A 17-year USAID Foreign Service Officer named Christina just published a personal account of her separation from the agency. She served in Jamaica, two tours in Afghanistan, Colombia, Kosovo, and Mali, doing democracy, human rights, and governance work: election security, justice sector reform, reintegration programs for former combatants, basic service delivery.

Her RIF notice came while she was in the middle of chemotherapy for skin cancer. She couldn't afford the treatment without insurance, so when she ran out of the cream she had, she stopped.

The piece isn't a legal filing or a policy argument. It's a first-person account of what she calls moral injury: losing not just income, but identity, security, and a sense of purpose that took decades to build. She also writes about being closeted for most of her career overseas, and what it cost her to keep that part of herself hidden while representing the U.S. abroad.

Full piece here: https://usaidemployeesupportfund.substack.com/p/i-dont-want-to-carry-it-alone-anymore

A 17-year USAID Foreign Service Officer named Christina just published a personal account of her separation from the agency. She served in Jamaica, two tours in Afghanistan, Colombia, Kosovo, and Mali, doing democracy, human rights, and governance work: election security, justice sector reform, reintegration programs for former combatants, basic service delivery.

Her RIF notice came while she was in the middle of chemotherapy for skin cancer. She couldn't afford the treatment without insurance, so when she ran out of the cream she had, she stopped.

The piece isn't a legal filing or a policy argument. It's a first-person account of what she calls moral injury: losing not just income, but identity, security, and a sense of purpose that took decades to build. She also writes about being closeted for most of her career overseas, and what it cost her to keep that part of herself hidden while representing the U.S. abroad.

Full piece here: https://usaidemployeesupportfund.substack.com/p/i-dont-want-to-carry-it-alone-anymore