Hussen used his own farm profits to fix workers’ malaria and waterborne disease.

Evidence

Hussen was struck by the deplorable conditions of the workers and their awful living conditions on the plantation. He realized that many of them suffered from chronic malaria and other waterborne diseases since the drinking water came directly from the river. He arranged for a deep water well to be drilled to supply clean drinking water, and urged the workers to keep the lid on the well to safeguard water quality. In addition, he ordered that windows in all residential huts be fitted with screens to keep out mosquitoes and provide cross-ventilation. Finally, he bought a significant quantity of antimalaria medicine and provided it to the workers free of charge. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 1058

Categorization

• CANDY: A former prime minister turned farmer personally paying for mosquito screens, a well, and antimalaria medicine for his plantation workers is a memorable small human detail.