WHERE ARE THEY NOW? with Coady Grad Krishna KC

Diploma in Development Leadership (1985) Nepal (currently residing in Toronto)

I got the highest level of satisfaction when I felt I gave all that I could!

Who did you work for and what was your area of work following your time at Coady Institute?

After graduating from Coady Institute, I worked for United Mission to Nepal, Save the Children, OXFAM UK, and Okenden International (a British NGO). For 12 years, I mainly worked with UNICEF, UNESCO, and the International Organization for Migration. I was involved in various areas of project management at field, country, and regional office levels mainly in literacy and education, management, capacity strengthening, and building through coaching, mentoring, and organized training. I was also involved in strategic planning for country programs and community development such as sustainable development, humanitarian as well as relief in emergency countries, and nonemergency countries around the world.

What was the highlight of your professional life?

I was recognized on many occasions in countries such as Cambodia and Sudan for working in emergency duty stations such as Sudan, Iraq, Cambodia, Pakistan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, and Albania for humanitarian activities including building peace. I was happy and took it as an opportunity to serve children, women, and the vulnerable by taking high-level calculative risks in certain interventions while the fighting was active in emergency countries.

On one occasion, there were many bombs around us, and two powerful rockets landed in our office compound when we were in a meeting in a UNICEF office. I helped the UN staff and moved them to a safe location. There were other times when I negotiated with the government, rebels, and even with UN agencies (internally) for the rights of children – especially rights to education – or took medicines and food to children when the active fighting was going on.

I wrote about my life’s work in the book The Journey of Hope & Global Humanitarianism – Creating Paths and Building Foundations for Literacy and Education Worldwide which is my first-hand account of the world of national and international development and relief organizations impacting the quality of life globally. The book is available at humanitarianbook.ca and Amazon. It is also available as an eBook at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Rakuten Kobo, and Chapters-Indigo.

What was the highlight of your personal life?

Well, I have had excellent exposure to various cultures and practices around the world and have had immense satisfaction with what I was able to do for others. I sincerely believe that nothing can give you this level of satisfaction when you can do something for the needy people, children, women, and vulnerable (social service). All the recognitions and awards remind me of my good and difficult times. Some of the jobs were well paid which helped me to save my family, it also made it possible for me to donate $100K to Kathmandu University for scholarships and endowment funds for female students from underprivileged and underserved areas.

How did your time at Coady Institute prepare you for your work?

Coady was a venue for me to get all the confidence in my life. A feeling of ‘I can do what others can’. My visit in 1985 was a very good exposure for me as I met many classmates from around the world and learned a lot in classes and from all the classmates who had various experiences. As it was a long time ago, I remember one of the classes I learned and enjoyed was talking about strategies for development. Other subjects were ‘Change Management’, ‘Concepts of Cooperatives’ and ‘Accounts’ Coady's exposure visits were very useful for learning and understanding the Western lifestyle with whom I often had to work either as their subordinate or a supervisor.

In your opinion, what are the biggest issues in bringing about social change, justice, and equality in today’s world?

Some of the bigger issues are how children, women, minorities, and vulnerable populations are denied their full human rights and I believe silence in the face of injustice is wrong. Governance systems have often used a top- down approach (not bottom-up) and selfishness among people is growing which prevents certain positive social changes.

What piece of advice can you offer social changemakers who are working in communities around the world to bring about social change?

I got the highest level of satisfaction when I felt I gave all that I could! One must have high-level ethics at work and responsibilities to achieve beyond expectations. If someone is serving selflessly, I encourage them to think deeply all the time and get better results. Believe in yourself, work hard but work smartly. Think deeply about different issues, causes, and their interrelations, and understand the context and situation. Also, understand the development politics as you need to find a power center, work with them diplomatically without being influenced by them, and find the best way to solve those issues or minimize the negative impact on people.

KC Krishna can be reached here.