A day filled with meetings!
Wow, what a busy day. I attended meetings at two government ministries, the US Embassy and our office. I met too many people to EVER remember them. And it was hot, windy and dusty today, so by 5 p.m. I was tired and rather dusty.
My job here will be to serve as a senior communications counselor to one of the government ministers and his communications department. I will assess the staff and processes, and then work with them to develop the proper structure, processes, plans and products to effectively communicate. And hopefully what we develop will endure beyond this administration and into future administrations. Along the way I will train the communications staff as needed to effectively do their jobs. As I am only here for a few months, obviously carrying out the plans we develop will go on way past my time here.
It should be interesting and I suspect will be a bit frustrating as well. Afghans are still learning how to operate in a democratic government. And because there's not much depth among those who know how democracies work, each time officials change they often must be retrained or educated in how to do the work. It will take some time until there are enough educated and experienced people within the country to provide the needed resources to independently run government agencies.
There are so many people from all over the world working here to develop the government, business community, educational resources and other aspects of the society. Many are private contractors or non-governmental non-profit organizations, others are people from government agencies from many countries. There are literally hundreds of different groups working throughout Afghanistan. And the people working here are as young as 23 or 24 and as old as 70 or more. They are single, married, parents and grandparents. Quite a variety of people from all over the world. They work here from weeks to years. The community of peacekeepers and aid workers tends to be close. I find it very interesting.
Well, we ordered out and our food is almost here, so it's time to close.
Cheers!
My job here will be to serve as a senior communications counselor to one of the government ministers and his communications department. I will assess the staff and processes, and then work with them to develop the proper structure, processes, plans and products to effectively communicate. And hopefully what we develop will endure beyond this administration and into future administrations. Along the way I will train the communications staff as needed to effectively do their jobs. As I am only here for a few months, obviously carrying out the plans we develop will go on way past my time here.
It should be interesting and I suspect will be a bit frustrating as well. Afghans are still learning how to operate in a democratic government. And because there's not much depth among those who know how democracies work, each time officials change they often must be retrained or educated in how to do the work. It will take some time until there are enough educated and experienced people within the country to provide the needed resources to independently run government agencies.
There are so many people from all over the world working here to develop the government, business community, educational resources and other aspects of the society. Many are private contractors or non-governmental non-profit organizations, others are people from government agencies from many countries. There are literally hundreds of different groups working throughout Afghanistan. And the people working here are as young as 23 or 24 and as old as 70 or more. They are single, married, parents and grandparents. Quite a variety of people from all over the world. They work here from weeks to years. The community of peacekeepers and aid workers tends to be close. I find it very interesting.
Well, we ordered out and our food is almost here, so it's time to close.
Cheers!
posted by Pam | 8:34 PM
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