Jennifer Baarn is 41 years old and lives and works in Dar es Salam, Tanzania, as Deputy Director of the SAGCOT Centre Ltd. SAGCOT, a public-private partnership organisation with representatives from government, development partners and the private sector. SAGCOT Centre has the responsibility to attract and coordinate US$3.2 billion in investments for the Southern Highlands in Tanzania, an area almost twice the size of Suriname.
Previously, she was a Global Leadership Fellow and Associate Director of the A New Vision for Agriculture program of the World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland. She worked for Rabobank International from 2000 to 2008. First in Utrecht and later at their branch in London England. First as Manager (Associate) Food & Agribusiness Research and later as Associate for the Mergers & Acquisitions Division. She studied Business Administration at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam.
Who exactly is Jennifer?
I was born and raised in Paramaribo, on Friman Gron, daughter of Wilgo Baarn and the late Elfriede Baarn-Dijksteel. I attended the Sint Agnes and Christus Koningschools. I was fifteen when I left for the Netherlands, right after my Mulo final exams. My mother passed away two years ago and was the chair of NAKS, before that she was in education. My father was originally a police officer, but his passion lies in the performing arts, music and theatre. He was also the director of the Nola Hatterman Institute. Intellectually, my mother has always been my beacon. I was full of questions from an early age. What is a star, why did Mary make a child with God and not with Joseph, what does perjury mean? She had an answer to everything. I inherited my love for education from her. She believed that “it is your duty to educate yourself and to formulate your opinion based on knowledge of the subject”. She was also very socially committed and believed in investing in people. Self-confidence and belief in one's own abilities were important to her. My father is more of an artist and my creative sparring partner. I also have a brother, Gerley Baarn, and a foster sister, Maritha Kitaman. We are different personalities, but have a very close bond and are all still active in the cultural field. My father's family is from Saramacca, my mother's family is from Cottica. I feel connected to all those places. My family members are still traditional Pernassi sma (plantation people...EA). The clan, our land and the blood are very important. Of course there are sometimes frictions, but when it comes down to it we don't let go of each other, not for anything and not for anyone. I think that our religious and cultural experience plays a big role in that. We owe it to our bigismas.
What are your family norms and values?
“I was born into a family of artists. Performing arts were embedded in my life from the moment I could talk and walk. Our house was always a storage place for instruments, scripts, music and stage props. NAKS (Na Afrikan Kulturu fu Sranan) and the Nola Hatterman Institute for Visual Arts, I grew up between those two institutes. I realize that it was a privilege to end up in that family with my character. I am a dreamer, a poet, I wrote poems at a young age. When I was ten, I published my first poem, it was about freedom and was in Sranan. I was also challenged by my parents to develop that part. In the Netherlands, I was still a member of the theater group De Nieuwe Amsterdam as a teenager. Theater and recitation have certainly given me self-confidence in presentation and dealing with people. Last year I published a small collection of poems. I am sure that more will follow.”
You come from a family that values cultural development, to what extent has that development influenced/influenced your “own being”?
“My faith is winti. I believe that my ancestors protect me. I believe that I have the duty to live in harmony with my yeye, my loved ones and my environment. Alla san na bun sani, nothing happens by chance and you have to seize everything to get back to harmony. I am a child of Naks, I have learned san na mi sani. I can tie my own angisa, make my own swit watra. Whether I wake up in Sao Paolo or Mumbai, the first sound I hear every Sunday morning is kawina. If you really know our history as a Surinamese, then you cannot help but appreciate our cultural heritage, because it represents an enormous survival power of our ancestors. They could not read or write. Their story is recorded in our music, clothing, food and rituals. I must never deny that, I am indebted to the thousands of Africans at the bottom of the ocean, the millions of families that have been torn apart. Respect for your own, that is how you also command respect from others. But my cultural development was broad, I also celebrated paghwa, diwali and bodo every year. You realize that different cultures influence each other, have something recognizable and also change over time. As a person you can't become rigid, you have to be open to new developments, as long as respect remains. Mi na kulturu sma, but in daily life I am very down to earth. I don't hide behind hebis, wintis and jewelry. Jennifer is responsible for the choices in her life and everything she does to others. My bigismas are only there to guide me in that. And yet when people ask me; "why do you live in Africa", I say honestly, na a Agida kar mi kon. Of course it is a nice step in my career, but I am convinced that my arrival here was predestined. Maybe I am here to make good something that was destroyed centuries ago and I have seized that opportunity with both hands."
What is your view on personal development and life in general?
“Nobody is perfect and as a human being you make mistakes every day, but integrity is not for sale. As a human being you have to have principles, stand up for certain moral values and try to live up to them in everything you do. Opo yu yeye ma no saka yu kra (raise your spirit, but do not deny your soul). It is my motto, and the basis for my faith. I can open my mind to many things, try new things and enjoy life, but I have a great responsibility not to destroy my kra, that piece of the divine in me.”
You say that there is no standard formula for life, that education is only a small part and that talent, education and power bring responsibility. Can you explain that?
“For me, real learning didn’t begin until after college. You owe a debt to the community from which you came. When I was 16, I read The Miseducation of the Negro by human rights activist Carter G. Woodson. He dedicated his life to improving the lives of African Americans. His message was clear: “If your talent and education are not used to improve the lives of your family, neighbors, and community, then it is a waste.”
Think global, act local. What do you mean by that?
“It is important to have a passion. Something you want to achieve with enthusiasm. But passion requires discipline, otherwise you will not have results. It also requires vision, otherwise you will not have focus. It is also important that you formulate for yourself what your contribution is to the bigger picture. Especially in these times of new media, the power lies in building networks with like-minded people worldwide. As Suriname, we have so much to offer the world. Last year, I made a road trip in Suriname together with an environmentalist from the World Economic Forum, along projects and places where there was a tension between culture, economic prosperity and environmental management. How do Surinamese people who are close to nature deal with this, especially when it comes to providing income? We went to the woodworkers of Totomboti in Pikin Slee, visited the indigenous women of Kalabaskreek and spoke to large and small farmers in their fields. But we also visited gold miners to talk about their vision of nature. It has become a beautiful photo report that is worth publishing. We want to spread the story of these projects and people in a modest way through our global network. Hopefully others will get interested in working with these programs.”
You believe in constant growth and self-reflection.
“Yes. In 2008, I was accepted for the global leadership fellow program of the World Economic Forum in Geneva. With 30 young professionals from various disciplines, I followed an intensive leadership program for three years, a combination of work and study. We visited the most important universities and met practically all world leaders. I learned one thing. Be open and honest about your weaknesses. It is the first step to making yourself stronger. I am always late, am a workaholic, do not forget and forgive easily and am a micromanager. In my head it is often a chaos of ideas, but I set high standards for myself and others. I also have a passion and energy that is contagious and I support my people. Finding balance in all these aspects of yourself is the challenge.”
Jennifer Baarn in London
Who are your important role models in terms of attitude to life?
“I have many role models, especially within my family. Nobody is perfect, but I admire many of my cousins for their perseverance to make something of their lives and their dedication to their children and family. People like Edgar Cairo, Gerrit Barron, Henk Tjon, Ron Flu and James Ramlal are my gurus. They, besides my family, shaped my mind as a child and determined my being Surinamese. They believed in a Surinamese identity in which we had knowledge about ourselves and felt responsible to the core fu seti kondre bun. Through my upbringing I learned that investing in knowledge, people and experiences is an important foundation. People who say they have never known racism simply do not know what it means. Racism, sexism, colonialism, they are so embedded in our way of thinking and social structures that you always have to deal with them, openly or covertly. I am a black woman who has held remarkable positions from a very young age. They have not always made it easy for me. But, I am in it for the long run. When I look at the history of my people and the development of issues such as women's emancipation, you realise that things will only get better for us in the future."
Your career choice. How did that go?
“Culture was our ‘labour of love’ at home. But I am not an artist, as an artist you have to dare to lose yourself and believe unconditionally in your passion. I am too risk-averse, too calculating for that. As I got older, I became more interested in fundraising, the financial side of things. That is why I decided to study business administration. I was a banker, eight years at Rabobank, in Utrecht and London. A beautiful, but also challenging time. Just before the start of the financial crisis in 2008, I moved to Geneva. In London I became much more interested in Africa. The continent is my historical cradle, I studied Africa and world history, culture and economy in England. But the other driving force for my interest is the fact that it is an emerging market. The economic growth on the continent is impressive, despite setbacks the optimism is palpable. In the current financial malaise, many eyes are focused on Africa. I wanted to be involved in realising that potential”.
What does your new job at SAGCOT entail?
The Southern Highlands in Tanzania is a priority area for agricultural development, but the bulk of the investment will be in infrastructure.
SAGGOT we have already been successful in attracting multinationals and local companies that want to test their business models as a precursor to more serious investments. Our program also focuses on sustainable development. Environmental management and the economic integration of the local population is essential. For me this is the most interesting aspect. How do you ensure that local villages and farmers also benefit from this, as small-scale entrepreneurs, employees or consumers. Ultimately, the region must generate 1.2 trillion US dollars in agricultural income. We are now busy setting up a separate investment fund of 50 to 100 million US dollars to support emerging agricultural companies. It is tough, but a unique opportunity to bring about a different approach to sustainable investment”.
SAGCOT (Southern Agriculture Growth Corridor of Tanzania)
Living so far away from home, what does that mean?
“Mi na wakaman. I studied in the Netherlands and for a while in New York, the United States. I lived in London, Switzerland and now in Tanzania. I have visited more than forty countries in the past eight years, mostly in Africa. I often travel alone, for work or vacation, and just immerse myself in local life. My Surinamese side sometimes makes traveling easy, Asia, Europe, Africa… I recognize all kinds of parts of Suriname. Sometimes my life is indeed restless. Home for me is still my parental home in Frimangron… only there everything stands still. When you are so far from home, it is all the more important to stand firm in your shoes about what you stand for and your own identity. I am not someone who longs for a peanut soup to satisfy my homesickness. The trick is to build up, wherever you are, what always makes you strong as a person. A circle of friends you can fall back on, a lively culture, enjoyment in your work and a hearty kawina every Sunday morning. On the other hand, I am not physically in Suriname, but I am involved with it daily. In this time of Facebook and Skype, distance is not always a barrier. I can follow everything that happens in Suriname.”
What is it like living in Africa?
“The balance I had in Europe is gone here. I am a Mzungu (a white, a foreigner), but one with an African appearance. I still have a lot of colonial ideas in me, I notice, but that is inevitable when you look at our education system. I trust that with this experience that balance will return. That is personal growth. I do not mind that people do not always know how to place me. I am Surinamese, Amsterdammer, Afropolitan, African in diaspora. Those 300 years of slavery that took my ancestors from this continent, our Surinamese decolonization, my personal experiences in Europe and elsewhere, it has all shaped me.
It gives me the right to live on all the continents I have lived on. Maybe, I will learn here how I can live in Suriname again.
Will you ever come and live permanently in Suriname again?
“Whether I return to Suriname..I never left in my mind. Hahaha. Never say never, I still move every 3-5 years. But there should be no barrier to do something for Suriname from my position and place of residence. We are everywhere as Surinamese, there are 4 in Tanzania, but we do not do enough with that worldwide network. That is a great pity”.
Finally, what is your message to other young (Surinamese) women?
“Wan uma no habi fadon…., not in the area of relationships, upbringing, not in the area of education or work. Efu yu fadon no tan didon de, women used to sing. If you fail, don’t let it consume you, and don’t adopt it as your identity. Have self-confidence and opo tenapu mittens. Be realistic but positive about Suriname. Suppress the tendency to always talk negatively about Suriname, look for solutions that you can contribute to yourself. Our problems are really not unique, nor are the solutions. We can’t expect the government to solve everything either. Un no broko makandra saka. Patriotic love means that you treat every fellow Surinamese as if they are the most precious piece of property of Suriname. Love the country, love your natural environment. I don’t understand that people carelessly pollute their own environment. Identify your bigisms. Consciously look for adult mentors and role models in every phase of your life. Tell those people too, that they are important to you. I still have a very good relationship with several managers in my life. Surround yourself with people who bring out the best in you, I have great family members and friends who empower me. The reverse also applies, cut off people who bring out the worst in you. You don't have to be rude or hold grudges when people disappoint you, ma no tan pina yu yeye.”
This interview was conducted and written by Titinbo E. Aviankoi for De Ware Tijd Suriname.
Jennifer is a Keynote speaker at the upcoming UMA! conference. Check out the program and click to register for the UMA! Conference 2015 in Suriname.
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For information about Jennifer Baarn and Brindusa Fidanza's road trip in Suriname, visit http://rootsjourneys.blogspot.com/p
SAGCOT stands for Southern Agriculture Growth Corridor of Tanzania