A barefoot journey of eight kilometres to school each day became the foundation of an international career, as International Labour Organization (ILO) economist Dr. Naren Prasad returned to his former school to inspire the next generation to dream beyond their circumstances.
Addressing students, teachers, parents and community members at Dreketi Central College yesterday, the Head of Education and Training in the ILO’s Research and Statistics Department reflected on retracing the same road he walked nearly five decades ago.
“This morning, before sunrise, I left my mother’s house in Vunicagi and began that same walk again for the first time in almost fifty years,” he said.
“I wasn’t walking because I had to. I was walking because I needed to remember who I am.”
Dr. Prasad said although the road had changed, the lessons it taught had remained the same.
Looking back on his childhood, he described three classrooms that shaped his life – the family farm, the long road to school and Dreketi Central College itself.
Growing up, he worked alongside his parents planting rice, tending cocoa, raising chickens and helping produce coconut oil for the family’s small business.
“My mother taught me that love is measured by sacrifice, not by words. My father taught me the dignity of labour. He believed that no honest work was beneath anyone.”
Reflecting on his family’s struggles despite their hard work, Dr. Prasad said he eventually realised that poverty was often about opportunity rather than effort.
“‘If my parents worked harder than almost anyone I knew, why did we still struggle?’ Years later, I found the answer. Poverty is not always a lack of hard work. Sometimes it is a lack of opportunity.”
He encouraged students not to be discouraged by the obstacles they face, recalling the daily eight-kilometre journey that prepared him for greater challenges later in life.
“There will be hills. There will be rain. There will be days when you feel like giving up. Keep walking.”
Dr. Prasad also paid tribute to his teachers, saying their encouragement had a lifelong impact, even recalling report cards describing him as hardworking but shy.
“My teacher wrote: ‘Naren works very hard, but he is very shy and quiet. He should participate more in class discussions.’ Today I spend much of my life speaking to audiences around the world.”
He urged teachers to never underestimate the power of their words, saying they help shape futures every day.
In closing, Dr. Prasad challenged students to dream beyond the boundaries of their village while remaining grounded in their roots.
“Never let where you come from determine where you can go. Your dreams are bigger than your address. Your future is bigger than your circumstances.”
“And wherever life takes you… never forget to come home.”
