It Was Never a Job

Chris Saenger

It Was Never a Job is a podcast about life overseas with USAID. You’ll hear former USAID Foreign Service Officers describe moments of risk and danger, traveling to visit remote projects, hosting VIP visitors, connecting with the military, COVID, friendships, loss, and how life overseas impacted our families. On this show, we’re not here to talk s*** about DOGE, or lament the changes to foreign assistance, or share again the earnest facts about the many lives USAID saved. This show is about what life was like for those posted overseas with USAID, who served along with their loved ones all over the world. Their stories are harrowing and hilarious, heartbreaking and joyful. I think of these as these as an oral history of friends and colleagues. The experiences and emotions matter more than individual specifics, so you won't hear folks identified by name. Because USAID service was never a job. It was our life. Learn more and share your stories at www.itwasneverajob.com

Episodes

  1. 2d ago

    Friendship

    Life overseas with USAID meant spending years at a time far from extended families and home communities. During those times, the Agency’s staff found new connections with the colleagues and families serving alongside them. Those attachments often formed quickly – sometimes ending when it was time to move to the next assignment in the next country – but other times growing into lifelong bonds. Close quarters, small communities, and remote postings could be socially stifling, but when we found the right people, friendships were deep and durable. Alongside those friends, we navigated tough bosses and shared office gossip, just as any other workforce would. But we also celebrated holidays together, cared for children together, and invented our own ways to have fun together. If you’re a USAID alum or family member with a story of friendship overseas, I’d love to hear it. Send me a message at www.itwasneverajob.com.

  2. Jul 14

    Health & Healthcare

    The experience of navigating health and health-care captures both the adventure and the mundane realities of everyday existence overseas with USAID. Mystery ailments and emergency room visits feel very different in unfamiliar languages and cultures. But regular checkups and annual visits need to happen all the same. Nearly every U.S. Embassy overseas has an in-house clinic called a Health Unit, where a diplomat’s medical journey usually starts. The Health Unit provides basic services like prescriptions and immunizations. They also offer support in navigating the country’s hospitals and doctors for more advanced care. The Embassy’s small medical team, often an American nurse-practitioner plus a handful of local nurses, also managed urgent medical evacuations – called “medevacs” – when needed. Sometimes a medevac would take the patient back to the USA. But more frequently a diplomat, or their family member, went to the nearest place that offered the right care, often in a regional hub like Thailand, South Africa, or the UK. Life with USAID meant living in places without state-of-the-art medicine, and often without great options for healthy food and water, especially outside the capital city. And so, fair warning, listener: there is some gross stuff in this episode. Folks who served overseas with USAID have seen more than their share of worms, malaria, and… digestive distress. If you have a story of health and health-care overseas with USAID, I’d love to hear it. Send me a message or a voice note at www.itwasneverajob.com.

  3. Jul 7

    COVID

    The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was difficult for just about every person on the planet. We all have losses from that time, some large and tragic, others small but often long-lasting. For those posted abroad with USAID, the experience varied tremendously depending on your location. Every country made its own rules about masking, isolation, businesses, testing, and vaccines. Countries with weaker local health systems saw horrific death tolls. For a while, the State Department allowed U.S. diplomats and their families worldwide to return to the States for several months under a status called “Authorized Departure.” For those who stayed at post, every Ambassador assessed the risk in their country and set rules for American diplomatic families under their authority. No matter where in the world they were physically located, USAID staff worked long days for months on end to strengthen in-country health systems, deliver ventilators, and procure medicine and protective equipment. If you are a USAID alum, or family member, with a story of living through COVID-19 overseas, I’d love to hear it. Send me a message or a voice note at www.itwasneverajob.com.

  4. Jun 30

    Connecting with the Military

    USAID people have a lot in common with military people: a wicked sense of humor, a sort of weird enthusiasm for hard problems, and a commitment to getting the job done no matter what. When USAID folks and military folks encountered each other in our overseas deployments, we bonded quickly, having both chosen a path of service, often in harm's way, and often far from our loved ones. USAID and DoD personnel lived together on remote bases under austere conditions. We worked together to address things like military coups, surprise helicopter landings, and catastrophic earthquakes. One or two USAID people also joined each class at year-long military training programs called “war colleges.” Whether in those classrooms or in the field, we learned a lot from each other. The military taught us the right way to ride a helo and how to start a fire with some surprising tools. USAID helped DOD connect with local communities, led disaster response, and made long-term progress on national security challenges like migration, disease, and climate change. If you’re a USAID alum or family member with a story about connecting with the military overseas, I’d love to hear it. Send a message at www.itwasneverajob.com.

  5. Feb 20

    "Wow" Moments

    Life and work with USAID offered amazing experiences. Visits to the wildest, most beautiful, most remote places in the world. Meetings in the Presidential palace or the White House. Real human connection across wide gulfs of language and culture. Seeing firsthand how our work helped families and communities live better lives. Service to the United States through service to the world. Next time you’re with a former USAID person, ask them about a time when they said to themselves, “Wow. I can’t believe this is my job. I can’t believe I get to be here, in this place, with these people, and do this work.” You might see them smile or cry. Maybe both. Maybe at the same time. No other career offered the same opportunity to show American values, advance American interests, and learn so much about the world. Learn more and get in touch at www.itwasneverajob.com

  6. Feb 13

    Duty Officer

    A US Embassy has no higher purpose than serving Americans overseas. When a fellow citizen loses their passport, ends up in jail, gets seriously ill, or dies in another country, specialized State Department officers are there to help them. Those State Department officers who focus on services for American citizens do plenty of work on nights and weekends, but they need a break sometimes. So when an anxious family member or distressed tourist calls the Embassy late at night, the Marine on duty connects them by phone with the Duty Officer. All the diplomats in a US Embassy take turns serving as Duty Officer, usually for a week, to be the helpful voice at the other end of the phone after hours. Armed with only about an hour of training and a manual that describes how to handle typical situations, that week’s Embassy Duty Officer keeps the phone by their side day and night, to address whatever comes at them. USAID’s Foreign Service personnel took their turn alongside all the other members of the Embassy community as that first line of support for fellow citizens in need. Learn more and get in touch at www.itwasneverajob.com

  7. Feb 6

    Diplomats of Color

    This episode doesn’t need much of an intro or summary. It doesn’t have obscure government acronyms or a lot of Embassy inside baseball that needs explaining. USAID’s diplomats of color had different experiences, and this episode shares a few of them. Learn more and get in touch at www.itwasneverajob.com.

  8. Jan 30

    VIPs and Visitors

    Embassy life can be pretty fancy. Diplomats meet with heads of state, CEOs, and Ambassadors. The President, Cabinet secretaries, and other Washington bosses visit. The only thing that’s a bigger deal than a VIP is a *V*-VIP. That’s of course a VERY very important person – usually code for the President, the Vice President, or the Secretary of State. Congressional delegations – abbreviated “Co-Dels” – travel the world to see firsthand the quality and impact of foreign assistance. The theater of pomp and circumstance that often comes with these visits is an important part of diplomacy, signalling friendship, power, or rivalry between countries. But before the photo ops and major speeches, the rank-and-file of the Embassy toil for weeks to choreograph every detail and plan for every contingency. High-level officials – and their staff – have high expectations. Security preparations are uncompromising. Members of Congress sometimes bring their spouses, who get their own bespoke itineraries, full of cultural experiences, and sometimes retail. USAID staff took their turn, planning and organizing, and often helping visitors get outside the capital and connect with ordinary local people. Learn more and get in touch at www.itwasneverajob.com

  9. Jan 23

    Family

    The families of USAID’s foreign service staff had a tough job. They moved every few years, to new schools, new houses, new cultures and climates. Spouses and kids had to reinvent themselves in every place, looking for employment and new friends, trying to figure out soccer or dance class in a language they hadn’t learned yet. And after all that work to find a place, usually after more than their share of tears and frustration, just when they figured out whatever place they were in, it was time for the next posting in the next country. Extended families back home visited to experience how different – or sometimes not so different – life abroad could be. USAID folks even convinced most of our people back home that we didn’t actually work for the CIA. So for as hard as it was, the bright side was awfully bright: USAID families speak languages, adapt to anything, and can find – or create – a community for themselves anywhere they go. We came away with a clearer picture of life in the USA, and gratitude for the many blessings this country offers us. Learn more and get it touch at www.itwasneverajob.com

  10. Jan 16

    Field Visits

    USAID's real work took place outside the capital city. The greatest needs and opportunities for development assistance were in the more remote, more disease-affected, more unstable areas. USAID folks would speak of visiting “the field” when going to see projects in these areas. Sometimes a visit to the field meant a simple drive or short commercial flight. Other times USAID’s teams rode military helicopters, boarded a State Department plane, or did their best to find a seaworthy boat. It was important to get there, in order to see whether programming was happening as expected and to hear from beneficiaries and implementers how projects were going. Field visits helped us stay connected to the real-world results that flowed from all the memos and meetings and emails that it takes to make anything happen in government. Those opportunities USAID staff had to get out from behind the desk and get their shoes muddy were the occasions that made all the bureaucracy worth it. Learn more and get in touch at http://www.itwasneverajob.com/

  11. Jan 11

    Danger

    USAID didn’t work in easy countries. The Agency’s purpose was to help the United States, by helping others, in some of the toughest places in the world. USAID staff lived and worked in those places. In all but the most dangerous assignments, their families were with them, going to school and driving on the local roads. US diplomats, including the ones who served with USAID, are all under the protection of the Embassy’s Regional Security Office, the RSO. Foreign Service Officers usually live in the wealthiest parts of the capital city, under heavy security, and sometimes under surveillance by the local authorities. In the most unsafe locations – places like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Yemen – USAID’s foreign service officers went into harm's way, often serving alongside the U.S. military, while their families lived apart. Those separations and risks were hard, but many USAID officers found the work they accomplished and the friendships they made during those unaccompanied tours to be among the most meaningful experiences of their lives. Learn more and get in touch at http://www.itwasneverajob.com/

  12. Season 1 Trailer

    Trailer

    This podcast shares the stories of former USAID Foreign Service Officers, who recall moments of danger, traveling to monitor remote projects, hosting VIP visitors, how moving to a new country every few years impacted their families, and more. On this show, we’re not here to talk s*** about DOGE, or lament the changes to foreign assistance, or share again the earnest facts about the many lives USAID saved. This show is about what life was like for those posted overseas with USAID. Their stories are harrowing and hilarious, heartbreaking and joyful. Because USAID service was never a job. It was our life. Learn more and get in touch at http://www.itwasneverajob.com/

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
53 Ratings

About

It Was Never a Job is a podcast about life overseas with USAID. You’ll hear former USAID Foreign Service Officers describe moments of risk and danger, traveling to visit remote projects, hosting VIP visitors, connecting with the military, COVID, friendships, loss, and how life overseas impacted our families. On this show, we’re not here to talk s*** about DOGE, or lament the changes to foreign assistance, or share again the earnest facts about the many lives USAID saved. This show is about what life was like for those posted overseas with USAID, who served along with their loved ones all over the world. Their stories are harrowing and hilarious, heartbreaking and joyful. I think of these as these as an oral history of friends and colleagues. The experiences and emotions matter more than individual specifics, so you won't hear folks identified by name. Because USAID service was never a job. It was our life. Learn more and share your stories at www.itwasneverajob.com

Information

  • Creator
    Chris Saenger
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    12
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    It Was Never a Job

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