 |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
 |
| USAID
Information:
External Links:
|
|
|
|
|
Teamwork and Tea Among the Afghans Are Key for PRT
FrontLines - June 2010
By Jan Cartwright
|
Trevor Hublin, left, wearing the traditional shalwar khameez, meets Roohul Amin, the governor of
Farah province.
|
Trevor Hublin often gets the
same question from colleagues
headed out to serve in Afghanistan
for the first time. “People
always ask, ‘Is it like the book
Three Cups of Tea?’ I say, ‘Yes,
be prepared to sit, talk, listen,
drink tea, and build
relationships.’”
As an officer in the U.S.
Marine Corps for more than
seven years, Hublin served in
conflict zones as well as in the
aftermath of humanitarian crises
and natural disasters. He was in
Indonesia during the first weeks
of the 2004 tsunami disaster, in
Iraq in both 2003 and 2005, and
in Chad and Afghanistan in
2008.
When a USAID opportunity
presented itself, Hublin was
pulled back to Afghanistan as a
civilian—drawn by his admiration
and concern for the Afghan
people.
“[They are] the most wonderful,
caring, and dedicated people
I have ever had the honor of
meeting. I tell [my friends and
family] that I feel like an honored
guest to be here, which
motivates me to give my best
shot every day.”
Having worked in Afghan
National Security Force development
efforts with both the
national army and police, Hublin
jumped at the chance to continue
his efforts on the civilian
side serving in an Afghan provincial
reconstruction team
(PRT). In March 2009, he was
hired as a field program officer
(FPO) for a PRT in Farah province
in western Afghanistan,
where he will serve for two
years, until April 2011.
Hublin said his interest in
listening to and helping the
Afghan people has been key to
his success living and working
on a PRT.
| “[They are] the
most wonderful,
caring, and dedicated
people I
have ever had the
honor of meeting.
I tell [my friends
and family] that
I feel like an
honored guest to
be here, which
motivates me to
give my best shot
every day.” |
“To be successful, an FPO
must be able to stop, listen, and
learn from the Afghans even if
he’s had 25 years of prior development
experience,” he says. “If
the FPO is humble, outgoing,
willing to live with hardships
and put an honest effort to helping
the Afghans out, he or she
will succeed and have a lot of
fun doing it.”
Hublin credits close civilian-military
cooperation for the
improvements that he sees in
Farah province. “Thanks to close
cooperation between USAID,
the State Department, USDA
[U.S. Department of Agriculture],
and the military, we have
helped the Farah provincial government
to become more proficient,
more service oriented, and
more willing to take risks to get
out to the rural countryside and
serve their people.”
Hublin stresses that the true
heroes are the local Afghans who
often go to extraordinary lengths
to help their fellow citizens.
An example of this was an
experiment in which USAID
worked throughout the fall of
2009 and into 2010 with the
Farah government to establish a
stabilization team through its
Department of Rural Rehabilitation
and Development. The team
consisted of local civil engineers
and community mobilizers, who
partnered with the Afghan
national army and police to go to
the most volatile parts of the
province and begin delivering
basic rural services once security
was established.
The Afghan government officials
were aware of the risks to
their personal safety, but chose
to go and help their fellow
Afghans in these extremely disadvantaged
areas. Hublin recalls
this effort as his “most inspiring
experience.”
Hublin is grateful for the
experience he gained in the
Marines, but he is happy to now
be with USAID, noting the
Agency’s special role in
“strengthen[ing] our country’s
relationships with all nations of
the developing world.”
“Serving in Afghanistan
on a PRT as a USAIDer has
reinforced my view that
Afghanistan is the right place
to be and that we can help the
Afghans to get back on their
feet and take their country back
from extremism and poverty,”
he says. “It’s been an incredible
experience.”
★
FrontLines is published
by the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs
U.S. Agency for International Development
To have FrontLines delivered
to you via postal mail, please subscribe.
Material should be submitted
by mail to Editor, FrontLines, USAID,
RRB, Suite 6.10, Washington, DC 20523-6100;
by FAX to 202-216-3035; or by e-mail to frontlines@usaid.gov
To view PDF files, download
the Adobe
Acrobat Reader.
Back to Top ^
|
