So..it's been an interesting time since I got to Washington, DC to work as a project manager for a small Christian NGO on reproductive health/family planning grants. In the short time I've been here, I’ve met congressional staffers from Senators and Congressmen’s offices, met a Senator (!), participated in high-level meetings at USAID, met with the vice-president of a multi-national public health company. It’s amazing who you run into here. My next-door neighbor for two weeks was the Chief of Staff to a Senator!
In the whirlwind of meeting and being introduced to ‘important’ people..and learning how to talk the talk and walk the walk, I’m realizing that there’s a lot of TALK here! On a daily basis, I participate in at least one conference call or go to a meeting where people get paid BIG money to sit around a table and talk! Makes me wonder...how much the talking is helping. How much difference is it making on the ground..in the life of the child who is suffering from hunger and the woman who couldn’t get to the nearest health-clinic on time while giving birth, and the man who has to make a choice between food and medicine for his family. Really...how much difference does it make what old white men sitting in air-conditioned offices in Washington, DC say?
Am I jaded already, you may ask? I don’t think so...at least, I hope not. Am I wary of all the ‘politics’? Heck yeah! But I am here. As wary as I may be, I am here to do a job – and do it well. I am called to bloom wherever I am planted, so I hope to bloom. Hope to speak for those from the field who may not have an organized voice, and may not have glossy paper reports but do do good evidenced-based public health work from a faith persepective. Wish me luck! :-)
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