What We Have in Common with Bangladesh
Sunday, September 20th, 2009
Loretta Payne recently married and moved to Seabeck after working in Bangladesh, Rwanda and Sierra Leone.
One of the best things about joining the League of Women Voters
is meeting interesting people with amazing life stories. I am
continually surprised at how many of my fellow LWV Kitsap board
members have lived in different parts of the world.
Loretta Payne, who recently joined the League, has an especially
intriguing background.
She worked overseas from 1989 until last year, spending 12 years in
Bangladesh and another 5 in Rwanda and Sierra Leone. She recently
married Jim Byrnes of Seabeck and together they have 8 children,
though only 3 at home.
Her experience in struggling countries gives her a unique
perspective on our problems here at home.
“In order to help the poor in Bangladesh, Sierra Leone and Rwanda I
had to understand how their governments and the private sector
served them, or better yet, failed to do so,” Loretta said in
explaining why she joined the League.
“Living in countries with failed regulatory systems, you come to
appreciate an appropriate level of government regulation. (I have a
high regard for covered sewage systems, safe water, building safety
inspections, functioning and enforced stop lights……) One of the
greatest obstructions to effective governance in developing
countries is the obsession with party politics and divisive
attitudes. In Bangladesh, the party out of power is always referred
to as the ‘Opposition’ party.
“It was disturbing for me to observe this increasing trend in the
US.”
Once she decided to live in the United States again, Loretta felt
the need to understand how her own government was working to “serve
the people.”
“I attended two League events; the first on health care and the
second on water Issues. (Interestingly, the greatest cause of
financial ruin in both the US and in Bangladesh is a family health
care crisis.)
“Fundamentally, people are pretty much the same throughout the
world and yet Americans are blessed with an abundance of resources
and opportunities, which also brings greater responsibility. I
believe that we should focus on the issues and acknowledge that
people from different parties can be on the same side of an issue.
I joined the League because I believe that as a US citizen I have a
responsibility to be informed and involved, and to encourage others
to do the same.”
Ann Strosnider is communications chair for the League of Women Voters of Kitsap.
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
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