Teach a Man to Fish

by Andy Petersen, Director of Advancement, REI HQ

I am a firm believer in the old adage, "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime."

The better part of my career has been in resource development with organizations working both locally and internationally. For example, at one organization, we helped families “earn” the right to purchase an affordable home to live in. At another, we served Tibetans by assisting in creating clean water wells. Oh, and I got to see the majesty of Mt Everest and this creation we call earth. 

All of the organizations where I have served had one thing in common – they were all in human services. I have seen the “teach a man to fish” worked out practically.

If you don’t know me, I recently joined the REI team as Director of Advancement. I believe my career has led me to REI and its mission to “build people to build nations”. My experience helped me garner a healthy dose of compassion for another’s humanity. No, not everyone is content to be in the situation they are in and they want to make a better way for themselves.

The people I have met appreciate the fish, but they also want to know how to fish on their own. 

Andy at Mt Everest

Our friends in the countries where REI works want to create an environment where they can be self-sustainable and bring the best possible work. They want their lives and their country, really, to emerge from “developing” to “developed”. 

This is why I am at REI.

REI has a list of core values that can be boiled down to three: holism, training trainers and partnering with governments and institutions. These may seem very broad, but they are the “human” side of human services – caring for the individual (health, livelihood, and well-being), teaching best practices (those accepted in developed nations), and helping execute positive institutional change (authentically and genuinely offering those in charge an opportunity to find a better path economically, socially and medically). 

Many of you reading this may not know what I also did not know about Egypt before coming to REI, but this country has C-section rate exceeding 85%. If you are pregnant there, it is highly likely you will have a C-section instead of a natural birth. In a lower to middle income level nation, it makes paying for surgery all the more challenging. REI has a team there to focus on training women to become certified doulas and childbirth educators. Our team has increased the potential to have a transformative impact in reducing the high rate of C-sections by connecting with key government officials and medical professionals. 

This work is happening now.

Andy at Machu Picchu

By financially supporting REI, you are making a difference around the world. Your gifts help REI meet requests and make the most of opportunities to work within emerging nations. To recruit, prepare and train staff for an overseas experience with cultural appropriation. To provide professional development for current staff.

But most of all, to bring a compassionate human service to their professional world. The REI vision is this: People of emerging nations filled with hope as their countries are developed and their lives transformed.

I could not be more proud of walking along this journey with you and our teams who are on the ground around the world.

If you would like to know more about how you can support the work of REI, please contact me by phone (425.446.2341) or by email (apetersen@reiinc.org).