Greg's Last Post from Jakarta

Yesterday was rather heartwarming for me. Tired as I was and strictly told by our facilitator to sit on the sidelines, I was beginning to drift away. Then the group doing the presentation on “Pre-negotiated Agreements” came up to do their presentation. First thing I noticed was that it was a group of Country Directors or Program Directors …depending on what you call it. Second thing was that they were beaming full of energy and genuinely excited. Then they began to present – in detail – a vision forward in which their organizations would take advantage of each organization comparative advantages and begin to develop a common framework for emergency response that spoke of leveraging each other’s strengths and included MOU’s between agencies that clearly defined roles. As I watched the presentation …I began to see doubt come over the face of some of the audience members as they recognized some of the barriers to be faced in making this happen. But as the questions or doubt started pouring in to the group after their presentation …I watched as one CD after the other got up to respond to the questions …each showing with the same energy and passion as the presenter. There was no pragmatic hedging or doubt here …to them this was real and doable.

It is at times like that I remember why I took this job and why I remain committed to this work. Thanks for listening over the last few days.


Gregory Brady,
Director, Emergency Capacity Building Project