We have turned into early winter here. The harvesters of machines, green and red, have taken their kernels and bean pods, the trucks parked alongside the road are gone and the stubble disk is moving across the field.

I announce the publication of my book. During my 18-month assignment in Iraq, I wrote a number of chapters. I sent them to about 30 people on an email list and many of them wrote asking me to publish them in book format. So I have.

The news out of Africa was not good. Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Three of his colleagues were killed as well. The event is developing as I write, but let me share with you a perspective. The diplomatic corps is but a fraction of the size of the U.S. military. Their efforts are diplomacy and development, whereas our military personnel work in the defense of our country and its interests. The diplomatic corps are generally foreign service officers, spending most of their time overseas.

My USDA official duty station is East Lansing, Michigan. I am here at the state Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office. The challenge is shifting my work towards domestic challenges from the efforts of international development. Not easy. My supervisor here has assigned me the task of evaluating CNMPs for certification.

I am now home from Africa. My duty station is East Lansing, Michigan, on the Ecological Sciences Staff at the NRCS state office. I am on standby status, which means if I am needed to go somewhere outside the U.S., then the phone rings. But I was told I will be here in the U.S. for the near future. I am enjoying being home.

I often write of the cornfield. Here, in Central Michigan, the corn plant is in the middle of its vegetative growth. On a recent one-day trip, I discovered the enduring tug of the cornfield, taking me in wandering ways through corn rows and over Midwestern terrain.

I am finished with my South Sudan, Africa, assignment debriefs in Washington, D.C. My recollections and summaries and insights are recorded and filed away at the State Department, at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and at the USDA.

This is my final report to you from South Sudan. I have traveled extensively in three of the 10 states: Western, Central and Eastern Equatoria state. The bulk of my work has been what we call institutional building at the state ministries of agriculture and forestry. Generally, the Central Ministry in Juba (national) has two responsibilities: one, manage and allocate a budget and, two, set national policy.

I am within three weeks of completing my six-month tour here in South Sudan. So begins the examination of what worked, what did not and where we could improve. The word “we” refers to the U.S. government. I am assigned to the U.S. embassy and fall under the staff of the ambassador.

Reporting to you from Yei, Central Equatoria state, South Sudan.… Her name is Rita Harriet Brown. She is headmistress and lead teacher at the Yei Girls Boarding Secondary School. This is the story of the school, and the 300 young women living, learning and coming of age in Central Equatoria state.