Traveling Man

I'm in transit. On my first business trip of my international development career. Where might I be going on my first business trip on behalf of my NGO?

Baghdad.

The 2-3 of you who actually read this blog will be familiar with the decision process I went through before I even took the job that lead to this trip, I always knew this would be a possibility. I had not been avoiding going to Iraq, but I hadn't been jumping at any opportunities or thinking of reasons to go, which I probably could have done earlier. But now, the way things are on my team and the circumstances lead to a window of opportunity, where there are a few things I can contribute while in the field for a short, focused trip.

The holiday deadline was a useful end-date for my trip. Many of my colleagues have been stuck on TDY projects in Iraq for months. My condition has always been that I can't go for more than 2-3 weeks.

As I write this, I'm sitting in the London Heathrow Terminal 1. I left DC yesterday evening on a red-eye flight. My dad graciously helped me upgrade to business class using his bazillion frequent flier miles, I'm always appreciative...

I spent the flight reading a new book, I blogged a few months ago about a Generation X article I read and commented on. As it happens, the author and publisher liked my comment and used a snippet of it on the back of the hardcover edition!

Normally I don't really read self help books, I tend to take my information in snippets from articles I come across along the way, I subscribe to all kinds of lists... but being on the back of a book is compelling reason to read it. So read it I did. I may end up writing an independent blog post about it when I finish.

But, reading it on this plane ride was an interesting experience. I'm at a strange point in my career, I'm trying to hard to launch, and it's been genuinely difficult of late to find a real niche. Reading Tammy Erickson's book helps me get a handle on some of the things I've been going through at work lately. There really is a generational component at work, the more I read the more deeply connected to Generation X I feel.

Introspection can so tiresome - I'll post more when I get to Amman jordan this evening.

DPMI at the Monterey Institute

I did a short little video blurb for the Development Project Management Institute course at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

Bitterness over San Francisco

Just got a reminder of the state of mind we were in when we decided to leave San Francisco in late 2005. Part of the reason was Chris Daly. The Chronicle just published an article about him buying a house in Fairfield and moving his family there. Precious.

I loved living in San Francisco. Passionately. It had everything we wanted - nice parks, good public transportation, historic architecture, a thriving restaurant and live music scene. I loved exploring all the neighborhoods; I had coffee shops pegged all over the place. We were lucky enough to own a unit in an Edwardian Duplex in the Mission - in a tenancy in common situation.

I look back at that period - 2002-2005 - very fondly. Our first daughter was born in San Francisco. I guess her being born in late 2003 was the beginning of the end of our time in SF. At first, SF was a great place to have a baby. When they're tiny it's easy. All people generally give you a nod of the head and a smile at your baby and look happy to have you around.

Schools don't matter yet, you can keep them on your lap on BART or MUNI, and you don't have to constantly explain why that crazy man is pooping on the corner outside or what that funny smell is coming from the breezeway.

It's when your kids get older and you look into preschool that you have second thoughts. When we started looking for Ellie it became clear that we were already too late and out of luck. Even mediocre preschools screen your tax returns to see how much you can afford, and even then you'll be on a waiting list. We should have gotten her on the waiting lists when she was born.

And that's not even the half of it. If you want your kids to get a good education in San Francisco, it's going to cost you $15-35,000 year in private school fees, because the public schools are a total gamble. It's a 7 square mile city, and they were bussing kids all over town to balance all the schools. Public school scores were low, and anyone with means sent their kids to private school.

We were stuck in the middle class level that the Chronicle article writers mentioned Chris Daly being so hostile to. We were too wealthy to get any breaks on anything in SF - housing, schooling, health care, etc, and too poor to afford what we wanted for out daughter, which was a safe and competent learning environment. This was even before we knew that our daughter was going to have special needs, which would have drove us out of SF even more quickly.

What finally did it was a confluence of factors. The Mission where we lived was a transitional neighborhood, and will always be. It was getting nicer while we were there, but then it was also getting worse. For every remodeled multiplex building with wealthy tenants, it seemed like new homeless or drug addicts would turn up relieving themselves all over our stoop, stealing our bikes, and generally making the place totally unfit for raising my kids. In one of the untransitioned houses around the corner from us, an old gang member got out of prison and had returned home, and there were a couple of shootings nearby, and the guy and his gang started tagging the corner houses around us. That wasn't cool at all.

Then we started feeling really out of place. When our daughter grew into a toddler, when we would show up at Tartine, out absolute favorite weekly bakery and coffee shop, it was like we were cramping everyone's style by sullying their coolness with our so-domestic vibe. Even going to other neighborhoods like Noe valley didn't really change anything, because the other young parents there were totally out of our price range, so to speak. They were the dot-com millionaires who were paying what it took to give your kids the life you'd want to give them. But we just couldn't really see ourselves running in those circles.

It was like there was no place for us left in SF - we were too poor to afford what we felt our kids would need: a safe and clean environment and schools in particular, and too well-off to take advantage of any of the politically progressive programs that SF is so famous for providing to it's working poor. So when our tenancy in common partner offered to buy us out, we decided it was time to go. We took our money and bought a place up in Sonoma county where the schools were good and there were way more opportunities for our daughter.

I still miss the coffee shops, but it's worked out for us. I like the idea of urban living and would love to give it another shot one day, but I can't imagine moving back to SF for a really, really long time.

Coming in and sullying the coolness with my kids at our favorite old coffee shops is definitely on the agenda though, next time we're out that way.

Positive Generation X Article

Why Generation X Has the Leaders We Need Now - Tammy Erickson - HarvardBusiness.org


This is an excellent article, I'm looking forward to the book. I would have dated Generation X a little later to encompass those born between, say, 1964 (after JFK) - 1979 (people born in the 80's don't seem Generation X-ish to me).

It's nice to see a positive representation of our generation - that we're pragmatic, hardworking, and innovative. We are not slackers! The Baby Boomers just thought we were, but we were just fed up with the more narcissistic and hyperbolic aspects of their culture.

I would never, for example, expect any entitlements from a company or the government. That doesn't mean I wouldn't welcome them, though. Long Term employment and pensions, social security, etc - I know when I'm old I'll only have the work I'm doing and the assets I build up over the next 20 years or so to sustain my wife and me. That and hopefully whatever my parents leave me.

I try to channel my cynicism into something positive - taking care of myself and my family, trying to do a good job, always trying to learn and be a good husband and father. If I can make a positive contribution to society I'll be happy.

Monterey Institute Alumni Interview

A group of students and staff at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) interviewed me last month for a series on reconnecting and networking with Alumni.

President Tandja in Niger as a new Big Man?

My friend at Niger1.com posted an article about President Tandja of Niger. His constitutionally mandated second and final presidential term is up at the end of this year, and it's not clear whether or not he'll step down:

President accused of breaking his word in third term bid

He publicly stated that he would step down after the November elections and a new president is sworn in, but he's suddenly wanting to re-do the constitution, like so many other modern-day dictators, to remain in power.

I haven't followed Niger close enough to truly comment on his time there. I was disappointed with the way he handled the recent Tuareg rebellion; he could have taken a page from Malian president Toure's book and started talking to them right away instead of lumping them with terrorists and drug dealers. Niger is still in the bottom five on the UN Human Development Index, and 8 years is a long time - there could have been much more meaningful change during that time.

I don't know entirely what to think of this. I would bet the villagers of Niger would like Tandja to stay, they like his stability and he'll probably go down in Nigerien history as a great president like they perceived Kountche to be. But this definitely looks bad from a diplomatic/foreign policy perspective.

Gaston Kaba - Health APCD in Niger Retiring

Wrote this in tribute to my old Associate Peace Corps Director for Health in Niger - Gaston Kaba:

My wife Andrea and I were PCV's in Niger form 97-01. We were Ag volunteers so we didn't report directly to Gaston. However, we found him to be a very useful and helpful Nigerien to talk to, especially in the beginning before we really knew what we were doing. We were volunteer leaders during the second half of our service and I had the opportunity to install new Health PCV's in their villages with Gaston. He would always keep his cool - while PCV's would be getting themselves very worked up and upset over perceived misjustices or misunderstandings, Gaston would always be able to work things out. I think in time the PCVs would come to understand how much Gaston helped shape the enabling environment in their villages. Having Gaston on your team as a PCV helped give you that gravitas - of having an educated, respected, literate and fluent dotijo - vouching for you, so your villagers knew you weren't totally crazy.

I went to Gaston's office one day to ask for some Child Survival money - about $500 - for a garden well in my village. At the time in the late 90's he had a huge amount of money to spend on anything related to Child Survival. He asked me for a proposal, which I provided, and then I returned to my village for a couple of weeks. When I got back - he said - "I've got $3000 from the Rotary Club of Truckee for you - let me know how you can use it!" That money ended up continuing and expanding the Torodi team garden well project and the installation of at least 10 wells that year. And that's really just a drop in the bucket of the 13 years Gaston was Health APCD.

So - from the bottom of my heart - I thank Gaston for his service - Na Gode, Ay Sabu, Mi Yetti, Merci Beaucoup! Sannuka da Aiki sosai.