The Foreign Service Journal, December 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2021 35 Avis Bohlen Award for a Foreign Service Family Member Amanda Jager Sustaining Community through Lockdown in India D uring her family’s first overseas assign- ment after joining the Foreign Service, Amanda Jager provided extraordinary assistance to the U.S. Embassy New Delhi community amid the host country’s greatest mor- tality crisis since its independence. India had just announced what would prove to be one of the longest and most restrictive COVID-19 lock- downs in the world when Ms. Jager was appointed vice president of the American Community Support Asso- ciation at the embassy. Many board members had recently departed post, prompting Ms. Jager to assume responsibilities far beyond the scope of her position as she helped to manage the association’s expansive offering of services for U.S. and third-country diplomats and their families. In particular, the commissary and restaurant became a life- line for the community, one of the few places to safely and reli- ably purchase groceries. Despite the lockdown and associated supply shortages, Ms. Jager ensured that the commissary never lacked essential items. Meanwhile, thanks to her advocacy, the restaurant offered takeout and delivery to embassy employees working around the clock—including her husband—to arrange repatriation flights for thousands of U.S. citizens. Ms. Jager’s concern for the community’s well-being quickly earned her the moniker “mayor of the compound” with nearly everyone, including the front office. When police checkpoints became difficult to transit, she worked with mission security personnel to ensure staff had all the supporting documentation and credentials required to safely travel to and from work. Ms. Jager also kept everyone informed as she worked closely with Amanda Jager. Amanda Jager and her family celebrate Holi at the American Embassy School in New Delhi, 2019. senior leadership and the health unit to ensure facilities could reopen safely. Inevitably, some ACSA members disagreed with embassy pol- icy and directed their frustrations toward the association’s staff. Ms. Jager was always the first to field these calls, adeptly calm- ing tempers while still maintaining strict adherence to medical guidelines. As a result of these protocols, and her enforcement of them, not a single case of COVID-19 was transmitted at ACSA functions or facilities. “When the pandemic hit, we really had to get creative,” Ms. Jager says. “I worked with our medical team through the mission’s COVIDWorking Group to come up with safe, socially distanced fun to help alleviate the stress of being locked down. It was a lot of work, but it was rewarding to know that what we did helped provide some much-needed relief.”