TALES OF A TRINI
TRAVELLER
By Michelle Doodhai
Guardian South
Bureau
Trinidad Guardian
March 25, 2000
Page 47
Globe trotting, rearing lions, being chased by buffaloes, and getting
shot at while crossing borders may sound like scenes in a movie but they are
some of the experiences of Gobindra Kanhai.
This 64-year-old Trinidadian has lived most of his life in Bayarin,
southern Germany.
Born
at Clark Road, Penal, the second of five children, Kanhai attended the Penal
Canadian Missionary (CM) School and Naparima Boys' College. He migrated to England in the 1950s where he
studied veterinary science. There he
met Ingrid, a German girl who would become his wife.
"Love
made me move to Germany," he said on a recent visit home.
Kanhai
spent several years working in a state research and diagnostic lab before
joining the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation, on the request
of he German Government.
His
association with the UN led to many adventures in countries such as Iran,
Somalia, Mozambique, Kenya and Zanzibar.
In
those countries, he worked on diagnostic and vaccine production in virology and
protozoology.
This
entailed working with wild animals as well as lecturing at universities and
training persons within his field.
"Life
with the UN is not all that easy," said Kanhai, adding that one f his most
difficult decisions was placing his sons, Wolfgang and Martin, in a German
boarding school at age 12.
At
first, his family accompanied him on all his travels but when his adventures
led him to areas where schooling was not available, he was forced to make this
difficult decision.
One
of the most nerve wrecking moments in his career was being held at gunpoint for
over an hour in the 1969 Somalian coup, he said. He was shot at by Mozambique guards.
Kanhai
also endured many harrowing encounters with wild animals in his work. However, one of his nicer experiences was
befriending two cubs whose mother was killed by poachers.
Kanhai
said he was instrumental in developing the first East Coast fever vaccine.
The
fever, he said, is the biggest killer of cattle in central and east Africa.
He explained
that it is a tick-borne disease which, when passed from buffaloes to cattle,
behaves like a cancer.
His
vaccine, he said, immunizes animals against the disease without further
antibiotic treatment.
In addition
to assisting in drought relief programmes in Zimbabwe, Kanhai also helped in
establishing a School of veterinary Science in Somalia.
Recently
retired, Kanhai returned to Trinidad to visit his sister, Leelawatie, principal
of the Dayanand Vedic School.
"Life
in Trinidad is very easy and relatively cheap," he added.
"You
should be grateful for what you have, do not waste food, people in Mozambique
are dying."