The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Assistance Series HAROLD M. JONES Interviewed by: Self Initial interview date: n/a Copyright 2002 ADST Dedicated with love and affection to my family, especially to Loretta, my lovable supporting and charming wife ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The inaccuracies in this book might have been enormous without the response of a great number of people I contacted by phone to help with the recall of events, places, and people written about. To all of them I am indebted. Since we did not keep a diary of anything that resembled organized notes of the many happenings, many of our friends responded with vivid memories. I have written about people who have come into our lives and stayed for years or simply for a single visit. More specifically, Carol, our third oldest daughter and now a resident of Boulder, Colorado contributed greatly to the effort with her newly acquired editing skills. The other girls showed varying degrees of interest, and generally endorsed the effort as a good idea but could hardly find time to respond to my request for a statement about their feelings or impressions when they returned to the USA to attend college, seek employment and to live. There is no one I am so indebted to as Karen St. Rossi, a friend of the daughters and whose family we met in Kenya. Thanks to Estrellita, one of our twins, for suggesting that I link up with Karen. “Do you use your computer spelling capacity? And do you know the rule of i before e except after c?” Karen asked after completing the first lot given her for editing. “Karen, I simply tell the story to the computer as it comes to mind, without enough concern for syntax,” I replied. Without Karen it would have taken much longer than twelve years, with my off and on starts. Needless to say, Loretta urged me to write the story and contributed her excellent memory of names and other details. She has been the catalyst. Some of her writing has been incorporated with “minor” changes, for which she has never forgiven me. Thanks to the daughters for their insistence over the years that visitors and guests sign our family guest book. That frayed, taped-together piece has at times been a tremendous source for refreshing our memory. Colleagues, friends, and associates, we are truly grateful. Family Adventure 1 Mama, get the bags and every child We shall be gone for a while Don’t leave a single girl We are going to travel the big big world We’ll see different races and faces Experience new customs and new graces We are off to see the world Faces shiny all nice and clean All dressed alike, each a queen Dressed in dresses that Mama made All the same style and the same shade Mama and daddy and every offspring We’ll make the world swing All together let’s see it all See how they rise; see how they fall See the rich and famous; see the poor See many that need so much more We are off to see the world Lets see what we can do to help out Lending a helping hand is what it is all about Let’s help keep U.S.A. image in tack Keep the family happy and growing till we get back We are off to see the world It will cost us a penny or two At the university to get them through I’ll have to go without, so will you We are not talking about just a few It’s seven you know, we have to do, While we are seeing the world. INTRODUCTION Grass Roots Development - A Family’s Global Journey recounts the adventures of an American family of color for twenty-one years in foreign service and in four different countries. We were a part of the United States good will mission to help some of the world’s poorest people feed themselves and have access to basic human necessities. Armed with confidence and willingness to assist by imparting skills necessary to ameliorate the more egregious conditions of the third world, we set out for India in 1956 to begin making some small differences. I was farm machinery advisor to the government of India, with the specific assignment to assist and advise on the establishment of a Farm Machinery Training and Testing Center. 2 My previous work had been mostly with small, poor, African-American farmers with small acreage and very limited means, similar to, but not as poor and primitive as, the Indian and African farmers. Loretta and I were approaching our late thirties, and she had never traveled outside of the U.S. I had traveled in the southwest Pacific area, Australia, New Guinea, the Philippines, and Japan during WWII; France, Germany, and the U.K. during the Korean War. Preparing for India took and extended period of physical and mental exertion. Grandma Chlora worried about taking the girls to a country characterized by the U.N. as the world’s filthiest. Auntie Faustina wanted us to leave behind the one year old, but we decided all, or nothing at all. Not much aware of the process and politics behind it all, our concern centered on helping people to do a little bit better with what they had. A few years into the work, a Department of State official remarked, “The Department has done well by your family and in return your family has done well by the Department of State.” We feel that the experience of living overseas was challenging, exciting, exhilarating, and at times risky. Our life style demonstrated resourcefulness, friendliness, and regard for people on all levels of the human condition, from royalty to the poorest of social status. Simple, affordable technologies were demonstrated to struggling poor farmers as a means to get better results from their efforts and meager resources. We are proud of our contributions and have received some expressions of appreciation over the years from those with whom we worked. Rearing a family of seven daughters in a nomadic fashion across the world is not the globe’s greatest accomplishment, but it takes a lot of doing. Just the logistics of moving, sometimes on short notice, both within the country we lived or between continents every two to three years required great organization. Carrying as many as twenty-five pieces of luggage was a shared responsibility, some sharing more than others, and equivalent to mobilizing a small army. After arriving, there were the challenges of daily living in strange and sometimes isolated locations, under adverse climatic and sanitary conditions, and limited availability of many household items. But our greater concern was the education of our daughters. Loretta and I embarked with enthusiasm on this Project. I built desks, Loretta set aside a large room in our house for a classroom and library, and we started a disciplined, well-run school for our then six daughters. Loretta took on the greater part of the work, as my work situation required being separated from the family during the week. Loretta was left to contend as a single parent until the weekend. In addition to the school, she handled our health care. Managing the household meant training and supervising servants whose diverse backgrounds at times required creativity as well as sensitivity in assigning tasks. Housing and entertaining visiting friends and colleagues added to Loretta’s workload, all to which she responded with vivacity. Our understanding of other cultures did not come from in-depth reading or research, but rather from working and mingling with all classes, castes, and tribes of pulpit, including top government officials, private citizens, diplomats, and villagers. How they lived and what and how they spoke provided us with first-hand education at times we were 3 subjected to what they believed, to restrictions of different religious beliefs, tribal and caste animosities, and deep-seated superstitions. But we never ceased to respect people’s struggle to provide for their families amid harsh physical, political, and economic environments that lack the most elementary human requirements for survival. Hardships are endured throughout the world with the aid of rituals and ceremonies, song and dance, pain, and the allure and solace of love. Societies of less-developed nations have not yet turned basic resources into profit-making industries to meet the needs of the human condition, as has much of the west. Living for what is ahead in the next life keeps many people going forward more than any other factor. Time and energy are spent mostly for getting daily bread that often is not enough, until it is time for them to move on to kingdoms beyond this one. On a swing through Africa which included a stopover in Khartoum, Sudan, at sunset I took a walk among the huge well-spaced trees along the Nile River. Here, the Blue Nile flowing north from Ethiopia meets the White Nile on its way from Lake Victoria between Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. I observed the small fishing and passenger boats plying the Nile water. The white egrets, crows and other birds were flying through the lethargic smoke trails from village cooking fires home to roost. This life-giving waterway to Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, the cradle of civilization, stirred deeply imbedded memories in me. Here, I made the decision to write this account of our family life in the foreign service. I wanted to call it “Offspring.” That was twelve years ago. My own story began near the banks of a large river, the James River in rural Charles City County, Virginia.