How I Changed The World: In My Own Unique Ways

By Galeeb Kachra

"Galeeb Kachra truly is one of a kind. A unique combination of optimism, can-do determination and relentless energy, he has the wiliness and moral integrity required to shake up sclerotic systems and sweep away logjams. His detailed account of five projects that mattered intensely to him, which did their little bit to make the world a better place, is sprinkled with humour and charmingly idiosyncratic, while packed with serious intent."  

-- Michela Wrong, March 2021, author of "It's Our Turn to Eat: the Story of a Kenyan Whistleblower."

 

From the author:

Do you want to help achieve change, but don't know how? Other books don't give you practical examples that are within your own reach. This book showcases real cases, based on Galeeb's international experience. It covers disaster preparedness, anticorruption, youth empowerment, judicial reform, book bans, and procurement reform. Be motivated to find a way of helping others whatever your specific interests and technical skills. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Galeeb Kachra
• Release date: Apr 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393903376

Galeeb Kachra

Galeeb is a third generation Kenyan of Indian descent who immigrated to the United States at the age of 16. He has lived and worked on both the east and west coasts of the U.S. as well as in Kenya and Pakistan. Throughout his 25+ year career, he has focused on serving humanity and on being a steward of the earth. A dozen years working in international development (both for the U.S. Government and for a non-profit humanitarian agency) empowered him to help other people. Another dozen years in the environmental field has strengthened his sustainability skills. Together, these experiences have given him the insight to showcase how innovation and service go hand-in-hand. Today, when he is not engaged in community service, or writing his next book, you can find him running the trails of the Seattle suburbs.

Book preview

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

THE OPINIONS AND VIEWS expressed are entirely those of the author and not those of Focus Humanitarian Assistance, the Aga Khan Development Network, or the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

HOW I CHANGED THE WORLD: IN MY OWN UNIQUE WAYS

COPYRIGHT © 2021, 2022 Galeeb Kachra

Dedication

TO MY WIFE, FOR STANDING by me as I pursued my crazy ideas; to my parents, for bringing me up the way they did; and to my children, may this book inspire future generations to improve the world in their own unique ways.

What Others Say

Galeeb Kachra truly is one of a kind. A unique combination of optimism, can-do determination and relentless energy, he has the wiliness and moral integrity required to shake up sclerotic systems and sweep away logjams. His detailed account of five projects that mattered intensely to him, which did their little bit to make the world a better place, is sprinkled with humour and charmingly idiosyncratic, while packed with serious intent.

—Michela Wrong, March 2021, author of "It's Our Turn to Eat: the Story of a Kenyan Whistleblower.

Galeeb has left a lasting impact through his trail blazing approaches to international development, from cutting edge contracting mechanisms to innovative support for critical reforms in Kenya. Galeeb’s prodigious contributions throughout his tenure exemplify what it means to be the tip of the transition spear

—Dr. Rajiv Shah, 2013, Administrator, United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

I am pleased to learn that you have decided to write a book which will contain a chapter on team Eldoret...It will help our generation as well as those who will succeed us

—Justice C.G.Mbogo, High Court Judge, Kenya

Prologue

DECEMBER 1972, NAIROBI–MOMBASA Highway. The narrow road stretched out ahead of us in the dead of the night, a black ribbon of asphalt cutting yet another scar across the national park. The pattern of sporadic headlights paralleled the infamous Lunatic Express line the British had built from Mombasa to Lake Victoria; the same line gave birth to my own place of birth, Nairobi.

I felt Mom’s body tense up, not from the ghosts of those killed by the man-eating lions of Tsavo or from the memories of World War II air raid sirens in her hometown of Mombasa. I could not see her face, nor could I see the road in front of us as I was wrapped, warm and protected, in her amniotic fluid. I sensed the change in her breath as her body pumped more oxygen through the umbilical cord. I would not see her face for another two months. But I knew. I knew something was wrong. Or about to be.

She yelled at Dad, Watch out! The sound traveled through her bones, through the fluid, into my eardrums. Did I hear it before my dad, who was driving the car? Ahead of us, a vehicle was hurtling toward us in our lane, trying to overtake a truck. But there was no passing lane. Only one travel lane in each direction constituted this busy highway, the lifeline of East and Central Africa. It was a joke by American standards. And it was trying to claim its next victim.

Dad calculated his odds: a head-on collision with both vehicles traveling at 100 km per hour, swerve into the truck, or swerve the other way into the bush. He picked the latter, prayed, and nudged the steering wheel over. But he had not seen the ravine, which was veiled by the dark and the bushes. The car tipped over and flipped. It flipped again. I was bounced around. If I had known what a roller coaster felt like, this would be it. My harness was the amniotic fluid. I was fine, unscratched. The passengers were lucky, but not as lucky. Dad was severely injured. He would spend weeks in a hospital. Mum was badly scratched up. But nothing was broken.

God whispered in my heart, I have saved you so you can serve My creation: the physical world, the animals, and the people. He went on to cite Surah 6:165 from the Holy Qur’an: It is He who has made you stewards of the earth and made some of you do good deeds of a higher degree than others.

He was repeating the same verse that was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad 1,400 years ago. Had I been born into a Christian family, God might have said, Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor (1 Cor. 10:24, ESV), or We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up (Rom. 15:1–2, ESV).

For He is the one God for all His creation, and He speaks to us through the prophets whom He has selected from among us. His message is meant to guide us throughout our lives.

December 1982, General Mathenge Drive, Nairobi. I was a nine-year-old boy teasing my cousin in the car. I was oblivious to the world. My mother was driving us all home after a late dinner party. Dad was away on a rare business trip. As we approached the dark, uncontrolled four-way intersection, my older cousin whipped around in the front seat, his arm outstretched. His momentum propelled me into my cousin in the middle seat. Ouch. My brain began to protest.

But before the words could leave my mouth, a car smashed into us, crumpling the very door that I had been leaning against. I processed this information and calculated that I had been hit. I started screaming as if I was severely injured.