veryone deeply in-volved
in development programs agrees that financial and logistics support for such
programs should not be for one time only but should be sustained over the long
term if positive impacts are to be expected. But in reality few people have been
successful in sustaining development programs, in this particular example,
population management.
One Ramon Magsaysay 1994 Awardee for Public Service, Mechai
Viravaidya, known as the "Condom King" is one of them.
Since 30 years ago, he has been working in family planning to
reduce and control human population growth in Thailand as a way to improve the
quality of life of the Thai people. His efforts have been successful in slowing
down the population growth rate in Thailand as evidenced by the relatively
smaller population in that country. Thailand has now about 60 million people in
contrast to theMONDAY |SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 | PHILIPPINES, which has now 90 million. These figures are
significant because Thailand and theMONDAY |SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 | PHILIPPINES had about the same population
3-4 decades ago. In addition, Thailand, which is about the same size as the
Philippines, is more progressive as shown by the higher value of the Thai baht,
which is equivalent to one peso and 30 centavos. In 1992, the beginning of the
Ramos administration, the peso had equal value with the baht. There is little
doubt that the improvement of the economy of Thailand can in part be attributed
to the smaller growth rate of this country.
How did Mechai achieve the sustained effort at population
management? From his own testimony, it is clear that his success in ensuring
sustainability over the past decades was his promotion of profitable small-scale
business enterprises for people living in the villages. He narrated that his NGO
borrowed money as initial capital for the various enterprises run by people's
organizations. The result was that these businesses prospered. The loans were
not only fully paid after a short time but also generated large earnings. The
incomes of the villagers increased. Banks prospered because of savings. Students
got better education. The people enjoyed better health. The communities have
become self-reliant, and they would no longer be dependent on loans in the
future.
The key to sustainability of Mechai's family planning program
was total community development, with entrepreneurship and business enterprises
occupying the center stage of the program. Empowerment of the people and the
practice of democratic processes in decision making also played important roles
in the total development of poor people. It is of interest to note that when
Mechai was asked whether he had trouble with political interference, he replied
in the negative.
Community development is also being done in theMONDAY |SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 | PHILIPPINES and should be
vigorously promoted. What is important is that any program, irrespective of its
nature, should adopt strategies that focus not only on a specific goal (example
environmental protection) but also address the main needs of the people. Mechai
had a specific goal in mind-reduction of population growth rate-but to attain
this goal, he used strategies that responded to the total needs of the people.
We should learn from the experiences of Mechai Viravaidya in Thailand, a country
not unlike theMONDAY |SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 | PHILIPPINES.
