BANGO Preparing a Place for Civil Society

It was 1994 when a young despondent man, not yet 40 yrs old, found an ally in an old friend who offered him a space to call an office at #10 Garrison, St. Michael, home of the Commonwealth Liaison Unit of Barbados (CLU-B).

That man's despondency resulted from seeing the sad state of Civil Society and the level of suffering and lack of resources that were causing his people to stray onto a path of self destruction; or so it seemed.

It was at #10 that this unsung hero started to sharpen his skills and gain new ones. Soon he was producing from business cards to newsletters; offering organisations secretariat services while their Officers were at work; received their faxes; gave them an official address; and at times, a meeting place.

Additionally, he designed their letterheads and printed them, drafted letters for them and generally began representing them and helping them overcome the hurdles that both large and small organisations faced. He even started to typeset, layout and print books for authors who did not have the money to publish and printed a monthly magazine called "NGO News".

It was therefore a sad day in 1997 when this dedicated man found himself with his back against the wall and decided that for the sake of peace he would leave #10. He simply walked out leaving everything behind that he had built. He subsequently threw his energies behind the only CBO he had known for nearly twenty years and which he had previously served.

However, his earlier efforts had not gone in vain and the idea of a voice for Civil Society which came out of #10 more than six months before he left, soon became what is today called BANGO. Mr. Philip Knight became BANGO's first Secretary General and together with Buddy Larrier and the late Gordon Ricardo Parris, (all of whom worked with him at #10) became the first and only Board of Directors of BANGO since its inception.

It was a happy moment for our hero when he heard that BANGO was formed. Behind the scenes and wherever anyone would listen, he vouched for BANGO. Then after about four years, happiness turned to depression when he heard that BANGO was folding up. Without a question asked, our hero was right at BANGO's death bed working feverishly to resuscitate it, and he did.

All the officers except the Secretary had abandoned ship. The Directors were at a loss but slowly, although otherwise employed and fighting an all-out war on poverty, our hero, who became its second Secretary General found the time to start turning BANGO around working closely with the Secretary. Our unsung hero is none other than Mr. Roosevelt King.

From 2001 until he left his employment in 2003 to become a full time volunteer with BANGO, he worked late nights and yet was up before the roosters heading to his office. He forsook social life, family life and indeed made a serious personal sacrifice for this organisation.

Months after taking on BANGO, he called the out-going officers but it took several more months of persuasion before the Chairman, Vice Chairman, and a Floor member came back to join him and the Secretary. They endorsed his leadership as Secretary General along with the Secretary, who by then had taken up the post of Deputy Secretary General

Mr. King had already started to take the organisation forward again, building on the advocacy and representation which the former Secretary General started. Today BANGO has become a leading voice for the inclusion of Civil Society.

This is my interpretation of what Mr. King is saying to us in Civil Society: "Listen, this thing is working. I need you in order to take it forward. I am not here to take over your organisations but I have reached the table in your name and I am not versed in the work that you do so I want you to come and tell those at the table what you do and advise them and share your experiences with them because that will empower you."

In thinking about Mr. King's work, his selfless disposition and Christian spiritedness a Biblical verse springs to mind which I will leave with you. "In my Father's House there are many Mansions and I go there to prepare a place for you so that where I am so will you be also." Of course, he is no Christ, just an ordinary man doing the Christian thing.

Buddy Aaron Larrier
Trustee of the Barbados Association of Non Governmental Organisations
Registered Charity No: 611.