Letters to the Editor: My father helped build USAID. We can’t let one billionaire destroy it

To the editor: My father, Charles Green, lived in Malibu from 1985 until his death at age 93 in 2011. For more than two decades prior to moving to Malibu, he lived overseas working for United States Agency for International Development, or USAID. (“Trump and Musk crippled our most important global aid agency. The consequences are grim,” Opinion, Feb. 7)

He served in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Vietnam, Indonesia and Liberia. In these countries he provided professional development for teachers and educational administrators, built new schools, modernized curriculum, brought learning to rural areas through radio classes and established community colleges so that more students would have access to higher education.

Workers like him are who make up what Elon Musk called a “criminal” organization.

I understand that most people won’t know what we are losing if USAID remains shuttered, but here is just a small list: programs to improve educational outcomes and access, medical treatment, vaccine delivery, disease prevention and containment, and food and shelter for those displaced by war or natural disasters.

In addition to being heartsick to see the vilification of an organization my dad helped build, we should also not lose sight of how destroying USAID is also shredding our Constitution. We can’t let unelected billionaires take away the power of Congress.

Marilyn Green, Malibu

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To the editor: I have lived and worked in the developing world and seen firsthand the benefits of American foreign aid supplied by USAID.

I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Chad and Malawi. When I was a kid in the 1960s, my father taught at the Polytechnic of the University of Malawi, which was built and staffed in part by USAID.

I have now seen our generous country become cruel and misguided. It is a sad thing to see.

Fred Barker, Burbank

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To the editor: I cannot unsee a recent televised newsclip of Musk proudly toting one of his children on his shoulders as he strides through the halls of our country’s Capitol.

But with his illegal and shameful attempt to shut down USAID, Musk now carries on his shoulders the disease-ridden and starving, skeletal bodies of children around the world.

How proud are you now, Mr. Musk? And how proud will your children be of you when they realize the degree of cruelty of which you are capable?

Mary Proteau, Los Angeles