2/25/2023

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            I hope you are having a laid-back Saturday so you & the FLOTUS can recuperate from your journeys. It’s too bad that the media was so busy covering the 1st anniversary of the war that it didn’t cover Jill’s trip to Namibia & Kenya.

            I’m sure she told you about her warm reception by Ambassador Meg Whitman in Nairobi. She may NOT have told you about her brilliant speech. Her evocation of Wangari Maathai’s story captivated her audience, as did her message that planting one seed, extending one hand, smiling one time could change the world. I also appreciated her remarks in WINDHOEK about uplifting a young democracy. It’s lovely that she & Monica Giengos became fast friends when they met in DC.

It’s too bad that she didn’t take an extra day to go to Botswana. It would have been a great place to shine a light on the power of education to promote peace by embracing the idea of multi-ethnicity. This has prevented the kind of ethnic tensions that plague places like Burma.

Perhaps someday, I can go to Botswana with Jill so we can explore this phenomenon together. We could bring along some women from Burma so they could get inspiration to imagine a brighter future for their country.

Speaking of which, please take a look at USIP’s analysis of China’s role in Burma which claims it is “recalibrating” its approach in order to continue its projects there. China does not seem interested in ameliorating ethnic tensions. So, as we “consider options for implementing the Burma Act, a critical need is to enhance assistance to the formation of inclusive coalitions, which can work together to place Myanmar back on a path toward democracy.”

BYBS,