So sorry I haven’t posted in a while, things have been a little busy getting ready for the move. So, here’s a warning, this will be a little longer post than usual, to make up for some lost time.
The two main agencies with Foreign Service are the State Department and the USAID (US Agency for International Development). I’m a proud member of the USAID with the functional role (backstop) of Financial Management Officer (a.k.a. the controller/accountant). This is the U.S. federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid. USAID provides economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world in support of the foreign policy goals of the United States and operates in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. When crisis strikes, rights are repressed; hunger, disease and poverty rob people of opportunity; the agency acts on behalf of the American people to help expand the reach of prosperity and dignity to the world's most vulnerable. Some examples include:
• Investing in agricultural productivity so countries can feed their people
• Combating maternal and child mortality and deadly diseases like HIV, malaria and tuberculosis
• Providing life-saving assistance in the wake of disaster
• Promoting democracy, human rights and good governance around the world
• Fostering private sector development and sustainable economic growth
• Helping communities adapt to a changing environment
• Elevating the role of women and girls throughout all our work
I believe my interest for world humanitarian efforts really began a long time ago, when I had the pleasure of working in Puerto Rico and traveling to many of their Medicaid clinics throughout the island. It was the first time I realized how happy and fulfilled people where, even though they didn’t have much (remember though, Puerto Rico is not even a third world country, but rather a U.S. territory). The mothers would sit all day in these clinics, just for the chance for their children to be seen by the doctors. And they were so polite and appreciative.
A few years later, Rob and I were married in the third world country of Belize, and as we drove through the crumbling poverty stricken villages, again I observed how joyous and simple life can be without “things.” We observed children laughing and enjoying playing ball in the street, with no gloves and a hand carved bat made from what looked like a tree limb. How could they be having so much fun without real baseball gloves and bats? This type of lesson could rarely be learned, other than by exposure to other cultures, in different socioeconomic areas of the world. There is no classroom, not even the Ivy League, where this lesson could be learned, and we knew it was something we would want to share with our kids one day.
We came home from Belize with a desire to go back or help in other third world nations one day. We knew that although Belize was considered third world, it was actually better off than many other developing nations in the world (Rob had traveled to India for work and explained conditions there were probably ten times worse). But, I could barely comprehend it, as it was the worse conditions I had ever seen. I had asked Rob one day when we were in Belize, why all the kids were hanging out in the middle of the streets (they literally had to sometimes clear the way for us to drive through). He asked me, what are they going to do, hang out in their houses and watch TV? And then he pointed to a typical house, which looked much like what many Americans would call a shed (although my guess is sheds these days are actually nicer and larger than what they were living in and sheds most likely don’t have dirt floors). Oh my gosh, if that’s not an eye opener for a typical American, I don’t know what is! How many American kids do you think could survive life these days without TV, without video games, without a floor, without “things”? But again, let’s not forget, these kids were as happy as can be, which is what really intensified our desire to go back and help make sure they (and other kids just like them) had their basic needs met.
Although we had this desire for mission work, it was really put on hold until we had kids, and then we always knew we would go back to it, some way, somehow. In the later part of 2011, Rob started having concerns that his company might have to do some layoffs (the economy was not so good) and we lived in sort of the middle of the dessert (middle of nowhere, but stunningly beautiful) Arizona (sorry Havasu, but how else do I describe it?), with not many jobs in his field (IT/Program Management), so we began once again thinking out of the box, about maybe moving abroad and then somehow Rob (being a U.S. civil servant with the Navy in his past) thought hummm . . .I wonder how you get a job as an Ambassador, which led us to the discovery of the entire foreign service concept. Soon, we were following blogs of FSOs, which led us to discover USAID and we knew right away, that it would be a perfect fit for our passions, to help in these countries, while at the same time teach our kidos these invaluable lessons, that just can’t be taught in a classroom setting. And the rest is history . . . my personal application timeline looked like this . . . .
Applied January 2012
Oral Assessment September 11, 2012 (yes when the Benghazi attack happened)
Appointment as an FSO August 2013
Our entire family is just so excited about this opportunity and can’t wait to get started! Thank goodness, (to quote a great friend of mine) “our boys take after our adventurous side” and they ask about when we’re moving to D.C. every day! RJ has already asked when he will get the opportunity to learn a new language!
First stop for this new FSO family is D.C. for orientation, then on the job training, followed by (if needed) language training. We will be leaving Colorado next Sunday and it will be very bittersweet (we love, love, love it here). We found a terrific house in the suburb of Annandale, Virginia, not far from the boy’s school. They will feel at home again this year in the Montessori environment. When we go abroad, they will attend American International Schools.
Many folks have asked when we will know what country we’ll be assigned. In a future post, I’ll outline the details of the USAID bidding process, but basically, new hires are expected to be assigned their post sometime in April.
Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
