Publisher's Synopsis
Meditations from My Last Spring with USAID is a deeply personal and poetic journey through one of the most uncertain and transformative seasons of the author's professional life. As the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) undergoes abrupt dismantlement and the sudden termination of development projects in Vietnam-including those the author has devoted years to managing-he turns inward, seeking meaning, clarity, and resilience.
Through a series of soulful reflections, gently retold in the form of a fictional narrative-rooted in the understanding that life is a delicate blend of illusion and clarity, delusion and reality, dream and truth-the author contemplates the meaning and potential impact of USAID's shutdown. He reflects on how to continue serving even as the structures around us fall away, and how to walk through this storm rather than be overcome by it. Woven throughout are threads of ancient wisdom and insights from modern psychology, offering readers a quiet invitation to reflect on their own pain, losses, transitions, and transformations.
This book is not a guide, nor a memoir in the traditional sense. It is a companion for those standing at the threshold of change, wondering how to walk forward with grace. Whether you are a fellow development practitioner, a colleague from USAID or one of its implementing partners, or simply someone navigating your own season of uncertainty, Meditations from My Last Spring with USAID offers a space to pause, to breathe, to meditate, and to move forward with dignity, compassion, and peace.
