The Emissary

Unexpected adventures arise when we make ourselves available. Shortly after getting back to Diitabiki in January, I unknowingly accepted an invitation to accompany a special envoy from the paramount chief of the Ndjuka people to the government development agency. While a relatively minor diplomatic event, the conference proved an extraordinary point in the dynamics of globalization and intercultural relations on a local scale.

Taking a trip with both of my counterparts to a development workshop sounded fun, but it soon became very interesting indeed. Captain Baja, my counterpart, came to pick us up in a large boat, which puzzled me until we started adding to our number. We paused at numerous villages on the river, generally picking up a single representative of each. Peculiarly enough, all these men were captains, the chiefs of the villages. At a certain point we mounted a full-size Surinamese flag to the boat, heightening our profile. As a good look later confirmed, the boat itself was owned and commissioned by the Gaanman. As I learned at the workshop, the Gaanman had sent his cabinet to confront the development organization on their failure to consult the traditional leadership before beginning their major project.

In the village of Stoleman’s Island, the hosts proposed a bold plan for a multi-structure development facility, taking into consideration future improvements such as a paved runway and inter-village transportation network in a village where dugout canoes function as the primary means of transportation. The plans seemed immense indeed. While providing a democratic open-forum and brainstorming session, the hosts seemed apologetic that the exercises were “white man things,” rather than the traditional meetings through which the people usually reach decisions. After the event degenerated into a series of complaints for previous ineffective projects, the emissary spoke. The chief claimed that the organization, by failing to convene with traditional leadership, elicited negative reactions to its attempts to help and closed doors to future projects by creating a legacy of unsuccessful initiatives.

Development projects often make a lasting but seldom positive impact when made without regard to the particularities of a people. Traditional authority and local culture, while treasured in the Ndjuka capital of Diitabiki, largely has eroded in its neighboring villages due to careless outside influence. The lack of a secondary school on the Tapanahony forces continuing students to board in the city, from which few return home. The emissary provided an important reminder that we must carefully consider our actions in a cultural context for our own success and the good of the people.