History Lives on
Why Does the World Food Prize Do What They Do? |
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When I was nine years old, my family and I went on a mission trip to Mexico and visited a landfill where hundreds of people lived. I saw firsthand how much suffering occurs when individuals do not have enough, or sufficient, food. This experience opened my eyes to food insecurity around the world.
After this experience, I looked for ways to help in any way that I could. I dove into packaging meals for Meals for the Heartland along with other organizations that had a primary focus on food intervention.
While looking for an internship this past summer, my interest in global food security led me to apply for the George Washington Carver Internship at the World Food Prize. I was fortunate enough to be offered a position as an intern and even more fortunate to work closely with Ambassador Quinn on his archive.
During my time at the World Food Prize, I made countless copies, dug through old boxes, and perused the web for any and all documents and photographs that mentioned or featured Ambassador Quinn and his remarkable work. This massive undertaking, already started by Will Hamilton, was very different from anything I had ever done. I had never before worked on an archive, much less an archival software.
With the assistance of World Food Prize staff and direction from Ambassador Quinn, we managed to begin to create a categorization of the documents. It was during this time that I had the pleasure of working with Ambassador Quinn. We met countless times to sort through documents.
Through these meetings, I learned much more about Ambassador Quinn and his life, as well as about the World Food Prize and Dr. Norman Borlaug. We discussed an array of things—from the importance of roads and infrastructure to global conferences he’d attended. We even came across paperwork from Dr. Borlaug himself regarding the founding of World Food Prize.
This paperwork and the accompanying photographs gave me the opportunity to learn more about Dr. Borlaug through Ambassador Quinn. While I never knew Dr. Borlaug and was not aware of the vast impact his work has had on individuals and societies until working with Ambassador Quinn, I am certain that he would feel honored and proud to know that his legacy lives on through the World Food Prize, Ambassador Quinn, and the staff here, as well as all of the children and young adults the World Food Prize works with every day.
I feel fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity to advance Dr. Borlaug’s mission with the World Food Prize and Ambassador Quinn. This experience taught me the importance of making the past available to others so that important information is not lost and continues to live on in others.
