History Lessons

The boy grew up as one of 8 siblings, in a windswept village far away from the capital. While he went to school, he also had to work in the father’s carpentry. To supplement income, the family owned 3 cows.

Two sisters died, as teenagers, from Tuberculosis.

Another sister was taken out of school – although she was doing well - because she had to help with household chores.

When they had the choice, the majority of the villagers opted for building a church, not a piped water system. Diphtheria occurred.

Sanitation was inadequate. Progress arrived when the newly built school offered the use of shower rooms against a small fee.

The government created ethnic divides and started wars. One brother died as the result of the violence. Massive displacement occurred.

Between the wars, the country suffered an economic meltdown.

During the boy’s lifetime, the family had to build their livelihood from scrap twice, and the country went through four dramatically different governance systems.

It seems UNICEF would have to run its whole gamut of interventions, for quite some time.

But now, the family enjoys an enviable health care system, universal education, peace and prosperity. And you figured that this is not a story from Afghanistan, Iraq, or a country in Africa. These are some tales from my family which we were trying to document during our summer leave.

I am not naïve to assume that what works in one country will work in another. But haven’t you noticed a conspicuous absence of historic references in programme documents and advocacy materials? And as we are busy developing ever new models and frameworks for development, I wonder whether there is anything that we can learn from history?

(22 October 2004)

previous         next