond her own needs… (Her son was killed,
when he was running for the Hutu-militia and/or the Rwandan Patriotic Army. He
left the hills of Mushubati with the rest of the families living around,
leaving “Maman” behind, since she was too old. He never came back.) …she simply
answered that when she dies, and people come to occupy the place, they’ll have
to eat something, regardless if they are from the family or not.
Dreams are the most powerful tools in development
“Mama Susan” from “Oyili Nnam” in Messam, in
the Great Rainforest Region south of Yaoundé, Cameroon had a vast tree-nursery,
where she was growing rare tree-seeds the Baka-pygmy found inside elephant
dung, Moabi-trees she would give back to the forest for future generations,
since she would never see the final result… over 200 years. Behind the house
you walked straight into the rainforest, where she managed 20 hectares of
forest, where she cultivated vegetables, roots and tubers, but also
re-introduced indigenous trees. Each tree that was taken from the forest, was
replaced by tree others. By the time I’d never heard of permaculture, but I
think what Mama Susan performed there in the rainforest was a very close hit.
Besides taking care of the forest, she also took care of the villagers. Knowing
the traditional medicine and the use of every plant and bark out of the forest
around, she was appreciated by lots of people who came to her for consult and
treatment.
A plan she presented to a local NGO
in Mbalmayo, that was laughed away by the Cameroonian lady director, was
despite the refusal executed over a period of 2 years, step-by-step, without
outside help… the only thing she was looking for was someone to share her, and
her communities’ ideas… to listen to her plans and to get some respect. Every
time I showed up in Messam, something had changed. From a small village-shop
and a deep-freezer, over the construction of a “First Care”-unit, towards a
village pharmacy (for which she
benefitted a training organised by the Ministry of Health) and a local
taxi-service. And above that all, she had two sons at the Yaoundé-University.
Did I tell you she lost her husband some years ago, and that since then she’s
always busy taking care of the future generations of the rainforest people.
a death elephant is a death elephant is a death elephant is a death elephant
And finally, in 2010, I started
working for GIZ (former DED) in Benin. With U-AVIGREF (Union of Village
Associations for the Governance of Wildlife Reserves), I found an organisation
in the North-West of Benin, that fought for their cultural and natural
heritage, as I’ve never experienced before. A clearly motivated team with
well-prepared, well-structured and well-documented files.
Fighting for their offspring, so
they could live in the same environment their ancestors did before, against
blind and stubborn politicians and business-men, who were only looking for
immediate profit, regardless of the outcome for local people and for the
environment.
It was a privilege to be allowed the share the same path
I’ve crossed the path of many
people, but the only ones I will always remember, are those who were
disinterestedly working towards the future, valuing their own capacities, using
their own scarce resources. They were moving mountains, that no-one thought
possible. They inspired me, became a part of me, and made me who I am today.
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