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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
Irma de Melzi: After 45 Years, Longest Serving FSN at USAID
FrontLines: August 2008
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Irma de Melzi now and earlier in her USAID career (far right). |
Irma de Melzi began working with USAID in Peru 45 years ago—and today she is still at her job in the mission in Lima.
She is the longest-serving Foreign Service National (FSN) in the Agency.
When asked about her 45 years of employment with USAID/Peru, she takes a deep breath and, off the top of her head, begins to tell stories—
experiences both good and not so good, lessons learned and given, and many other memories.
As the communications and records (C&R) supervisor, she is used to keeping track of things and putting all sorts of documents,
records, and files in the right place. For such a job, her memories are in her head as well as in her hands.
"The whole history of USAID/Peru in the last 45 years has gone through these hands,” she said.
When de Melzi was 19 years old, she was interested in working
for the U.S. government. When she got an opportunity to interview for a C&R clerk position,
there was a glitch during the job interview that she still remembers clearly.
In 1963, typing and shorthand skills were fundamental for administrative staff. As she went through a dictation exercise to test her shorthand, the interviewer, who was to become her future boss, asked her to read back what she had taken down. She told him simply that all she caught was “Dear sirs” and “Sincerely yours.”
She was sure she would not be hired. But her straightforward honesty got her the job, and helped her keep it for 45 years.
De Melzi’s 45 years of service provided continuity for the mission.
Institutional memory, she said, is the greatest contribution of FSNs to USAID. In 1990, the Agency recognized the value of this contribution by naming her the FSN of the year for Latin America and the Caribbean.
She is still on the run. She said she feels that there is still so much she can do for the Agency and for her country.
“I am proud to be part of an institution that has contributed to the development of my country in so many ways that it’s hard to describe,” she said, pointing out poverty reduction and education as the main challenges yet to be addressed in Peru.
De Melzi is part of the USAID story and a reminder
of how much the FSNs have contributed to the Agency history.
Her message to others is that honesty, continuity, and commitment are what made
her job stay rewarding over
the long term.
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