Hometown:
Drake, CO but spent most of my working life in Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan.
About Me:
After retirement from USAID, 1990, I have been mostly focused on the rehabilitation of the central Helmand irrigation system, the largest in the country. And from 1998 to the present I have been visiting the area on a periodic basis with private trips and a series of consultancies, helping to start up labor intensive projects in close collaboration with local government and local leadership including economic and tribal. With USAID, I worked in the area between 1971 and 1978.
An earlier focus of work related to the delivery of rural health services in Turkey (USAID funding) with Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, and the reemergence of religion in politics, outlawed by the Ataturk reforms. This focused on village level attitudes toward religious education.
Area(s) of Training
applied anthropology, cultural anthropology, medical anthropology, sociology
Area(s) of Expertise
Most recently (1998-present) labor intensive rehabilitation of irrigation system in S.Afghanistan in close collaboration with local government and farmer leadership, economic and tribal. This work in a failed attempt to reduce and eliminate opium poppy cultivation by offering locally suggested alternatives. From the past: village level attitudes toward religious education and the reimergence of religion in the political field, outlawed by Ataturk's reforms.
Current Area of Employment
Retired and periodic consultant in S. Afghanistan. Small home based rug import business that pays for most of my trips to the region that I have spent most of my working life.
Comments
I have a short paper I recently gave about the social transformations in an upland peasant group with the end of opium cultivation, if you're interested. It is quite different from Afghanistan.
Kate Gillogly