“And We Didn’t Know Who He Was!” Those words from a well-known Negro spiritual kept coursing through my mind as I sat listening to the endless tributes from all over the world celebrating the life of Dr. Pauulu Roosevelt Oris Nelson Brown Kamarakafego.We wondered how many amongst the hundreds packing the Berkeley Institute and in the wider radio audience tuned in to the two hour-plus live broadcast of the proceedings actually knew Pauulu or Roos Brown to be the global activist, the world-renowned expert in ecological and environmental engineering that gained him eminence he attained.

I confess that I did not know!

In fact, it was almost impossible, even from my advantaged standpoint to fathom the breath and depth of the man that he grew into. But what I know for sure is that I left the Berkeley Institute an inspired and proud Bermudian, having been able to walk and talk with such a giant as Pauulu. So far as stamping Bermuda indelibly on the world map is concerned, he takes his place alongside such other singularly great compatriots as the Rt. Rev. Dr. Bishop Vinton Anderson, the AME Bishop who spent a seven-year term as President of the World Council of Churches; and Dr.Francis Patton, who became President of Princeton University.

The Premier, Dr. the Hon. Ewart Brown, led off the tributes, noting that “remarkably, the saying that a prophet is seldom honoured in his own land applies to our dear friend and mentor who we salute today. The nations represented here and in the condolences received since Pauulu’s passing bear witness to the fact that Roosevelt Brown was just too much for this little Island of ours. This world called on him and his duty became to answer.”

It is an indictment of us all that upon his passing most people under 50 said “who?”. The sorry state of our attention to pertinent history is still governed by a record of what only those in suits did in this country. I promise you, ladies and gentlemen, that the day is soon coming when our children will not only know their history but will defend it and relish it.”

The Premier went on to say: “The Bermuda of the 1950s and 60s regarded the concept of one man one vote as foreign and almost a descent into anarchy. The mere suggestion of Universal Adult Suffrage was met with scorn by the slave and master alike. To say that it took courage to advance this cause would be a gross understatement. This was a Bermuda in which the terms coloured and white denoted far more than race but indicated seating arrangements in public places, employment opportunities, standards of healthcare and life in general.

“Enter Roosevelt Browne. With an uncanny desire to achieve equality in the land of his birth, Pauulu set about the Herculean task of not only challenging the existing oligarchy but of persuading a passive people to take up their birthright. It takes fortitude to deal with people caught in a system of dependency; I can only hope that it did not die with Pauulu.

“I am so glad that Pauulu lived to see his goal of genuine Universal Adult Suffrage fulfilled when in 2003, the people of Bermuda, for the first time, participated in an election of one man, one vote, each vote of equal value. The journey was long and hard but it was Pauulu’s mission that we fulfilled on that July day and I am certain that he was proudest of all.

“It is one thing to distinguish oneself in a land of 21 square miles and 63,000 people, but to so engulf the community of nations with one’s expertise and conscience is a feat of epic proportions. Such was the life of Pauulu.

“From Africa to Central America this Bermudian was a revered sower of knowledge and improvement. A cursory examination of his work indicates a common theme throughout. No matter how complex the design, no matter how intricate the detail, Pauulu’s works always aimed to empower the community for whom it was designed. It is powerfully ironic that the very attributes that made him so highly respected across the globe condemned him to an almost historical footnote in his native land.”

The Premier went on to say that in Pauulu’s spirit of resilience and love of all things for the good of his people, he was pleased to announce the Bermuda College, CedarBridge Academy and The Berkeley Institute will shortly display the works of Pauulu “so that our young people can come to know the brilliance of one of their own and that a citizen of their own Island was a citizen of the world”.

“To the end Pauulu was in a helping mode having commanded his dear friend Dr. Garrett to come to Bermuda to receive and effect a gift from him to the people of the City of New Orleans; and his gift, a new design of a levee system to ward against the devastation caused by hurricanes like Katrina.

“Much will be said by others of the details of Pauulu’s career of United Nations service but I must say that his service always caused us to marvel at his ingenuity and to feel such pride at his success.

“Pauulu held elected office for only four years, a career cut short by a selfless act that permitted the return of (former Party Leader) Walter Robinson to the House. Thankfully, years of elected service are not the only means by which we can or should measure a man.

“Pauulu’s stature was universal in its appeal and local in its devotion. We owe him such a debt of gratitude that can only be fulfilled by keeping his legacy alive. This we shall do. Thank you Pauulu—— swift transition be yours my friend, the world is better for your having been part of it,” concluded Premier Brown.

Ambassador Euii Kwayana spoke of Pauulu’s work for the United Nations and particularly on behalf of the Southern Caucus of NGOs or Sustainable Development, said: “We represent several non-governmental organisations or NGOs in the developing countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean and small island developing states, what we call the global south, as well as NGOs representing southern interest, or people from the south, in the developed countries or what we refer to as the southern Diaspora.

“Pauulu’s contributions to our Southern Caucus and to our work at the UN, especially in the area of sustainable development are too numerous to mention on this occasion. Long before the term ‘sustainable development’ became fashionable and entered mainstream vocabulary, Pauulu was practicing and teaching others in remote rural areas of the world how to develop their communities in a sustainable way, taking advantage of their traditional experience and local environment.

“He was the Executive Director of the Pan African Movement, or PAM, which is accredited to the UN Economic and Social Council (ESOCOC) However, we must put on record that Pauulu and his organisations, PAM, facilitated the participation of our Caucus NGOs, community organisations and underrepresented organisations and Indigenous Peoples in UN Sessions, meetings and other activities, and the eventual accreditation of many of them to ECOSOC.

“He began organising southern NGOs for an NGO Parallel Forum to the UN Conference on Environment and Development or Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. He coordinated NGO participation for the UN Conference on Small Island Developing States in 1994 and also for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002.

“In preparation for the WSSD in Johannesburg, Pauulu helped organise, with government and other civil society actors, Bermuda’s consultation on implementation of Agenda 21 and helped coordinate the Southern NGO Summit held in Algeria in early 2002. At this NGO Summit he made a presentation on “The Future of Sustainable Development” and was honoured with an award as an Eminent Person in recognition of his longstanding commitment to the principles and cause of Sustainable Development.

“Before all this, Pauulu taught at university in Liberia and the University of East Africa, which served students from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. He was an ecological engineer and worked on community, governmental, and international contracts in rural areas of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific, development and teaching techniques to improve standards of living of people in those communities.

“Some of these were documented in nine engineering manuals into different languages. He received an award from the UN Conference on Human Settlements for two of these designs, among 100 sustainable “best practices” in 1996. In later years the UN called upon him as an Energy Expert on matters relates to energy and sustainable development particularly on renewable energy.”

Reference was made to how Pauulu helped organise the Sixth Pan African congress held in Tanzania, East Africa in 1974. It was a tremendous undertaking that involved travel all over the world. The Congress was of some considerable historic significance, being the first to be held on African soil.

More than 600 participants attended that congress, with participants for the first time from Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Central and South America. The Fifth Congress had dealt with independence and freedom in Africa and counted among its participants some of the towering future political leaders of Africa, some of whom authorised him t o convene the Sixth Congress because of their trust and faith in his integrity, said Amb. Kwayana, among other things.