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Why on earth did I decide to become a development consultant? Of
course, the biggest reason was that I wanted to make the most of what I'd
learned to work on global issues as a professional, but there are some
other reasons. "Yearning for land unknown" was also one of
the main reasons, though very much in the domain of my private interests. Now
I am involved in just the kind of project that would satisfy
such a "yearning for the unknown." It's integrated
development master planning for the Angonia region in Tete of central
Mozambique, which started in August, 2000. In charge of social
development and as based in Tete city, I am about to undertake
socio-economic studies targeted at neighboring villages.
It is known that Mozambique went through a
long and fierce civil war after its independence, instigated by repeated provocations
from Rhodesia (current Zimbabwe), a neighboring country not amused by the
establishment of a socialistic country led by blacks, and the white
administration of South Africa. Tete city, in which I am staying,
is a node that connects the capitals of Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, the
three neighboring, landlocked countries, and thus an important location
across the wide area. It is also where Portugal, the ex-suzerain
nation, undertook large-scale water resources development and built a
railroad for coal mining and its transport, so is a very
important foothold in terms of economic strategy. Moreover, the
bridge in the city over Zambezi river, one of the largest rivers in
Africa, is one of the points of strategic importance, where severe battles
were fought over this bridge against the
anti-government force during the civil war. At that time, this area was
greatly affected by the civil war, producing many refugees and
war victims.
In the early 90's, the United Nations High
Commis-sioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
had an office here in Tete. A guy
(ex-refugee, I heard) I met by chance at a local bar next to a football
field two
days ago, told me about the time Ms. Sadako Ogata, UN high commissioner,
came to Tete and about Japanese UN members that he met in person at the
refugee camp, and I was deeply moved. Japan has contributed to
peace in this country to some extent by having the Self-Defense Force take
part in the peacekeeping operations, among other things. Operations
of assistance organizations have been cut back with their initial mission
coming to an end as refugees continue to return. International NGOs are
refocusing their operations on such fields as technology transfer of landmine
disposal and village development, as well as the direction of
assistance as a whole is shifting emphasis to economic development,
having completed refugee measures. The Study on the Integrated
Development Master Plan of the Angonia Region, in which I currently
participate, was conceived as part of such a trend by Japan
International Cooperation Agency.
As a pursuer of regional development, I have already
started to feel that this assignment, which has just begun, will become
one of the most memorable projects I have ever been involved in, also from
the yearning-for-land-unknown perspective as mentioned at the
beginning. |
From my experience in frugal-traveling, which I was into in the late 80's,
I'd say this area gets pretty "good marks" on
inconvenience. Real "frontier," indeed. Of course, I
am on an assignment this time so I can't go on my research trips
hitching local buses or trucks like in my backpacking days; besides my
circumstances are much better now. In Tete province, there is almost no telephone or electricity anywhere
but in downtown Tete city. Apparently they need to be
provided for this area soon. Not having the telephone during my visit
this time made me realize how inconvenient life could be without it.
Unlike some 10 years ago, I have a family of my own now. The
conditions of roads are also quite bad. In rural areas, there are
places that you can reach only by getting out to Malawi once and then coming
back in (showing your passport!) because there is no direct route from
Tete city, the center of the province (though actually too small to be called that). I saw closely the life of local farmers from Malawi with
their cattle grazing all day long inside Mozambique and crossing
the border (without being checked) to return to Malawi. This goes beyond my comprehension of the sovereign
nation to date. Then I thought, that's what you would expect from the African Continent
that is a little too deep for an ordinary person
to grasp. Choosing the right hotel is one of the things that consultants
always rack their brain on, but it gives you a headache in Tete city because
there is not even one hotel that can adequately meet the needs of business
customers. Aside from the capital city of every country, every now and then
you are to come across lodging facilities that are unexpectedly wonderful
in local cities. However, there seems to be no hope for that in this
case. It took me some time to make peace with the reality that it
was good enough for a hotel room as long as there was a private bathroom
and running hot water. For I had been pretty spoiled in Hanoi on my previous
assignment, where
I stayed at a five-star hotel for only $40 or so a night. At this hour of day, I'd normally be watching CNN on TV in
my hotel room and that's the normal life of a consultant on a business
trip. However, there is no way to hope for a hotel with CNN around
here. That's why I am doing things like writing letters, reading
books and writing something like this that has no clear purpose, instead.
One way to look at this is that it is a luxury to rack your head thinking
of ways to spend your free time. That is exactly why you can turn
your contemplation to things that you would not contemplate normally.
In my
case, since I arrived in Tete, I have come to realize that I "need to
go back, once again, to what regional development is all about." Between
the area that has well-developed social infrastructure such as telephone,
electricity, roads, etc. and 5-star hotels and the area in which social
infrastructure is yet to be established, I wonder which area needs us
development planners more urgently. Wouldn't it be that we must work
precisely because the investment environment is such that neither social
infrastructure is developed nor first-grade hotels can do their
business? Nights in Mozambique deepen as I contemplate such things,
listening to the leaky toilet. Be that as it may, when in the world
are they going to fix the toilet? (Trans.:
TS) |
