New REI staff – headed to Djibouti, Indonesia, Laos, and Colorado
REI is excited to welcome five new staff members! Each brings a unique skill-set and will be able to contribute to our projects in big ways. They came together in September for our New Staff Orientation (“NSO”).
Rylee Marchbanks is headed to Djibouti to be an assistant teacher at the International School of Djibouti. She graduated from Azusa Pacific University with a degree in Liberal Studies with an emphasis in Education.
Jake and Hannah Spier will be serving in Laos. Jake, who graduated from Carson-Newman University with a Master’s of Science in Nursing (Nurse Practitioner), will train nurses. Hannah plans to teach English (either medical English at the hospital or conversational English to locals). They’ll be joined by their six-year-old daughter, Hadassah, and a new baby expected in February.
Seth Vidrio (l) and Caleb Walton (r) are headed to Indonesia. Seth will use his degree in Mechanical Engineering from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology to do organization management. Caleb graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Horticulture and will do agricultural development.
Tim and Wendy Moore also attended the NSO, but have been with REI’s HQ staff for more than a year. Tim serves as the Director of Short-term Teams and Exchange Fellowships, and Wendy consults with staff on fundraising and communication practices.
At the NSO, new staff learn all about working with REI. Senior staff teach them about our mission, vision and values, our holistic approach, how to raise funds, and what life is like overseas.
Each of them is working hard now to raise their budget. Once raised, they will return for one month of pre-field orientation, and ultimately depart for the field in early 2021. Every new staff member is critical to furthering REI’s mission - building people to build nations.