A Secret Admirer of the Ismaili Community
A view from the outside
My previous post refers to issues within the Sikh communities in East Africa that I left behind in 1972. I think I have asked hard questions to analyse the work of the Sikh community. I wanted to ascertain how and why the Sikh community had set out to achieve a wide range of objectives. It took me many years to learn that the leadership of faith-based organisations cannot be expected to achieve the wide range of outcomes that my questioning implies.
Faith based organisations led by Asians were successful as long as they were able to fulfill the requirements of their legal mandates or conditions for charitable registration in the countries in which they operated. They had to deliver their faith based objectives, and no more. However, East African Asians found, in many cases, that their religious organisations were also required to fulfill other roles such as liaison with African Governments, ensure representation at civic functions, comply to the emerging social policy requirements. They had little choice even when many of them were not capable enough to do so.
These assertions do not tend to apply to the case of the Ismaili communities in East Africa. Here was a community which appeared to be 'successful' in many areas of proactive engagement. They appeared to have a good balance as far as their vision and objectives were concerned. They had the patience to develop organisations with suitable structures for delivering their multiple programmes. They had mostly a clear basis for being accountable to their general public and to the Aga Khan, their spiritual leader. This would suggest that they monitored their programmes and took care to remedy any weaknesses. The results of such an accountable approach to management of large and small projects could be seen through many success stories - schools, hospitals, dispensaries and community support projects.
How did the Ismaili community succeed? Do the Ismailis also think that they were successful?
I am pleased to hear from a reader, Mansoor Ladha, who lives in Canada. Mansoor is researching for a book on the Ismaili community. Born and bred in Tanzania, Mansoor held senior positions in journalism in Tanzania and Kenya before going to Canada. He worked for five years as a journalist before buying two weeklies which he ran for 25 years. He is interested in hearing from Ismailis who lived in East Africa. Mansoor can be contacted by email mlpublish@shaw.ca
I also look forward to hearing from Ismailis who can discuss the reasons for their success in East Africa. Would they also be interested in discussing the key aspects of their approach to development? Were Ismaili organisations focused but also flexible in meeting changing needs in the East African environment?
My previous post refers to issues within the Sikh communities in East Africa that I left behind in 1972. I think I have asked hard questions to analyse the work of the Sikh community. I wanted to ascertain how and why the Sikh community had set out to achieve a wide range of objectives. It took me many years to learn that the leadership of faith-based organisations cannot be expected to achieve the wide range of outcomes that my questioning implies.
Faith based organisations led by Asians were successful as long as they were able to fulfill the requirements of their legal mandates or conditions for charitable registration in the countries in which they operated. They had to deliver their faith based objectives, and no more. However, East African Asians found, in many cases, that their religious organisations were also required to fulfill other roles such as liaison with African Governments, ensure representation at civic functions, comply to the emerging social policy requirements. They had little choice even when many of them were not capable enough to do so.
These assertions do not tend to apply to the case of the Ismaili communities in East Africa. Here was a community which appeared to be 'successful' in many areas of proactive engagement. They appeared to have a good balance as far as their vision and objectives were concerned. They had the patience to develop organisations with suitable structures for delivering their multiple programmes. They had mostly a clear basis for being accountable to their general public and to the Aga Khan, their spiritual leader. This would suggest that they monitored their programmes and took care to remedy any weaknesses. The results of such an accountable approach to management of large and small projects could be seen through many success stories - schools, hospitals, dispensaries and community support projects.
How did the Ismaili community succeed? Do the Ismailis also think that they were successful?
I am pleased to hear from a reader, Mansoor Ladha, who lives in Canada. Mansoor is researching for a book on the Ismaili community. Born and bred in Tanzania, Mansoor held senior positions in journalism in Tanzania and Kenya before going to Canada. He worked for five years as a journalist before buying two weeklies which he ran for 25 years. He is interested in hearing from Ismailis who lived in East Africa. Mansoor can be contacted by email mlpublish@shaw.ca
I also look forward to hearing from Ismailis who can discuss the reasons for their success in East Africa. Would they also be interested in discussing the key aspects of their approach to development? Were Ismaili organisations focused but also flexible in meeting changing needs in the East African environment?
posted by K Singh Ajimal at
2:18 am
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