Director of MCC 1972-74. This was my first major international assignment and influenced my understanding of the world. The experience resulted in the adoption of our two daughters and provided the foundation of experience and relationships for the balance of my non-business career.
Click on item of interest…..or scroll down and the same list is repeated below with a short description of each item.
- Nutritional Self-Sufficiency as a National Objective
- The Biharis of Bangladesh
- How the Potato Changed my Life
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- 1. Nutritional Self-sufficiency as a National Objective
Written in late 1972 or early 1973 as the philosophical basis for the new MCC program of recovery in Bangladesh. It constituted a radical alternative to the Government policy of simply more rice rather than seek a diversity of crops to promote a better nutritional balance. The program later became the basis of the next Bangladesh 5 year plan. Read more>>
- 2. Biharis and Bangladesh
An essay written to assist MCC and other agencies to understand the politics and refugee situation of the Bihari refugee population inside Bangladesh. They were politically unpopular and were not well understood outside of a very small circle of agencies although there were an estimated 1 million in very dire circumstances. Read more>>
- 3. How the Potato Changed my Life
Published in May/June 2008 in the MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Associates) magazine named Marketplace. The story is based on a particular experience in 1972 when I was serving as Director of MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) in Bangladesh immediately following the end of the 1971 Civil War. This story is factual and is a single dramatic event based on the late arrival of a ship of Dutch potato seed and its salvage at sea. Read more>>