Comparing work
Julia and Cor gave a bit of a party tonight. Julia seemingly turned 37 today and is a good looking tiny girl from Bulgaria who gives occasional yoga lessons in town. Cor is her husband, between 55 and 60 and works, through ING for the national bank of Afghanistan.
At the party I spoke with a Dutch lady who will start working for the UN next month as something I remember her calling 'information analyst. She'll get paid 9000 USD per month. Unfortunately, she didn't appear all that bright, making this fact something of a bitter pill to swallow.
Talking to the two girls yesterday and the girl today, it should be clear these absurdly high salaries are more the rule than the exception. What's more, none of these people were exceptionally bright, smart or intelligent, no offense.
Why do I only make a fraction of these salaries? Or, more accurately, why are agencies willing to pay these absurd amounts to people who, even when they're qualified for the job, would not even get close to half what they receive here, in their home country, before it would also get taxed, leaving them with maybe a quarter, or less, of their salaries here.
Now take that one step further. An Afghan policeman would have to work 20 years to earn what the JICA woman earns in one month. Fucking absurd. And anyone wonders why locals in developing countries are not always that happy with expats coming in and helping them. For every JICA program manager, 240 policemen could be put to work. Fucking preposterous. More people, even, counting the cost of security measures involved to protect the JICA woman. Protect her from what? You tell me. Locals who are frustrated by her earning so much? Probably.