Be a Hero to Someone
Frank A. Hilario
November 30, 2009
Dr Ragnhild Sohlberg, Former Chair, ICRISAT Governing Board and our chief guest today, honored awardees, MG and RC members and Team ICRISAT, good morning and welcome to our 37th anniversary celebrations!
Today, I would like to dedicate a poem in free verse to TEAM ICRISAT and all our champions like Ragnhild Sohlberg and express my thanks to all those who have made ICRISAT what it is today.
When the poor farmer in the SAT sits down to eat his roti and dhal, he says thanks in his prayer.
And as the wheel of life turns, he knows he has a hero who has changed his life!
He thinks of seeds, better varieties, new methods, and the marketplace.
He thinks of science and sees a human face, that of the one who put more food on his plate, more fruits in his plants, more money in his pocket.
Little does he know that his hero had been through depressing times himself.
His hero had despaired of ever rising above his discouraging status in life, not seeing how his few successes could be more meaningful to himself and others.
Then someone came along who knew how to follow and knew how to lead, and they called him Servant Leader.
This someone saw people as themselves and as a Team, and he called them TEAM ICRISAT.
And he showed the Team how to believe in themselves, how to cherish each other, how to think together.
He taught the Team how to make a path where there was none, and leave a trail.
The poor farmer of the SAT sits, eats his roti and dhal, and thinks of the times the Team talked in strange words, and smiles. He feels good.
The Captain showed the Team how to produce more variety in their crops, and taught them what they already knew in their head, biodiversity.
The Captain made them see how they could grow more crops, harvest more, earn more, and taught them what they had already seen with their eyes, crop diversification.
And the Team explored the complexities of modern science inside and outside the laboratory, of sustainable natural resource management, even while strengthening policies, and innovating along the way.
The Team exulted when novel things began to show – hybrid Pigeonpea, HHB 67 Improved, ICGV 91114, sweet sorghum for ethanol, guinea race sorghum hybrids and climate ready cultivars.
The Team ventured more and reached out more, went out consolidating and regionalizing, creating impacts in Asia and Africa.
And the Team realized that the wheel had turned and the shackles of traditional thinking had been broken.
The Team saw that they had created a new ICRISAT, financially sound and rejuvenated.
Ready to face the rising storm that rages in the SAT.
The poor farmer in the SAT sits, eats his roti and dhal, and says thanks in silence.
He knows in his heart that the Team is watching over him, even if they are hidden.
TEAM ICRISAT! This is your Captain speaking. Don't forget the hidden hero inside you. Don't forget to look out for more of the hidden potential.
Be the hero for more of the ones in need. Be the hero for more people in the SAT!
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