As we age we have time to look back. Recently a son asked what was my greatest achievement.

         A hard question to answer and worthy of consideration.

         Perhaps my greatest achievement was a successful marriage. Some other achievements were:-j)

         I finished my schooling at the age of 16 without a qualification. I became a farm cadet moving from farm to farm to learn the skills of farming.  

         Before joining the RNZNavy Fleet Air Arm my father insisted I have a permanent job to come back to at the end of the 2nd World War.

         I came to Wellington, visited the States Services Commission asked if I could have a job in the Department of Agriculture. The next day I started work as a clerical cadet. That was the lowest job they had.

         Some years later I graduated from Massey College for the University of New Zealand with a four-year B.Agr.Sc degree. – it was not easy.

         In those days university degrees were rare. In my year only 14 people graduated from Massey College for the University of New Zealand. That was one of my achievements.

                  Later I was elected  President of the N.Z Institute of Agriculture & Horticultural Sciences. During my term, I doubled the membership numbers and gave them a logo.

         Thirty-nine years later I resigned as a Director at the Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries.  I must have been in the right place at the right time to climb the ladder.

         I resigned to accept a senior United Nations position in Thailand. I didn’t apply for it. I was offered it.

         My Director-General had nominated me to tour the U.S.A. as an Eisenhower Fellow to study ways to stimulate agriculture. That was in 1968, while there I had befriended a Professor in Illinois and he recommended me for the Thai posting.

         My greatest achievement was also my biggest disappointment.

         After returning from America I set up a new section attached to the Information Services Division called AgLinks.

         AgLinks were simple fact sheets written in basic English telling rural people “how to do things”,  like how to build a cattle yard, get rid of pests and diseases and the best seeds to plant, etc.

         Over 1,000 topics were written.  These recommendations were based on the latest research results and the best-applied practices.

         They would have been ideal for putting online – Google before Google.

         So where are they now? When the Department of Agriculture was closed down they ended up in the dump – when will we learn?

         Another achievement was working in Singapore for the Singapore Institute of Management. I flew to Singapore 31 times to run three-day workshops for Asian managers.

         Four Singapore publishers published some of my books. I have had books published in 18 countries and in 11 languages.

         I have carried out tasks for sixteen countries and worked for three United Nations agencies.

         I worked for UNDP for eighteen months and for FAO for three months.

         My greatest achievement is raising a family that gets on well together, but most of that credit must go to my late wife Margaret Joyce.

         One of life’s great pleasures is doing the things others say you cannot do.

Geoffrey Moss(mossassociates.co.nz)

“You don’t know what you can do until you try.”

For more anecdotes download my FREE book “Rolling On – Work Adventures in Many Lands” from mossassociates.co.nz.