Water Buffalo - The Dr. Rifat Hussain Story
Question: What does it take to bring clean drinking water to people in Middle East villages who live in some of the most arrid places in the world?
The answer is really simple; a very stubborn, eighty-two-old retired surgeon who is quite simply a man consumed by the raging desire to educate, improve and to make people think. A highly accomplished cleft palate surgeon who trained surgeons all over the world; a man whose anger can have an incandescent quality to it, a man who humorously likes to describe himself as a highly diplomatic benevolent dictator on a mission to ameliorate lives. I do not think I can ever call him politically correct but I do not think I have ever known a person so forthright, outspoken and so utterly driven to bring about change. At 82, he walks the hills and mountains of KPK inspecting sites for his projects – installation of VAWT is just one small accomplishment in a long list of things this incredible man has been doing over the years.
He lives in America but his heart beats in Pakistan; he has been coming home regularly – never empty handed, raising funds in America for his projects in KPK and other parts of Pakistan. A meticulous planner with an unshakable belief in reading and learning; he can talk to you about poetry, agriculture, trees, equestrianism, animal husbandry, ecosystems, water conservations, green energy, politics, history (both western and eastern), philosophy, theology, physics and much more. He was born in KPK so he knows the people and the land like the back of his hand – this is the advantage that allows him to push boundaries and to show people what hope looks like.
The biggest challenge faced by people like him is perhaps not so much getting money together to build projects or technical knowhow but simply the corruption that slushes around everywhere in Pakistan. There is a constant demand of bribes and at times from people he is trying to help! He told me about a visit to an area where he spoke to the local tribe about planting 1000 olive trees and building a dam for rain water conservation; quite unbelievably, they demanded money (bribe) to let him plant trees and build a dam at no cost to them! A journalist showed interest in his work but then demanded money from him – so the surgeon, true to his character, told him to go to very hot place. His work, often hindered by ‘broken stones’ (local blood feuds) – people unable to understand what he is trying to achieve. In his own words, ‘drilling a well here is not simply to pay someone and he will do everything – to buy quality products, I have to do everything myself. This takes time and tires me out as everyone is trying to shaft you and I am not a wheeler dealer by nature – so it stresses me out a bit and being 82 years old does not help.’ Clearly it is not easy to bring relief to people who need it but do not quite understand the long-term benefits.
Telling good stories and delivering them to the marketplace is about all I do. I call it StoryTelling America.
There is a proverb that says, tell me a fact and I’ll learn, tell me a truth and I’ll believe, but tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.
I think everybody has a story worth telling and sharing one’s life experiences may be the most valuable asset a person can give…your successes, your failures and your accomplishments and your dreams..
Let me help you do just that.