The Foreign Service Journal, May 2004

WHY SPEND YOUR CAREER IN AFRICA? Over the past 25 years I’ve been asked that question by family, friends and colleagues — all wondering whether I was risking my family’s well-being or just my career by limiting my postings to one continent. With the wisdom of hindsight, I know I made the right choice on both counts, and I urge those who haven’t been to Africa to give it a try. Following are some reasons. Making a Difference. Many join the Foreign Service to do work that really matters in the greater scheme of things. Africa is one of the few places left where one has a sense of being in physical contact with history. A tour at most posts there will entail “quality of life” hardships and gut-wrenching issues — political violence, famine, HIV/AIDS and others. But there is also the opportunity to make a difference. It can be at the community level — like improving the day-to-day lives of people struggling to obtain the basic necessities of life — or at the national level, such as persuading a government to serve its own people’s welfare. And there are opportunities to save lives when crises hit, such as speeding relief supplies to famine victims, or helping to end disastrous conflicts. Professional Growth. Embassy hierarchies in Africa are less rigid, so almost everyone interacts with senior manage- ment, and the embassy’s “substantive” work is open to all. When I was ambassador in Guinea a few years ago, one of our junior officers went on to a much larger embassy in Europe. There he never lacked for electricity or opera, but felt a great loss, which can be explained by this 1998 account of our work in Conakry: “The Sierra Leone coup had just taken place and our post volunteered to take several thousand refugees who had been plucked out of Freetown by the USS Kearsarge . We had set up control rooms, established an air- port operations center, and everyone was exhausted, having just completed processing the first large wave brought to Conakry by helicopters. We left a skeleton crew at the airport and headed out. I was almost home when I heard over the car radio that our airport crew was overwhelmed with unex- pected new arrivals and they were calling for volunteers to come help. Almost immediately about a dozen of our folks — employees, contractors, spouses, private American citizens — most having just finished some other rotation, came on the radio offering to go immediately to the airport. At that instant I had a lump in my throat the size of a bowling ball, overcome with the realization that our mission was much more than a group of people who simply did great work, or even worked great together. We were a community that cared deeply about each other, ready to be mutually supportive to the point of exhaustion.” A Sense of Community. I’ve served at missions in Africa ranging from miniscule (five Americans in Seychelles) to large (hundreds in Nigeria) and found one commonality: a strong sense of community with a degree of caring for col- leagues unmatched anywhere. When bad things happen — whether death, illness, divorce or children’s school problems — the community is galvanized to help ease the pain and pro- vide healing. I’ve attended community memorial services for those who died, and been called out at night to give blood for the injured. Invariably, family members who come in response to such events express amazement and gratitude at the level of community support for whatever happened. Because of the inherent difficulties of life and work, one’s family status, sexual orientation or personal eccentricities matter much less than how much one is willing to contribute to the overall effort. Community trick-or-treating, Thanks- giving programs, Easter egg hunts, July 4th picnics and CLO trips are common. And speaking of Thanksgiving, I can’t recall a single post where management didn’t discreetly make sure that everyone was invited somewhere. My most mem- orable sense of community, though, was when our triplets were born in Harare — then the closest acceptable hospital to Zambia, where I was stationed. Colleagues at both missions went to extraordinary lengths to support us — including vol- unteering to spell us periodically during the days and nights of unending baby care. Riches Amongst Poverty. Africa isn’t the world’s wallet — but it’s definitely its heart. While it suffers from poverty, instability and occasional disaster, Africa is also boundless in its capacity for friendship, personal warmth and joy for life. Lagos may have the worst traffic in the world — a city of 10 million without a single working traffic light or stop sign — yet one feels much more hostility driving in D.C. among peo- ple who think the world will end if they miss the next stop- light. Traffic maneuvers which would bring apoplexy or curs- es in American cities usually draw smiles and waves. (Nigeria recently finished first among 65 nations for its degree of “happiness.”) When I was in the Seychelles, the head of medical services told me that about the only people who suf- fer heart attacks there are tourists. A diet of rice and fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, a laissez-faire lifestyle and exer- cise in the course of living life (not in the gym) work wonders. Despite having some of the worst roads in the world, my family and I have driven about 40,000 miles around much of the continent. Aside from experiencing some of the most spectacular scenery anywhere, those drives provided unfor- F O C U S 22 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A Y 2 0 0 4