Monday, March 14, 2011

Vice President Biden's Visit

On Saturday, Vice-President Biden visited Moldova, the final stop on his Eastern European tour. The largest (logistically speaking) event of the day was a 15 minute speech he gave in the public square in front of the opera house. People began arriving for the 14:00 speech at 08:30. Roads all throughout the city center were closed to pedestrian and motor traffic. Secret service agents patrolled streets, building roofs, and oversaw the security stations where metal detectors were operating on electricity tunneled in through thick orange cords. 

Not sure how dedicated we were to the madness of the crowds (Peace Corps usually tells us to avoid them, not flock to them), my friends and I planned on a late arrival. Regardless if we didn't make it to the speech, we still had tickets to the meet-and-greet event afterwards. The first gate we came to was closed. The police officers said the area was full, no more entry allowed. But this is where I give a shout out to Boris, a Moldovan guest of one of my colleagues, who sweet talked the officers into letting  in the Americans and their guest.

Next we made our way through the metal detectors, but were denied entry to the main viewing area. All full, said the police. So I picked a spot on the fence that still gave us a good view of the stage. A volunteer came by and gave me a paper Moldovan flag to wave, and we were fairly content with the cards we'd been dealt. Moments later, a Peace Corps Volunteer on the other side of the fence said, "come with me," and back at the same officer who said the area was full, we were given a free pass once more. 

All told, we only spent about thirty minutes walking from the Peace Corps office to the stage, which is where we eventually ended up listening to the speech, directly behind the podium. This is a picture of Dr. Jill Biden arriving, she was looking at her feet as she walked, that is, until all the Peace Corps Moldova volunteers delivered a hearty, unison, "Welcome to Moldova!" 

The full speech can be viewed on YouTube, or you can read the Associated Press coverage. Biden spent most of the time reassuring the Moldovan people and government that the United States intends to be its partner on the path towards democratization, not just of Moldova, but the whole region. He said the work won't be done until Russia too achieves this measure. On the recent world events, Biden said he was glad “to be here at this transformative moment in your history and quite frankly the history of the world. Freedom is in the air, and democracy is emerging in countries that for generations have known nothing but authoritarian rule.”

Given that I've spent a large portion of my service working in human trafficking prevention, I was very pleased to hear Biden attend to this issue several times throughout the day. 

At the meet-and-greet event, the Ambassador introduced Dr. Jill Biden, who was the first to acknowledge the devastating events occurring in Japan. The event was only open to Peace Corps Moldova and the U.S. Embassy, so the children on stage are young Americans, many of whom I know have no recollection of ever being stateside.  

At the end of the event, we all lined up to have a Peace Corps photo with the Vice President. He happened to stand right next to me, and I chose this photo because you can see that he was clearly engaged in a conversation with us. He says we have to ensure three things in this country 1) transparent government without corruption, 2) an end to the human trafficking crisis, and 3) free press. 

When asked about the future of Peace Corps funding, Biden commented briefly on the political situation back home (I have completely missed the Tea Party phenomenon), and noted that it was his generation that started the Peace Corps; we have his support. 

He also shared a few personal stories, thanked us for our work, and said what we have to continue doing is changing attitude each and every day.

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