I was managing a USAID-funded project in Haiti in January when the Trump administration shut down USAID. We were in the first year of a five-year project aimed at helping water utilities in Haiti’s towns improve the management of their…
Last month my son had a major operation. As we checked him in, I asked the person processing the paperwork for an estimate of how much this would cost. She replied, “I don’t know, but don’t worry your insurance covers…
Just over two years ago I was looking for a new way to get organized. I had tried many different systems but none seemed to work. I followed the philosophy of Steven Covey's Seven Habits of Effective People such as…
Our government has been shut down now for four weeks ostensibly about border security, but really because both sides like the fight. President Trump is acting like there is no barrier at the border and the Democrats act as if…
I first came to Liberia four years ago—just as the Ebola epidemic was starting to spread. The classic image of Liberia’s roads was that of a four-wheel drive vehicle stuck in a sea of mud. Today, the situation has dramatically…
Carolle’s present for my 50th birthday was to take me to see Queen perform. Freddy Mercury is gone and instead they have a young replacement, Adam Lambert. It was great fun to hear the song that I’ve known since high…
In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, it seemed as if the city of Port-au-Prince had been completely destroyed. There was talk of relocating the capital or of bulldozing large swaths to make way for new construction. As the rubble…