The Foreign Service Journal, May 2010

8 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 1 0 four points on job-hunting a fifth one: Don’t sit at home waiting for the phone to ring! Take a graduate course in an area of interest — I took two in management finance at George Wash- ington University — and find a way to serve as a volunteer at a nonprofit. In addition to learning about the “outside world,” you will be ready when the in- terviewer asks what you’re doing now. (Hint: “Looking for a job” is not the right answer!) Ted Curran FSO, retired Frankfort, Mich. Spousal Employment: More to Be Done The February Speaking Out col- umn, “Starting the New ‘Gender Agenda’ at Home,” by Amanda Fer- nandez reminded me how much has changed regarding spousal employ- ment in embassies, and how much still needs to change. In 1958, I married Pamela Cheat- ham, an FSOworking at State who, ac- cording to regulations in effect then, had to resign when I was transferred to Warsaw later that year. Pamela was smart and very gifted in languages. Already fluent in Spanish and French, she studied Polish in Washington with a private tutor at her own expense, and after six months in Warsaw was reasonably fluent. In my later assignments in Vienna and Mos- cow, she also became a competent speaker of German and Russian. Before leavingWashington for War- saw for a three-year assignment, I wrote to our Warsaw embassy and asked if they had a job for Pamela — who, I pointed out, had a security clearance and was gifted in learning languages. I never received a reply, but a year or so later, I found my letter in the embassy files. On it, someone had written “Let her teach school.” Years later, when State changed its policy regarding assignments abroad for married female FSOs, Pamela was invited to return to the Foreign Serv- ice. But by that time she had em- barked on another career, in educa- tion, tutoring and Teaching English as a Second Language instruction before becoming a professional counselor. It was another loss for State. Yale Richmond FSO, retired Washington, D.C. The New USAID More than 40 years ago during the Nigerian civil war, the American am- bassador decided to call in a U.S. Agency for International Develop- ment contractor and tell the chief of party that his group of agricultural ad- visers should not be taking sides. The university was running an agricultural program to improve the Nigerian poultry business, but the academics thought their brief also encompassed diplomacy. At that time, USAID programs worldwide were technical assistance programs, grants of money or capital projects operated with low-interest loans or funded by outright grants. The programs were run in the field by Americans who were technical ex- perts but not diplomats. It was thought natural that the U.S. ambas- sador be the paramount conduit for all USAID activities in his country. Each embassy had its own separate goals and functions, which pivoted around the political officers. Military attachés and station chiefs had impor- tant ancillary functions. From the USAID FSOs’ perspective, their pro- grams grew out of treaties and mutual L E T T E R S WWW.FSJOURNAL.ORG When contacting an advertiser, kindly mention the Foreign Service Journal. Click on the Marketplace tab on the marquee AFSA Legacy www.afsa.org AKA www.stay-aka.com Arlington Court Suites Hotel www.arlingtoncourthotel.com Clements International www.clements.com Cort Furniture www.cort1.com Diplomatic Auto. Sales www.diplosales.com Fox Hill www.foxhillseniorcondominium.com Georgetown Suites www.sales@georgetownsuites.com Hirshorn Company, The www.hirshorn.com Kendal Corporation www.kendal.org Leelanau School, The www.leelanau.org Lockheed Martin www.lockheedmartin.com ProMax www.promaxrealtors.com SDFCU www.sdfcu.org Strategic Studies Quarterly www.au.af.mil/au/ssq Tetra Tech www.tetratech.com WJD www.wjdpm.com