The Heart of the Matter: A View of International Development from the Front Lines
Jose Garzon arrived in southern Peru on a Fulbright Scholarship during the drought of 1983. A doctoral student with a particular interest in development, Garzon had traveled to South America to conduct research for his dissertation. Before long, he had made a serendipitous contact with US Agency for International Development (USAID) workers stationed on the ground to administer humanitarian support. The USAID team was short-staffed and offered Garzon a temporary assignment to conduct drought relief monitoring.
“It was a fantastic opportunity – USAID provided access to the resources needed for my dissertation research and compensation, which allowed me to stay in slightly better hotels,” he jokes.
In return, Garzon traveled extensively to check on food aid and disaster relief levels throughout the region. After his contract with USAID ended, Garzon accepted a position with CARE, a non-governmental organization also delivering humanitarian aid locally. In 1986, he returned to the US to receive his degree. Before long, Garzon found his way back to Latin America – and USAID.
Over the past 16 years with the Agency, he has worked in diverse settings, from El Salvador to the Philippines, Bangladesh to Bolivia. Today, Garzon serves as Chief of the Rule of Law Division with the Agency’s Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance in Washington, DC.
“Our team provides support to rule of law programs around the world,” he reports. “We’re currently working with the mission in Iraq to build a system from the ground up.”
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| Jose Garzon and wife Lisa Magno relax aboard a reed boat made by local craftsman near Lake Titicaca, Bolivia |
While the new Iraqi constitution established an independent judiciary on paper, Garzon believes that a core challenge is the nation’s lack of experience with decentralization and federalism. He developed a concept paper outlining a comprehensive rule of law program tailored to the specific needs of Iraq, which will serve as the blueprint for USAID’s work.
“We need to spend a lot of time establishing basic institutions and working at the community-level,” asserts Garzon. “Our role is facilitator; the average person has no experience with building institutes of justice. But, we need to start with the indigenous vision, and help them develop it to the point where there is strong political support for the vision.”
For Garzon, witnessing the impact of development on the lives of ordinary people has been the most personally rewarding aspect of a distinguished career. He recalls a particular afternoon in 1991; USAID had mounted a major disaster relief effort with the US Marines following a devastating cyclone in Bangladesh. Garzon’s strenuous efforts to get IV solution out to the field had finally succeeded and he set out for the local hospital. He arrived to find an elderly man sitting beside his young grandson; the boy had an IV in his arm. Garzon tried to make conversation, but the old man simply turned toward him and pulled his hands over his heart to express his gratitude.
“I’ve learned that a very small thing can make a difference for a lot of people,” he reflects. “This is really the best work we could be doing.”
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A native of Pico Rivera, California, Jose Garzon is an alumnus of Whittier College (BA – Political Science, 1977) and the University of California at Berkeley (PhD – Political Science, 1986). He is currently Chief of the Rule of Law Division at the USAID Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance in Washington, DC. While many find international development work professionally fulfilling, Garzon’s tenure with USAID has also been personally rewarding – he met his wife and fellow staffer, Lisa Magno, while on assignment in the Philippines. Although their careers have led them to separate Bureaus, the couple remains with USAID and currently resides in Chantilly, Virginia.
The US Agency for International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.
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