Last year, Elizabeth Baker ’06 uprooted her boyfriend, home, and life and moved from Alexandria, Virginia to Kabul, Afghanistan. A studio art major while at Scripps College, she never imagined her studies would lead to helping the lives of Afghani children.
“My experience at Scripps played a large role in who I am today,” she says, noting the deeper sense of self she found while an undergraduate. “I try to live confidently, courageously, and hopefully, selecting projects to work on that I’m passionate about and believe will make this world a better place.”
Elizabeth’s journey to the Middle East began with a post-graduation internship at the Afghani embassy in Washington, DC, in 2008. Working with the ambassador’s wife at her non-profit charity, the Ayenda Foundation, Elizabeth fell in love with Afghan culture, history, and society. To pursue her work further, she inquired about working abroad.
“I had an option after college to stay in an industry more about making money than working on something that I believed in,” she recalls. “I made the choice to take a chance on something very different. It was hard to walk away from something that I knew and take a risk.
“Sure enough, I was given two weeks’ notice to pack my things and move to Kabul. I began work at the Independent Directorate of Local Governance, helping organize the effort to build local governance in Afghanistan.”
Elizabeth recognizes her choice of work as a greater personal calling, and while she continues to serve as a representative for the Ayenda Foundation, she has also added an extensive list of duties with the Ministry Outreach team at ISAF Joint Command (IJC) to her repertoire. In addition to helping with children, she assists in information sharing, civilian-military planning, and capacity building.
As a woman, living and working in Afghanistan is not without its challenges. Elizabeth confesses her transition to the country required some adjustment.
“It took a while to get used to working in male-dominated environments,” she admits. “The challenges I initially faced have made me more confident and decisive today, however. I’ve had the chance to work with some amazing individuals, Afghani and international, military and civilian. I greatly value the opportunity to have worked as both an NGO worker and an IJC representative; I appreciate both worlds and those in them.”
Elizabeth encourages the women of Scripps College to seize opportunities where they may, whether by a summer internship or an interesting course. A well-rounded individual, she believes, has more to offer than a person with few skills.
“If you live your life with curiosity, passion, and are willing to work hard, you will have all the opportunities in the world.”