Photo: Maj-Lis Koivisto
Development – seen from a distance
| Thinking of what I have achieved or not achieved during my long struggling life, I feel duty-bound to write. I don’t know whether my experiences with writing will bring any meaning to the readers or make any impact on their mind or not. Combining all my experiences I can only say how much I have achieved today and how much struggle I have faced to help the development of people. This is the power of mine; this is the freedom of mine. Let me draw out the contours and throw some light on how things came to be. |
| So, when I am sitting now and writing my memoirs one question comes into my mind; where have those golden days of my childhood gone? Where have all those people disappeared?
Today, farming has become mechanized and women have lost their skill and power to multinational seed producers. Farmers are now trapped in the industrial agricultural complex. Today, the fruit trees that nourished passers-by and lined the roads of my childhood have disappeared. Instead, foreign timber trees have been planted which are not at all good for our environment. Land has changed from common land to private land. Poor and marginalized people have been deprived of land which before was open to all. Today, seeing the enormous number of children coming and going from schools pleases our eyes. However evaluating the internal quality behind this scene can bring us sadness too. Because education without quality has become a barrier for building up a decent life. Parents in general are jumping only on bookish certificates and grade-based educational competition for their children. They never value the real aim of education and the mental development of their child. In the name of modernity these practices are increasing. A real education, which could be a solid foundation for the child’s future life, is instead being dwarfed. We live in a time of competition and I am always looking forward. I am an optimistic person. In a way I am continuously moving forward to make this world more habitable, equitable and peaceful. I started on this path, I am still here on this path and I shall remain like that until the end of my life.
These historical snapshots commemorate 30 years of SUS and the life of founder Rokeya Begum, based on her book “My way to freedom through the light of experience” and other background documents. We are publishing snapshots before and after the 30 years’ ceremony to be held in Netrakona, Bangladesh on the 2 January 2017.
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