So What Does Someone in International Development Do?

I now have an action shot of me at work.

One of the biggest parts of international development work is encouraging people to do the things that they really ought to be doing. In this example, the majority of Tajikistan's population does not have access to safe drinking water. USAID has a project to assist communities with instituting the necessary legal regulations and building the necessary infrastructure.

I represented USAID at the first meeting of a working group dedicated to resolving these issues. My role was to be the American and give a short speech on the importance of the work the group was embarking on. There was a pretty active discussion that followed the speeches and presentation by the head of the state agency responsible for water and sanitation services. The key thing is making sure that discussion turns into actions on the part of the ministries and agencies that need to work together to get the job done.

Tajikistan Update

Even though I forgot to bring the cable to move photos from my camera to my computer, I wanted to post a quick update on how things have been going during my six-week assignment at our country office in Tajikistan.

Work at the country offices tends to be more fast-paced because things can come up much more quickly than we see at the regional office in Almaty. Within the first couple of days here, I was asked to go to a meeting of a group dedicated to improving access to water and sanitation. It was a choice of me going or no one going, so it was nice to have someone there to represent USAID.

This is also the time of year where we start getting our budget allocations for this year. The US Government fiscal year runs from October to September, and we usually don't have our budget approved until Summer. This year was a bit tougher with the near-shutdown of the government, so we go things even later than usual. I helped prepare some documents for projects we plan to do next year, and it was good experience to see how that part of the job goes.

So far, the best part has been representing USAID at the handover ceremonies for a couple of projects that were recently completed. Access to clean water is a problem in the rural areas of Tajikistan, and we helped provide new water piping into two villages in the north of the country. In another village nearby, we helped to renovate a school gym and provided some equipment to a bakery where women learn to bake and sell their goods.

As the guy from AID, I got all the thanks and just had to make speeches at each location. The people in these villages could not have been nicer, and I got a few invitations to have plov (a local rice dish). At the ceremony for the gym, some of the older kids played volleyball, and one of the guys from the local government jumped in and started playing with them. He took a lot of pleasure in spiking the ball and invited me to join. Instead, I took the opportunity to shoot baskets with another guy from the local government. My first shot missed everything but the floor, but my second one swished through. The crowd cheered. That's probably the only time I'll ever get a loud cheer from a crowd for making a basket.

Pictures to come in about three weeks.