“Mutual fertilisation”

Dr. U Kyaw Than was associate general secretary (later general
secretary) of the East Asia Christian Conference (now the CCA) at
a time when there was no Internet and mobile phones.

But he and the late D.T. Niles, the first general secretary were
so efficient and effective in their work of promoting and nurturing
ecumenism in the region that they made an impact both at the
regional and grassroots level. What could have been their secret?

“Part of the secret was that we were in our own country so were
part of our own context,” Dr. Than said in an interview.
At that time Niles, who was the general secretary, was based in Sri
Lanka, and Dr. Than, in Myanmar. “Our country was our own base
so we were in touch with the grassroots,” Dr. Than said. “Since
we were in our own communities, we were able to implement our
programs even with shoestring budgets.”

Under the setup then, Dr. Than said the EACC leadership and the
grassroots “mutually fertilised” each other. “We were acting on real issues from the grassroots and not on imagined problems,” he said. “The issues of the grassroots thus defined our programs, instead of us defining them.”

Maurice Malanes

~ Berita Terkini CCA 2010 April 19