After directing the Lowell National Historical Park's Mogan Cultural Center for the past seven years, Mehmed Ali is taking on a very different challenge in Iraq. SUN / TORY GERMANN
By Christopher Scott, cscott@lowellsun.com
After directing the Lowell National Historical Park's Mogan Cultural Center for the past seven years, Mehmed Ali is taking on a very different challenge in Iraq. SUN / TORY GERMANN
LOWELL -- What started out as sort of a lark for Mehmed Ali is about to turn into a long-distance, yearlong road trip filled with challenges, intrigue -- and mortars and improvised explosive devices.
On May 23, Ali, director of the Lowell National Historical Park's Mogan Cultural Center since 2001, will get on a jet and fly to Baghdad. Upon his arrival in the war-torn capital, Ali will begin a one-year stint as a cultural-affairs specialist, working for the U.S. State Department rather than the National Park Service.
"It's a big move, no doubt," said the 42-year-old Highlands resident. "And the fact that it is a war zone does make it a little hairy. But I'm looking forward to it. It's the chance of a lifetime."
A friend urged Ali, a practicing Muslim whose birth name was Jim Bernard, to click on linkedin.com, a professional-networking Web site.
"So I clicked on and before I knew it, I hit the send button," he said
He never had a live interview for the job that will pay him about $118,000, or nearly $50,000 more than his current salary. A primary reason for the big jump in pay: Ali will be working in a war zone.
Nonetheless, Ali apparently impressed through the cyber-recruitment process.
"Mr. Ali is enthusiastic about serving his country in Baghdad," said Lawrence Butler, the State Department's deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, in a letter to Michael Creasey, superintendent of the Lowell park. "The Iraq Transition Assistance Office is in need of his expertise to further the reconstruction of Iraq."
"It sounds like a great international connection for America," said Creasey.
One of the primary goals of the Mogan Center, named after Patrick Mogan, who many consider to be the father of the Lowell National Historical Park, is to reach out to various ethnicities and preserve their culture through oral histories, exhibits and special events.
In Baghdad, Ali will try to achieve what's he's done here for culture and historic preservation: special events, museum development and oral histories.
"It's all about helping local people retain their heritage and history," he said.
Before Ali crosses the Atlantic, he must complete an "Iraq Area Studies/Language Overview" course and a "Foreign Affairs Counter Threat Course," both in Virginia. Those courses begin next week.
In the latter course, the guide states, participants will learn how to "conduct surveillance detection, provide emergency medical care, demonstrate improvised explosive device awareness, participate in firearms familiarization and perform defensive/counterterrorist driving."
Ali will work at the U.S. Embassy, one of the largest in the world with 5,400 employees. The embassy is located in the heavily fortified Green Zone, which has been under daily assault by Shiite fighters. Ali can only leave the compound as part of an armed convoy.
Meanwhile, Ali's decision to head overseas could have an impact on the City Council. Ali finished 10th in the 2007 race, about 300 votes behind Jim Milinazzo. The 10th-place finisher would move up to the council if an incumbent leaves. Now, Joe Mendonca, who finished 11th, would get the call-up.
Ali hopes to return to his job at the Mogan Center after his stint in Iraq.
This article appeared in the Lowell Sun on Thursday, May 1, 2008