Visionary :

There was a singular vision that powered our organization, and it was that of Dr. Leo Barnes himself. He was born without opportunity or comfort. And, in his struggle to the top of the NUSI ladder he acquired what he considered his most important asset of all: EDUCATION. Without any support in terms of money or contacts, he fueled his own ambition, created his own opportunities and conquered his own dreams. After leaving school due to financial problems, he opted to be a seamen. This could have been the end of his educational history if he had succumbed to the lure of an ordinary seafarer’s life. But he chose not to and returned to those books, all the time managing a career and a family on the side, to finally complete his B.A., LLM, PhD in maritime law, and finally to top it all, a diploma in Trade Unionism from Harvard University itself. We will always remember the Harvard ring on his finger which he wore everyday, it gave him strength and reminded him how long his journey had been…and how hard. He was a man who knew what it was to study under the streetlamps because there was no electricity. And it was this very reason why the Dr. Leo Barnes Foundation was born. So that no child of a seafarer would ever have to endure any hardship to earn their right to sit in the temple of knowledge and would ever have to go through what he went through. That was his dream. And today, it is ours.