It Was Never a Job

    A podcast about life
    overseas with USAID

    Listen wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple, Spotify, and Overcast. Subscribe in your podcast app or check back here for future episodes!

    About

    Former USAID employee Chris Saenger spoke with colleagues to remember stories of traveling to monitor remote projects, facing danger, hosting VIPs from Washington, moving with family to a new country every few years, and more. The best stories share moments of pride and gratitude that it was our job to be here, in this faraway place, with these people, doing this incredible work on behalf of the United States.

    You’ll hear the voices of over a dozen former USAID Foreign Service Officers. Their stories are harrowing and hilarious, heartbreaking and joyful. USAID staff gave a lot to the Agency, and it gave so much back to us. USAID service was never a job. It was our life.

    Chris was a USAID Foreign Service Officer from 2009-2025, serving alongside his wife and two kids. His postings included Ecuador, Iraq, the Jordan Desk in Washington, USAID’s Middle East Regional Platform in Germany, Colombia, and as the lead for the Agency’s Ukraine Unit in Washington.

    Contact

    If you’re a USAID alum or family member with a question or a story, drop me a line below or share a voice message.