Noise #190: Reflections on the USAID I've written about for years

I composed original music in reaction to allegations against an agency I've covered for over a decade.

Gallons of muck have been thrown at USAID recently—but the USAID being railed against is not the USAID I know.

For well over a decade, I’ve written international public diplomacy content for American embassies in Asia. My work focuses on cross-cultural collaborations, innovations that save lives, and ways that people find strength in discovering shared humanity despite myriad differences.

USAID has come up often in my work.

The USAID I know—the one I’ve written about more times than I can remember, and the one that (at least until recently) employed many inspiring folks I interviewed—has done the following:

• Supported efforts to educate rural women and end child and forced marriage (article removed from embassy website)

• Helped impoverished farmers develop new income streams while growing trees to soak up greenhouse gasses

• Developed drones that can transport specimens for tuberculosis testing from remote and economically depressed areas

• Empowered vulnerable populations to protect their health by actively monitoring hyper-local air pollution levels

I composed Noise #190 thinking about the harsh dissonance between two very different USAIDs: the innovative organization I’ve researched for dozens of hours and described in thousands of words—and the bogeyman anti-American agency some choose to see instead.

Here’s the music:

Thanks so much for listening. If the music moves you, please share it:

Wishing you peace,

Michael

(Noise #190 by Michael Gallant. Copyright 2025 Gallant Music LLC. All Rights Reserved.)