I recently read biographies of two extraordinary founders of international NGOs – David Bussau of Opportunity International (OI) and Paul Farmer of Partners in Health (PIH). The former is of well known to OI supporters and students of microfinance, and the latter is well known to public health professionals interested in global health.
Both biographies delve deep into their respective subject’s personal and professional lives. And in the telling, portray a familiar but compelling story of a founder’s creative passion, and an organisation’s birth and growing pains, with a continuing struggle over corporate philosophy, priorities and growth, leading to sometimes difficult choices and compromises.
David Bussau’s story ‘Don’t Look Back’ written by Philippa Tyndale in 2004, and published by Allen & Unwin, is subtitled ‘How an abandoned child became a champion of the poor’. It starts in an orphanage in New Zealand, sees Bussau walk away from a successful business career in his thirties, and ends with him three decades later boarding yet another plane to spread the word about microfinance and social entrepreneurship. In between, the book manages to explain in detail how and why Opportunity International Australia has been so successful in Indonesia, the Philippines and India, failed to grow sustainably in Pakistan after entrenched opposition, and linked up with sister organisations to form OI’s global network. It also explains how the ‘small loans’ idea grew into a more complete ‘microfinance’ package with training, leadership development, business mentoring and savings options.
Philippa Tyndale writes with empathy and directness about Bussau’s personal and family journey, as he and his family move through periods living in Darwin (after the 1974 cyclone), and Bali (after the 1976 earthquake and for long periods thereafter). She also recognises and describes the contribution of his co-workers, both in Australia and ‘in country’, and traces the trajectory of their successes and struggles, as they intertwine with Bussau’s life over decades.
‘Mountains beyond mountains’ written by Tracy Kidder, and published by Random House in 2003, tells an equally unique story. It also carries a descriptive subtitle ‘The quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a man who would cure the world’. Brought up on a boat in a Florida bayou, Farmer begins a lifetime’s relationship with the people of Haiti while still a medical student at Harvard. Both a physician and a trained anthropologist, he somehow combines rural health care and grass-roots community development in Haiti, with his work as an infectious disease specialist in Boston. He came to international attention in the 1990’s with his determination to address, rather than ignore, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, convincing the sceptics by achieving high cure rates. His work spread to other countries (Peru, Cuba, Russia), and Partners in Health had to stretch, adapt and attract more funds. Taking on the multinational drug companies, his PIH co-founder, Jim Kim, helped drive down drug prices for tuberculosis, and later AIDS.
More striking even than Farmer’s personal story is the in-depth description of the village of Cange in Haiti, it’s inhabitants and their beliefs, and the commitment of PIH to provide good local health care despite the constraints of poverty, limited resources and political upheaval. The contrasts with Farmer’s other world in Boston are obvious and unsettling.
Both biographers avoid the trap of painting their subjects as saints. Farmer and Bussau are both complex, sometimes conflicted people. Time away from family on frequent, long trips is a common theme, requiring significant sacrifice by partners and children. It is a price that most people would not choose to pay, whatever the perceived greater good. At one point in the Farmer biography, Jim Kim explicitly warns PIH staffers not to try to imitate Farmer, calling him ‘a model of what should be done, but not a model of how it has to be done.’
Supporters of OI and PIH know the tremendous impact of both men’s work on the lives of the poor. From their different starting positions, they have seen the reality of poverty, and committed themselves to making a positive difference. However, neither organisation promises instant miracles. The journey out of poverty is hard and the gains worthwhile, but the biggest impact is often on the next generation.
Both biographies, written more than 10 years ago, end with the job undone – in Farmer’s case before the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake, when PIH was in a unique position to help with reconstruction of health care and restoring of hope. In Bussau’s case, with fair access to credit still a distant dream for the majority of the very poor. In 2012, PIH co-founder, Jim Kim, was appointed President of the World Bank, pledging to end extreme poverty by 2030 and boost prosperity in developing countries. Perhaps part of that future lies with combining microfinance with health and education services, and traditional community development? It is not a new idea, but read these stories, and be challenged!
Public health generalist 