Today was a big day in Akhaltsikhe:

The Americans came to town.

More specifically, an entourage from the Tbilisi office of USAID. For those of you who aren’t familiar with USAID, you need look no further than their rather brilliant acronym to discover what they do: they provide aid. The United States Agency for International Development works in over 100 countries around the world, furthering American foreign policy interests while at the same time improving lives in the developing world.

From their Georgian website: “The Georgia mission manages a wide variety of development programs including economic growth, democracy building, health, energy and social development.  It is also responsible for the largest share of programs fulfilling the U.S. Government’s $1 billion pledge of assistance to Georgia after the conflict with Russia.”

Go back and read that last sentence again. Yep, that’s right. One billion dollars. Since 2008. That may be a drop in the bucket in the American federal budget (or it may not, depending on your point of view), but let me tell you: a billion dollars is still worth something over in these parts. Why so much? Maybe this is a strategic geographic area that is vital to America’s long-term interests in the region. Maybe there is a lot of potential for a prosperous Georgian economy with just a little “boost” to get it going. Maybe the Bush administration felt guilty for watching Georgia get its ass kicked by Russia back in ’08. Probably a little of everything.

Where does this enormous amount of money come from? Well, USAID’s slogan is “From the American People,” if that gives you a hint (the Georgian people thank you). So what are your tax dollars buying? Lots of things. Projects. Buildings. Infrastructure. It is impossible to spend time in Georgia, even in more remote areas, without seeing a big USAID sign somewhere. In a nutshell, their priority areas here are: Improving Economic Competitiveness and Welfare; Improving Delivery of Social Services; Strengthening Democracy and Governance; Enhancing Energy Security; and Safeguarding the Environment.

Today their work brought them to Public School #1, where my organization (Akhaltsikhe Youth Center) gathered a couple hundred kids from all over the region to give presentations about a USAID-sponsored project currently underway. In this project, the kids have formed Civics Clubs in their schools and are learning about everything from the principles of democracy to trash pickup at the park. I think it’s a good project, and by all indications my org is doing a great job of implementing it. They’re certainly always buzzing around the office working on it, and there is a steady stream of kids in and out of the computer room working on writing projects and reports.

So the Americans came to town. And when the Americans come to town, all of the organizations with Peace Corps volunteers loooooove to trot out their Americans, too. It’s like Show-and-Tell. “See? We have one!” Today I was the only other American in town (everyone else is at the health conference, but I went last year so couldn’t go again). Represent.

On my way out the door this morning, looking much more put-together than usual for the Parade of Americans.

We’ve often said that we get stared at and sometimes feel like celebrities over here, because of all the attention we get just because we’re American. Today, rolling with the diplomats, that was even more the case.

I got to the school a little early, before the entourage of four-wheel-drive Toyota SUVs pulled up (sidenote: the US government must have gotten a helluva deal on Toyota SUVs, cuz I swear every diplomat, from USAID to the Embassy to the Peace Corps, rides in one). I went up to the third floor where the couple hundred kids were waiting. As I walked through the door, heads turned, voices stopped, eyes grew wide, faces smiled and about half the kids immediately started clapping for me. After a few seconds, to their great disappointment, the kids who knew me, along with my co-workers who were there, quickly explained that in fact I was not the special guest they were waiting for. Back to talking.

A few minutes later, the USAID folks did arrive (to applause) and the program was underway.

The director of my organization kicking things off. Behind her are a hundred or so pictures of kids doing work as part of this project. The captions were all written in perfect English for the Americans to read by yours truly.

The director of USAID Georgia, Steve Haykin (on the right), and his translator.

When Mr. Haykin worked in Kenya, he met then-Senator Barack Obama on a plane and told us he was most impressed by the fact that when they got off the plane, Barack personally introduced everyone on board to Michelle, who was waiting at the airport.

Some of the kids I work with explaining their project to the crowd.

My director nervously checking out Steve Haykin's reaction. She was soooo concerned about the Americans liking the presentations.

Me and Paul, a former Georgia Peace Corps volunteer who now works for USAID. One of my co-workers took this pic.

Afterwards, they invited me to have lunch with them at their hotel, and I happily agreed. Over some really good lobiani, khachapuri and other traditional Georgian foods, we talked about challenges in the region, politics and how much of a pain in the ass it is to get a visa to Ghana. It was also clear that the USAID-ers work and live in places with plenty of heat, as they were cold (so cold that they were considering moving to a different hotel an hour away) but I was quite comfortable. I offered up our extra PC-issued heater but didn’t get any takers.

Next up was the ribbon cutting and grand opening of a new USAID-built community center in town, the Center for Civic Engagement.

Approaching the Center as part of the USAID entourage. I swear that half the town was there. Crazy scene!

It’s a fantastic facility, with conference rooms, audio-visual equipment, a computer lab and a kitchen, in a completely renovated old house near the center of town. And the best part is that it’s absolutely free to use (again, the Georgian people thank you) if you’re an NGO, civic group, student or just a plain ol’ citizen working on a civics-minded project.

Getting ready for the ribbon cutting. Not pictured: the throngs of people packing the street for a block in each direction.

It was standing-room-only inside the building, which was packed with just about every notable Georgian in town. I’ve been to plenty of events in this town and in general, but I was genuinely surprised by the turnout and excitement this one generated.

If this excitement can then be harnessed and used to make change in Akhaltsikhe and around Georgia, well, USAID may be on to something.