My travel schedule requires me to stay in a small town outside Arusha last night and tonight. I booked into a local guesthouse which offers clean but small rooms and breakfast for 5000 Tanzanian shillings (about 4 USD). These kinds of guesthouses are not frequented by tourists or even NGO types, so it was a huge surprise to me when I walked into the lobby and ran into an old colleague Charlie Forst. Some of you may know Charlie since he is somewhat famous in ag development circles and worked for ECHO for many years (www.echonet.org).
I had the privilege of working with Charlie in Haiti in 1996, and it was an opportunity for me to learn and be challenged. Really, Charlie is a genius. One of those people who applies himself and excels at everything they turn their mind to. He has lived through wars, embargoes, and generally extreme situations in some of the poorest parts of the world. I would guess Charlie is now at least in his 70's if not his 80's and is still going strong, working on water and agricultural projects here in Tanzania. Again, all these years later, I have so much to learn from Charlie and it is inspiring to have a chance to pick someone's brain with so much knowledge and experience. Everywhere Charlie has gone, Haiti, Peru, Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, the US, he has made a positive difference for individuals and communities. He even met then Senator Obama on his African tour. There should be more Charlie's in the world. I feel very fortunate to have run into him again, completely by 'accident'.
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