Q: At that posting, what was the
most interesting problem you helped
solve between the US and that coun-
try?
A: Throughout the world all the
United States Embassies provide
health insurance for their locally
employed staff. Being a new coun-
try, Juba did not have any insurance
companies that we could contract
with so our locally employed staff
would have to provide all the money
up front for their medical expenses
and would be reimbursed by the em-
bassy afterwards. This was a problem
because many of them could not af-
ford the upfront costs and it was an
incredible hardship on them. The
entire time I was posted there, my
team and I worked to find a solution.
A new clinic finally came into Juba
that was clean, had good equipment,
doctors, and even an ambulance. Af-
ter negotiating with the clinic, we
reached an agreement where our staff
could go there and the clinic would
bill the embassy directly rather than
the employee paying up front. The
negotiations were not the hardest
part, but getting everything approved
through our headquarters in Wash-
ington D.C. was a long and arduous
process. A week after I left Juba ev-
erything was finally established and
it was a paramount accomplishment.
like to visit the other states under our
jurisdiction in the midwest. My big-
gest goal is to provide outstanding
service to the consulates in our re-
gion because it is a critically impor-
tant service for the community.
Having the opportunity to have a
conversation with Mrs. Blunt was a
great experience. Hearing about her
story gave me a new perspective of
what it means to join the Foreign
Service and reinforced my belief of
how important international rela-
tions are. Globalization is key to the
Q: What are some future goals you
future of making the world a better
would like to achieve while serving in place by connecting people from dif-
your position?
ferent cultures and countries. It opens
your eyes to beautiful traditions and
A: I want to get out and visit the history enriched by the wide expanse
consulates, meet the consul generals, of different people that make up the
and see their facilities. I would also human race.
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38 iF Magazine | September 2018
iF Magazine | www.iFMagazine.net
39