Speeches Shim
Every day, all over the world, USAID brings peace to those who endure violence, health to those who struggle with sickness, and prosperity to those who live in poverty. It is these individuals — these uncounted thousands of lives — that are the true measure of USAID’s successes and the true face of USAID's programs.
When Ailleene Joy Verbo was a child, she loved listening to her grandfather’s solar-powered radio. “Our rural village did not have electricity,” she said. “The radio broke the quietness of the day.”
Late last year, the University of Pristhina, Kosovo’s largest public university, launched an innovation and entrepreneurship center that has exceeded even the highest expectations of its founders. While initial training events were planned for 100 students, demand mushroomed to over 1,000 applicants. Public presentations, such as Women in Entrepreneurship, played to a sold-out auditorium in the university that serves 50,000 students.
The joy of being healed and returning to regular life beamed on the face of Bountou Sylla, a 21-year-old trader from Souguéta, a village 60 kilometers north of Kindia in the lower Guinea region. Sylla had suffered extremely painful complications during her second pregnancy.
Most children with disabilities in Serbia attend special schools even though their inclusion in regular schools is encouraged by law. Their limited interaction with peers from regular schools fuels prejudices and stereotypes that are often carried into adulthood.
However, Aboigny is wheelchair-bound and few buses are equipped with features that enable people with disabilities to board, such as lifts or ramps. The few buses that are wheelchair-accessible rarely stop for him or allow him to board during rush hour. Neither do taxis.
The school environment for many young Malian children is not conducive to learning to read. Overcrowded classrooms; poorly trained and poorly paid teachers; lack of books, materials and space; no electricity; very little access to preschool; and no books at home are only a few of the obstacles children have to face.
Kosovo’s Bank Account Registry, managed by the Central Bank of Kosovo, continuously maintains updated information on the nearly 2.5 million bank accounts in the country’s commercial banking system. A simple feature added to the registry’s software helps prevent fraud and ultimately addresses corruptive practices.
Pit bulls may be dogs of rare courage, but they must be trained to fight. The same requirement applied to Adnan Tulić, who says the specialized training he received through USAID was the best thing that could have happened for his career as a prosecutor — and, it seems, the worst thing for criminals who cross his path, some of whom are now in jail.
For the thousands of Kosovars who fled violence during the country’s armed conflict in 1998-99, returning to burned-down homes and a stunted economy presented great challenges and hardships. For entrepreneurs, however, opportunities existed amid the ruin, especially in Kosovo’s burgeoning wood-processing sector.
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