The Foreign Service Journal, December 2006

66 F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L / DE C EMB E R 2 0 0 6 A F S A N E W S Celebration of Charlie Bray On Oct. 17, over 70 friends and colleagues of former AFSA chair Charlie Bray gathered at AFSA headquarters to celebrate and remember his many important contributions to his univer- sity, his profession and his community in Wisconsin. Charlie Bray was a leader of the Young Turk movement that turned AFSA into a change agent for the Foreign Service, based on the key concept that Foreign Service professionals must participate in the making of the rules that govern their careers. Charlie Bray was the force who led the design team and funding cam- paign to create the AFSA headquarters building. See the Appreciation on page 56 for more details. New Assignment Rules: How’s It Going? The new assignment rules have changed the process for bidding and assignment, and AFSA would like to track the way the new process is playing out in implementation. One way for us to know is for you to tell us of your own experi- ence navigating the system. Send a note to FSJ Associate Editor Shawn Dorman at dorman@afsa.org and tell us how the bidding season is going for you. AFSA Members Receive Service to America Medals Two AFSA members, Ambassador Nancy Powell and Mark S. Ward, have won Service to America Medals. These awards are supported by the Atlantic Media Co. (which owns Government Executive , National Journal , and The Atlantic ) and the Partnership for Public Service. Amb. Powell received a medal in the category of homeland security for leading a U.S. initiative to establish a worldwide protocol for response to avian influenza. Mark S. Ward of USAID received the medal for the internation- al affairs category. He was honored for his work in planning the allocation of millions of dollars in federal aid following the Asian tsunami and the earthquake in Pakistan. Also, State Department lawyer Christina Sanford won the award for “Call to Service.” An article on the awards can be found at: www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=35135 &sid=7 I passed the Foreign Service written exam. Then I passed the oral exam. I passed themedical clearance and the background check. I evenpassed theRussian-language exam. After clear- ing all of thosehurdles, Iwas finallyofferedapositionas aForeign Service officer. Then the real challenge began. I had no idea how hard it would be to find good, affordable childcare inNorthernVirginia. When I calledFSI’s day-care cen- ter inJuly, Iwas told that theywere full, but theyexpectedanopen- ing some time in December. They referred me to a list of day- care providers, but as Iworkedmywaydown the list, looking for someone with space available for an infant, I quickly grew dis- couraged. Everyfacilitywasfull. Manydidn’tevenbothertoreturn my phone calls. One woman who did return my call informed me that the waiting list for infants at her facility was one-and-a- half years long. That’s right—youhave toput your baby on the waiting list nine full months before you even conceive. Next, I began interviewing live-out nannies. Butmost of the people I couldaffordonagovernment salary spoke limitedEnglish, had limited experience or had questionable references. One woman forgot to showup for the interview. One listedher hus- band as her only reference. Another — who was actually my favorite — had no CPR certification and a fondness for heavy perfume. Ultimately, I decided I had no choice but to turn down the job—a job I’d been actively pursuing for almost two years. It’s unfortunate. I think I would havemade a good Foreign Service officer. Having served at three posts as an FS spouse, I under- stand the lifestyle and know what is expected of officers. As a Russian speaker, I would have been able to help fill a gap in the knowledge base of the Foreign Service. I was excited about the opportunity. But itwasn’tworth jeopardizing thehealthand safe- ty of my children. I have no idea howmuchmoney the StateDepartment spent to recruitme, but it couldn’t have been cheap. After all, they had to pay for my background investigation, along with a full med- ical workup, aRussian-language examand a daylong oral exam. State’s Web site lists some of the benefits of joining the Foreign Service, and these benefits include on-site day care. Shouldn’t they make sure this benefit is actually available? Couldn’t they take some of the money they spend recruiting candidates and use it to expand the on-site day-care center at FSI? Itistoolatetochangetheoutcomeofmyjobsearch,butmoney spent on expanding the day-care center might well net the State Department other qualified candidates down the road. Donna Scaramastra Gorman is a freelance writer whose work has been published in TheWashingtonPost , The ChristianScienceMonitor , The Seattle Times and Horizon Air Magazine . She and her family have been posted in Almaty, Yerevan and Moscow. They are leaving for Beijing in 2007. FS VOICE: FAMILY MEMBER MATTERS BY DONNA SCARAMASTRA GORMAN They Lost Me Over Day Care AFSA NEWS BRIEFS