“My team can go places and do things soldiers can’t,” he went on. They “operate low profile” and can move freely “because the communities invite them in and support them.” They work to “rebuild irrigation systems, plant fruit and forest trees, build walls around girls schools, drinking water schemes, microhydro power for villages” and more, he continued. Of his 370 in-country staff, only two are expatriates – the rest are Afghans.-Greenham
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I thought about Tim and his gang with this story, and I wanted to highlight the good work of a company that was doing some good things out there. Bravo to USAID for putting together a program that works and is built off of the input of those out in the field, and bravo to Development Alternatives Inc. for doing the job.
Most importantly, this is the kind of stuff that puts the fear of allah in the Taliban, because it cuts into their poppy crops, it cuts into their market share of public support, and it makes the US and the Afghan government look like the good guys. It also employs young men in jobs that help the community, and keeps them from working for the Taliban as soldiers. Intelligence benefits from this as well, because now people might be more apt to say something to help us out, or even protect their good deal going on with IDEA-NEW by dropping some tips that out some bad guys.
Now you know why I like talking about this stuff, and why the Taliban have been attacking contractors lately. They fear contractors, because we are a direct threat to their shadow governments. Look at it like this. If we are competing over the affections and respect of the people, then these contractors and USAID are giving the home team a run for their money. –Matt
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Worldview: Successful model for foreign aid is IDEA-NEW
Sun, May. 2, 2010
By Trudy Rubin
JALALABAD, Afghanistan – You’ve all heard horror stories of U.S. aid funds misused by big contractors on failed projects with high overhead in war zones.
The U.S. military insists the war can’t be won by guns, yet our civilian-aid programs have floundered. They’ve been undercut by shifting goals and the fact that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has shrunk to little more than a contracting agency.
So I was looking for U.S. civilian-aid programs in Afghanistan that actually work, and offer Afghans the help they need to improve their lives. On this trip, I found such a program in eastern Afghanistan, called IDEA-NEW, which runs agricultural projects. The program is funded by USAID and led by a Washington contractor (Development Alternatives Inc.). Sounds like the same old, but it isn’t.