NPR.

This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Waylon Wong.

And I'm Darien Woods.

Lamsanya Tishow grew up in Tanzania, thousands of miles from the U.S.

And yet the U.S. was a tangible presence.

There was one American agency in particular that he knew was electrifying villages and distributing malaria nets.

I remember my parents and my family receiving a lot of nets.

And they used to say it's sponsored by USAID.

USAID or USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development.

This arm of the government was created in 1961 to distribute foreign aid.

And for Lamsania, USAID wasn't just part of his childhood.

About three years ago, it set up clean water in the village where he and his family live today.

Samanya's wife, Kristen, says you can't miss who sponsored the project.

There's a massive sign that says water is being brought to you through U.S. aid and the American people.

This kind of work came to a crashing halt last month when the Trump administration put a 90-day

freeze on foreign aid. It also effectively closed U.S. AID, throwing thousands of people out of work.

The website even went dark and remained so today.

It was a rapid dismantling of an agency that has historically received bipartisan support.

The agency isn't just about American la GES, but about bolstering American national security

and economic interests.

Today on the show, we look at how the U.S. has wielded this form of soft power, and who might fill that power vacuum if U.S.EID goes away.

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