A personable and astute administrator, Affeeze Khan is a ‘Special Person’

Dec 25, 2010 News

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Affeeze Khan

By Rawle Welch

“I’ve always been driven and believe unwaveringly in self development, and it has been with God’s help, because of the sacrifices that I had to make due to the lack of opportunities.”

For those forced to forego the opportunity to attend High School due to their parents’ inability to fund tuition, and still be able to excel in his/her future endeavours takes a lot of determination and commitment to succeed in life.
Well, those were the sort of distinctive qualities that this week’s ‘Special Person’ Affeeze Khan has displayed all his adult life that have made him deserving of such an accolade.
“I’ve always been driven and believe unwaveringly in self development, and it has been with God’s help, because of the sacrifices that I had to make due to the lack of opportunities,” Khan established very early in the conversation.
Born on December 18, 1944, in Georgetown, Khan attended Comenius Moravian Primary School, before his academic pursuit was cut short, forcing him to assist his father, a cattle farmer at the time, at their Dowding Street, Kitty home.
“Coming from such a large family that included nine girls and four boys, I had no alternative but to leave school and go and work with my father who at that time bred some of the best quality Holstein heifers and bulls in the community,” Khan disclosed.
He said that though he would have liked to go on to high school, the early foundation that he received from the Primary School he attended was of a high quality all-round and it did serve a good purpose for him later in life.
“I went to school with such notable personalities as Dr. Vibert Cambridge and Dr. Noel Blackman and we were even in the same class at one stage. It was indeed a privilege to attend a school of such stature under the stewardship of Headmaster Basil McGowan, and I can tell you that you had to be an excellent student academically, or a very good athlete, and if you failed in either of those departments, McGowan would find another school that suited your ability,” Khan remembered fondly.
The straight-talking Business Consultant and successful Insurance Executive revealed that he was a good athlete and captained the school in cricket in the national competition.
“Even after leaving school I continued to play cricket for the East Indian Cricket Club (now Everest Cricket Club) and represented them in the Case Cup at the age of 18.”
Married since 1965 to someone he warmly describes as “a wonderful woman by the name of Sarah”, the union has produced five children in Shira Whitaker, Sonia Teague, Dr. Zynul Dion, Sheneeza Fiona St. Aubyn and Cindy McDoom, who have all gone on to do well academically.
“I got my first job at the age of 21 after my father fell sick and decided to sell all the cows. I was employed at Wieting & Richter on Water Street where I started out as a Clerk in the office and remained in that position for one year, before I was removed to the department that turned sugar into syrup for the soft drinks that the Company manufactured,” Khan stated.
He stayed in that section for one year, before he was sent to the Sales Department and worked there for another three years.
During that period, the Management recognised his ability as a Salesman after he had topped the Department for over two years and promoted him to Acting Sales Manager. He was 29.
Then in December 1975, the Company decided to sell its Coca-Cola franchise to Banks DIH and all 85 employees, except Khan, were redeployed to the new Company.
“I was not interested in working with Banks DIH, because they could not offer me a managerial position, so I decided to change careers in 1976 when I joined ALICO (American Life Insurance Company) and by 1978 I won the Top Agent award that prompted the management to promote me to a Supervisor in 1979,” Khan recounted.
By 1980, the fast-rising Insurance Agent was to receive another promotion, this time to Unit Manager, a testimony to his resolve and dedication to his job.
Four years later another elevation came his way, in the form of Agency Manager, and his unmatched ability to sell insurance policies to many of the social elite and businessmen saw him being recognised as the top Agency Manager in the Caribbean, during which time he participated in many educational and Sales seminars in Barbados, Canada, USA, Mexico and Brazil. Khan’s Agency comprised 65 agents, five managers and three secretaries, a clear demonstration of his ability to lead.
However, his thirst for success would not be contained at ALICO, and he subsequently tendered his resignation and went to work as a Marketing Manager for British American Insurance Company where he was based in Aruba from 1990-92.
Khan returned to Guyana and has since signed an agreement with NALICO as an independent Agency Manager where he continues to serve up to present.
However, this effervescent salesman also has another side to his character and is known to be integrally involved in many social activities as a Rotarian and President of the Paralympics and Special Olympics Committee in Guyana.
“I joined the Rotary Club of Georgetown in 1990 and since that time I’ve been recognised on at least six occasions as Rotarian of the Year. I’ve made significant contributions to community work, some of which include organising medical outreach programmes across the country, the annual senior citizens’ party, church services, and world understanding dinners, among many other charitable causes during my stint in the organisation.”
Khan said he has also attended numerous Rotary International Conventions and has been a Director in different avenues of service.
He eventually became President of the Georgetown Rotary in 2003-04 and is still a serving member.
The well-respected humanitarian has also been able to promote activities for the physically challenged such as the Day of Sports that has been extremely successful over the years, which according to him, has become his pet.
Khan added that his love for the event stems from the fact that he is able to be integrally involved in many aspects of it, including cooking, while the usual attendance hovers in the vicinity of 1200 persons and is done every two years.
“I have personally undertaken to ensure that every child that participates gets a reward, despite the huge cost of hosting the event. For instance, transportation is extremely costly because of the amount of persons coming from all the regions, but that is borne by the Rotary Club,” he mentioned.
He said that dealing with differently-able individuals is very touching, but he loves doing it, adding that his religion teaches him to share whatever gifts he has whether it is his knowledge or skills and that is what he does.

This man of substance not only contains himself to charitable causes and work, but ventures into the realm of sports as well and was once the President of the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) during which time he managed to get Guyana back into the World Championships.
However, though his tenure in the GABA was a challenging one due to the lack of support from the executive that eventually forced him to demit office, Khan pointed out that during the period of his presidency, he was able to achieve quite a lot, with the hallmark being the increase in the number of gyms across the country that were fully equipped.
“I was invited by three individuals, Keith Campbell, Rudolph Torrington and Keith French, to come and rescue the sport, which according to them was almost flat on its face, and my remarks to them were that I had no prior knowledge of the sport, but they all insisted that I come and promised to work with me to improve the image of the sport which I did,” Khan commented.
He added, “Having accepted the invitation and subsequent position of President and being the tough manager that I am, they all made a commitment to work along with me to help the sport’s revival.”
Khan said that the Guyana Olympic Association made an offer to them to send boxers to Venezuela and Clive Atwell returned home with a bronze medal.
“We were then invited to the World Championships in Chicago, USA, and that to my mind was a good development, but I had a difficult decision to make because first I had to secure visas for the boxers and then ensure that everything went well during the tour. Fortunately everyone returned safely back home.”
Khan, a devout family man, opined that one of his greatest achievements in life is the fact that he was able to provide the opportunity for his children to be well educated.
“This, however, is with the help of my wife Sarah, who spent every day of her married life ensuring that the children became who they are today.
She made it her full-time job as the manager of the home and without her, those children would have been halfway, because I spent most of my time working,” Khan related thoughfully.
“Coming from a family of 13, I understand what it means to be poor and not have. Quite frankly, to survive in a competitive world you have to be active, healthy, God-fearing and honest.”
Khan believes that success will come when you lead by example, and not from a text book or an 8-hour job, because it simply has no limits.
He advised that people invest their money in things that will bring wisdom because “it will last for generations”.
Khan is currently a Consultant at NaMilCo and helps market the Company’s products in countries such as Suriname and Brazil.
He closed by saying that he thoroughly enjoys what he does which is selling products that are tangible, while he still enjoys a game of tennis and badminton.

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