Showing Up

by K. Douglas Erdmann, President & CEO

Two weeks. 22,467 miles.

Last month Joyce and I circled the globe, jetting to Cairo, Djibouti, Dubai and Singapore. The reason? To encourage REI staff, and to recruit new REI staff. 

Packing for the trip was easy. With summer approaching, and temperatures in the 100’s in at least two of our destinations, heavy clothes were not needed. On the other hand, gifts for the people we planned to visit and their children were needed, along with items that they had requested. One whole piece of luggage was dedicated to those necessities.

A late afternoon, you know where, with Karen (left) and Susanna (right)

Our first stop was north Africa, where we stayed with Karen and Susanna in Egypt. These ladies are doing a wonderful job training local women to be doulas. With C-section rates in Cairo the highest in the world, women who want to deliver their babies naturally are often unable to do so. By training doulas, REI is helping make natural childbirth available to those who want it.

Kyle teaching his kindergarten and pre-K class

Next, travelling down the east side of Africa, we arrived in Djibouti, where we met with Kyle and Cathy. They are in their first year, working at the International School of Djibouti, which Cathy leads and where Kyle teaches. Djibouti is a hard place, both climate and infrastructure-wise.  But Kyle and Cathy love it! The school is thriving as a result of their leadership, and they are making a significant impact in the community even beyond the school. 

Heading to Dubai

From Africa we headed to the Middle East, where we met with a couple living in Dubai. We knew and mentored these friends years ago when we all lived in Singapore. They left to live in Dubai, with their work focused in Yemen. Wracked by war and poverty, Yemen is one of the most needy countries in the world, and very few foreigners live there. We are hoping that this couple might one day join our staff and open Yemen for us. At the very least, right now they can help with access to Yemen for any REI short-term volunteers or long-term staff. 

Next was Asia, and Singapore in particular. Two years ago, through local Singaporeans James and Siling Ong, the country was launched as an official REI “sending country.” Things had to be put on hold, though, last year when James was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The tumor has been addressed through surgery and radiation, but James has remained on leave to recover. Joyce and I wanted to get face-to-face time with them to really see how they were doing. I am happy to report that they are doing marvelously, and James plans to return to full-time REI work in July.

With James (right) our Singapore Director, and REI (Singapore)’s first overseas staff, Tricia and Josiah

A side benefit to stopping in Singapore was getting to see that Singapore is living up to our vision of it being a sending country. We were able to meet Josiah and Tricia Ng, who are joining full-time REI staff and planning to move to Uzbekistan with their two boys at the end of this year to be a part of our team at the Samarkand International University of Technology (SIUT). Josiah has accepted a faculty position to teach in SIUT’s design department.

Our trip closed with the longest leg, Singapore home to Denver, where we arrived somewhat exhausted. The minor car accident (Egypt) and the slight case of food poisoning (Singapore) were distant memories, replaced by a sense that we had made a difference. In a previous organization that we worked for, with staff geographically disbursed like REI, we remember how much it meant when our leaders would simply “show up.” Glad that we were able to do so for these dear overseas workers!