1We - One World Experience for a Better World -

People who know me, know that I love problems. The more resistance I get, the bigger the challenge is to get things done. So I have known! It took me four years to build a cassava cracker factory in Surinam. In the middle of the jungle, in the village Ovia Ola in the Marowijne district, where no drop of water or a spark of electricity could be found. But that are just details.

Gaining the trust of the local people was the first priority which does not happen over night! Certainly not in the rural areas where I as an outsider appeared to be yet another one wanting to start a project. The biggest problem is the image they have of Dutch people. According to the Surinam people they only come to their country to steal their ideas. And they always seem to know best. But once back in The Netherlands they tend to forget about you quickly.

The fact that I am of Surinam descent and therefore in fact one of them, made no impression at all. Like all others I was a stranger who tried to enter their territory. That’s why I first had to visit the ‘Basja’, the chief of the village, to ask permission for building the factory. Which I got, but with that the case was not yet signed and sealed. The men of the village were of some influence as well. So there I was, in a special meeting, facing only suspicious men. What had a strange woman -above all a Dutch one- to look for in their village?

Very slowly and with great respect I finally managed to win over the locals. This by showing them that I am indeed one of them, and with the continuing support of Agnes Lewani, the owner of the factory. Despite the resistance of her own community she never stopped believing in me.

And now the factory is a fact! Finally the cassava cracker factory was officially opened mid September. With much fanfare (literally and figuratively) and in the presence of many important people. What touched me the most, was the close unison in the village and the way they have included me in their community. No one can ever take this experience away from me! The downside is the enormous laxism of the Surinam government which is not interested in the development of the inlands at all.

Grace Boldewijn