2006 Speeches

Service for Sustainable Development

May 20, 2006

Dr. Roy L. Austin
United States Ambassador
The Inaugural Charter Ceremony
for the Rotaract Club of Chaguanas

Gayapersad Beharry, President of the Rotary Club of Chaguanas
Other fellow Rotarians
Intended Rotaractors
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen
 
Good evening!
 
I am pleased to be here with you this evening; and happy to be serving my government in Trinidad at such an exciting time in this nation’s history. Your country is experiencing unprecedented economic growth; and the Soca Warriors are on their way to compete in, arguably, the greatest sports event on Earth. I acknowledge that some people will accord this honor to the Olympic Games.
 
Let us thank God for bestowing such blessings on this nation. In particular, in his ultimate wisdom, God has uplifted the spirit of the people of this country by rewarding the efforts of the Soca Warriors. He thus reminds us that he helps those who help themselves; but let us not selfishly dwell on this observation. Instead, the Holy Bible leads us to a more relevant passage for the activities this evening, one about the greatest of the Commandments: Love thy neighbor as thyself.
 
I have entitled my address Service for Sustainable Development. Of course, I have done so because the young people who will take their oath of membership this evening will be expected to start, or continue, to live up to Rotary’s motto of SERVICE above Self. And service to others is perhaps the clearest demonstration of obedience to the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. However, let me tell you how I shall proceed.
 
First, I shall tell you a little about my American countrymen’s involvement with service to others. Most of us are moved by the example of others; and I use the example of Americans to provide some encouragement to further dedicate yourselves to the goal you have set yourselves by choosing to be Rotaractors. I also plan to use local examples to remind you that there are people in Trinidad and Tobago who now live lives of exceptional service. Additionally, I shall introduce you to the concept of sustainable development as an aid to transition to a sphere in this country that cries out for your assistance; and, perhaps presumtiously, suggest a way to reduce the needs in this area.
 
In his January 2002 State of the Union address, President Bush strongly emphasized volunteerism in America. In that speech, he launched the USA Freedom Corps and challenged every American to devote at least 4,000 hours to service to their community, the nation, or the world. The USA Freedom Corps offered “expanded service opportunities for Americans… through the newly created Citizen Corps, Americorps and Senior Corp” as well as the older Peace Corps. Later, in April 2002, the President noted in another speech that “Service and volunteerism are an integral part of the American character. DeToqueville discovered that years ago, and if he were to come back, he’d be just as proud of America now as he was then, when it came to the willingness of our citizens to serve each other.” DeTocqueville visited the U.S. in 1831.
 
When I arrived in America, I too was struck by the extraordinary tendency of Americans to engage in service to others. At Yale, the university that I attended, there were many undergraduates who were volunteering their service for some worthwhile cause. Many were tutoring kids from nearby economically less fortunate homes. Some also engaged their more activist inclinations in organizing rent strikes by the poor against landlords who failed to keep their rental apartments in livable conditions. In order to be optimally effective, these students successfully petitioned Yale to allow them to live off campus and moved to these poor areas. The university’s rule then was that all undergraduates live on campus in university dorms.
 
Later, while teaching at Penn State University, I joined the ranks of American volunteers, coaching soccer/football with a Parks and Recreation program; then helping to found a club to provide more competitive opportunities for youth footballers and serving as an officer; then coaching for that club as well as for Parks and Recreation. Coaching for the club required a willingness to hold practices twice a week and attend games on weekends, away games involving more than an hour of travel one-way. We also took the club teams to at least two tournaments per year, traveling three to four hours one-way and staying two to three days. Altogether, I coached youth soccer for over 15 years and served as an officer of the club for about ten years.
 
As soon as I ended my soccer coaching I accepted an invitation to become an executive member of my community’s National Issues Forum, an organization that sponsored discussions of major social/political issues with the aim of getting groups to reach common ground. We would then communicate our recommendations to relevant legislators as well as to the wider public through television. I served on the two major committees of the Forum until I took up my ambassadorial position.
 
My volunteer activities in America were certainly encouraged by my observation of the extent of similar activities by Americans. At some time, I became aware that even secondary students at the local high school were expected to provide two terms of service to meet a graduation requirement. Furthermore, such service is regarded favorably by private liberal arts colleges when selecting students for entry.
 
It should be understandable that both of my sons were involved in volunteer activities in high school and beyond. In high school, the older one worked with a special education student while the younger assisted a volunteer soccer coach. When he was an undergraduate, the older one recruited students to the Teach for America program; tutored 5^th grade students from an inner city area who already showed some academic proficiency; and volunteered with a Public Defender’s program in Washington, D.C. The younger one tutored primarily African American and Hispanic Junior High students.
 
Not surprisingly, my older son continued his volunteering in law school and now that he is practicing. While he was a student in law school, he was a “Big Brother” for inner city youths, helping to expose them to conventional activities such as having lunch in a nice restaurant or bowling which some had not previously experienced; was a “Street Law” professor teaching kids about the law; and defended people who qualified for Public Defender service, including helping to save a death row inmate from execution. Since graduation from law school, he has hung out at a senior citizens home conversing with them and playing games with them; volunteered with Habitat for Humanity; tutored senior year high school minority students in writing for the Posse Foundation; and conversed with minority kids about the benefits of a university education and how to meet entrance requirements for the College Access program. Just my older son’s service activities must convince you that President Bush’ high evaluation of the spirit of volunteerism in America was not an exaggeration.
 
In America, you will also find better known service programs that are national in scope such as Teach for America that I mentioned earlier. In this program, recent university graduates choose to teach in low income areas with poor achieving students for two years, earning much less than they can in other jobs for which they are qualified or postponing obtaining a graduate or professional education. They also obtain an educational award of $4,750 U.S. each year which they can use to help repay student loans, improve their teaching credentials and other such expenditures. My younger son works for the Teach for America office in Washington, D.C.
 
In 2005, 3,500 Teach for America corps members were reaching more than 250,000 students each day. An independent study found that students of these corps members exceeded expectations in both reading and math. The corps alumni were gaining insight and convictions that drew them to leadership positions which they used to promote educational excellence and equity. The program has been emulated in England (Teach First) and South Africa.
 
How is Teach for America funded? The Federal Government contributes about 20% while the remainder is obtained from corporations, foundations, states, and cities. To obtain financing, the program lobbies congressmen, have corporate supporters approach their congressional representatives, and First Lady Laura Bush is an avid supporter.    
 
I must credit my voluntary service involvement partially to exposure to the willingness shown by Americans to help others. Nevertheless, I may have developed a tendency to serve others even before I left St.Vincent to study at Yale.
 
In secondary school in St.Vincent, I engaged in many school sponsored extra-curricula activities. After leaving school, I was a volunteer referee for a soft-shoe football league that fell apart after a rather abbreviated period of existence. While I was teaching secondary school, three young men who had never studied chemistry asked me to tutor them in this subject because they wished to study medicine. Although there was an understanding that they would pay me a fee, I did not charge them for the term that I was able to help before leaving for the U.S. Two of these youths did become medical doctors. I also, served the St.Vincent Football Association as a second Vice-President. I must confess that I do regard these activities in St.Vincent as being on a lower plain than the volunteering that occurs in America. I would have held them in higher regard had I served for longer periods.
 
However, my account of some of my volunteer activities in St.Vincent must have reminded you that many people in Trinidad and Tobago provide valuable volunteer services to this country. Certainly, the Rotary Clubs of Trinidad and Tobago should be well known for their efforts in this regard; but I suspect that more citizens can be involved in more such activities and should utilize a more systematic approach to choosing their activities. Examining the concept of sustainable development becomes important at this stage.
 
Since at least the Rio Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, the nations of the world have gained a greater understanding that development must be sustainable. According to Paula Dobriansky, U.S. Secretary of State for Global Affairs in 2002, effective pursuit of sustainable development requires the integration of environmental protection, economic development, and social development. She argued that these three pillars of sustainable development are strongest when good governance , including the rule of law, is the norm. At the operational level, she recognizes that education, science and technology are essential to creating the infrastructure upon which sustainable development depends. These three elements and the rule of law form the basis of my proposal for worthwhile voluntary service in which people may engage. However, before presenting the proposal, I shall remind you of some recent happenings in Trinidad and Tobago that contradict the appealing picture presented by focusing on economic growth and Soca Warriors’ success.
 
The names Sean Luke and Emily Anamanthodo will not soon be erased from the memories of citizens of this country. Instead, these names will bring to mind a picture of acts suitably described by a combination of the words brutality, rape, torture and murder. Horrified citizens have had to contemplate such evil in their midst  just when it seems that the frightening number of kidnappings  for ransom has abated. Citizens have not been so fortunate with respect to the record-breaking number of homicides as they continue on a regular basis. Still, there may be a little room for some optimism in this instance as criminal justice authorities seem to be gaining a better understanding of the characteristics of the offenses, offenders and victims and as they improve their crime-fighting capabilities. But these small gains cannot be enjoyed when in just the first five months of the year we have become aware of  intolerable acts of violence against two of our young innocents.
 
There is a volunteer service center in this country called ChildLine that has the potential to reduce incidents of violence against the young. It takes calls from and about young people who need help. And people do call, to the tune of 30 calls daily while the Center operates only from 12 noon to 8:00 pm Monday through Saturday.
 
With 40 volunteers, ChildLine provides another example that Trinidadians do care. They volunteer their services for worthwhile causes. However, the center currently has vacancies for some important positions. I cannot say if the life of Sean or Emily would have been saved had the center been better staffed; but we all know that understaffed organizations are less effective than they can be if fully staffed and operating for the 24/7 period that is ChildLine’s goal. Adequate financing is a major difficulty facing this Center.
 
What other voluntary services may Trinidadians provide to make sustainable development more likely? I covered educational service activities in the U.S. in great detail because I wish to suggest that a Teach for Trinidad and Tobago (TFTT) will contribute significantly to this country’s sustainable development. Whenever I hear of the large number of students who are tutored for secondary school entrance exams and fifth and sixth form exams, I wonder about the fate of the apparently large body of financially less fortunate students who lack such help with their academics. The delinquency literature indicates that young people who are not committed to educational achievement are more likely to engage in delinquency than those who have high educational aspirations. It is difficult to maintain high educational aspirations when failure to achieve in school seems likely. Likewise, it is difficult to sacrifice the immediate gratification obtained from illegally gained goods when there is little chance that high status, high-salaried, and satisfying jobs seem beyond your reach. The young person neglected for tutoring today may be the older youth who robs and kills tomorrow.
 
I have been informed that the 31 charter members of this evening’s Rotaract Club are between ages 19 and 26. You are university students or recent university graduates. You have the ability to tutor less fortunate youths, to reduce illiteracy, to train citizens in saleable skills. The club into which you are about to be inducted gives you an opportunity to plan together  and work together to be of service to your community or country in ways that go beyond what individuals may be able to contribute.
 
I have heard enough and observed enough to believe that it is necessary to remind you that loving your neighbor as yourself does not mean loving only tribal members. Indeed, the Bible makes clear that a person outside of your ethno-racial group may be correctly regarded as your neighbor.
 
Intended Rotaractors, I believe that you are taking on membership in Rotaract because you are already convinced that serving humanity brings benefits to others and to you. Contributing to the welfare of others should bring you satisfaction. Helping your country should have the same effect. The time that you spend helping disadvantaged citizens of your country should help you prepare for leadership anywhere. Furthermore, showing someone that you care by helping that person may be all that is needed to instill some semblance of humanity in that person and remove any tendency he/she may have to physically harm others.
 
Fellow Rotarians, I thank you for inviting me to share in this important step that these young people are taking; and if I anyone wonders why I spent so much time on what occurs in America, it is a deliberate effort to make you aware that American culture has many positive attributes that may be profitably borrowed for your country. These attributes may be used to help you improve the educational level in your country, extend the rule of law, reduce poverty, unemployment and underemployment. In short, they can help this country realize sustainable development.
 
However, as many local commentators occasionally make clear, America has many negative attributes, even as T&T does. You must teach your citizens to discriminate between the good and the bad in any culture to which they are exposed, and to choose the good for emulation. May the Almighty grant all of us the wisdom, strength and desire to help to increase happiness universally.
 
I thank you.