Larry Seale

Mailing Address:

624 77th Ave NE
Olympia, WA 98506

Phone: 360 753-6075

Larry Seale
larry@larryseale.com

Spouse: Cynthia Walker

Larry and Cynthia on hill above Kabul, Afghanistan

Kids:

Chris 33
Stephanie 32

In Mrs. Hungerford's English class, I wrote my career paper about the Foreign Service and I recall being one of the few students who finished the paper being more interested in the career than less. And I stuck with that for a while, concentrating in International Relations during my college career. But by the time I finished college, I decided I could accomplish very little overseas and decided instead to pursue public administration, which is what I did for 22 years in Idaho, California and Washington.

At the last reunion in 1995, I was working on my first overseas consulting assignment, at the Ministry of Finance in Bucharest, Romania. I didn't realize at the time that this would be the start of my new career, but it was. So I have returned to the path I first chose in Mrs. Hungerford's class. I have spent the last 12 years working as an international consultant in governmental financial management, working in at least 14 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. Most of this work has been for the US Department of Treasury, but I have worked on projects sponsored by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the British Department for International Development.

A lot of my work has been to help formerly communist countries reform their systems to embrace a market-oriented, democratic society. However, it has also been increasingly dominated by work in "post-conflict" countries. After working in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania in the 1997-99 period, Treasury asked me to take up a post with the UN Administration in Kosovo shortly after the US intervention there. I spent six months as the budget director for the Kosovo Interim Administration. Having revealed my foolishness in that regard, Treasury then asked me to go to Afghanistan in the wake of the Post 9/11 war that evicted the Taliban from power there. I arrived there in early February 2002 and stayed (with breaks) 22 months until the end of November 2003, working as an advisor to two different Finance Ministers working with the Afghanistan Transitional government.

I would not have taken that kind of long-term assignment except for the fact that my wife, Cynthia Walker, has an equal commitment to this kind of work, and capacity for it. So after five years of nurturing a non-profit health care organization in Olympia, Washington after our return from Romania, she agreed to join me in Afghanistan. She worked on a USAID health care project providing $80 million in grants to NGOs throughout Afghanistan to provide basic health service and especially maternity and pediatric care to start improving the world's worst maternal mortality statistics. (If women can't see a male doctor and women can't be trained to be doctors, what do you expect to happen to maternal health?)

More recently I have worked in Liberia, which is overcoming its own problems from 20 years of civil war. But the frequent offers to help "make a difference" in Iraq always earn the response, I have been instructed to say "NO" (These instructions come from Cynthia, who gets from me in return the instruction, "No full-time work," so that she can join me overseas or we can take time off together.)

Working (and living) in places like Kosovo, Afghanistan and Liberia can be very challenging, but rewarding at the same time. Cynthia and I have learned a great deal about ourselves, about "being American" and we have had tremendous satisfaction that we have made some difference in people's lives. We have made many new interesting friends from all around the world in the process, and love to have them as visitors to our house on Puget Sound in Olympia, Washington.

While in Europe, I decided I was "close" to Africa, so on March 6, 1996 successfully reached the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, thus completing an ambition I first recorded in the Wocsomonian 30 years earlier.

Larry and Cynthia with Daughter Stephanie and son-in-law Mike at their house in Olympia, WA

Our children, Chris (33) and Stephanie (32) have been deprived of a little parental contact because of this kind of life, but have generally been supportive. Stephanie has kept a map of the world at her office with a flag marked "Dad" to keep track of where I am. She married (Michael) on Christmas Eve 2001, continues in a career with the City of Portland building regulation, but is pursuing the dream of starting a chocolatier business. Chris has been working computer ISP and web design work in Seattle, and is not married. So, no "grandkid" photos for me to share at the reunion.

My parents are still both living in Moscow and have just moved into the Good Sam retirement community. The house on Seventh Street they lived in for 52 years is still being cleaned out for sale as I write this. My father has suffered from Parkinsons for at least 10 years and recently got the more disturbing diagnosis of acute leukemia. So in addition to seeing all of you at the reunion, I'll be looking forward once again to some quality time with my parents.

Moscow Bear T-Shirt Travels The Globe

Amsterdam, Holland at the Train Station.	Baku, Azerbaijan-Maiden Tower.
Bratislava, Slovaki with Bratislava Castle.	Bucharest, Romania with Casa Popolurui.
Cadaque, Spain-Jan 1, 2004.	Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Geneva, Switzerland.	Kabul, Afghanistan - Ministry of Finance.
Kiev, Ukraine, with statue of Lenin.	Koror, Palau Islands.
Lisbon, Portugal.	Ljubljiana, Slovenia.
Marrakech, Morocco in the Medina.	Monrovia, Liberia - Budget Bureau.
Pretoria, South Africa - Government House.	Pristina, Kosovo bombed building.
San Jose, Costa Rica.	Yerevan, Armenia Opera House.