Posts Tagged ‘Get to Know Our Staff’
Abe Ibrahim Helps Refugees Feel More at Home
Mbanzamihigo “Abe” Ibrahim is helping people feel at home. Born in a Tanzanian refugee camp and resettled in the U.S. at the age of 10, Abe is no stranger to feeling out of place.
A Burundian, Abe remembers his first days in the U.S. when, suddenly, everything from music to food to language was different. But after being welcomed and encouraged by World Relief Quad Cities in Illinois, Abe adapted to his new home while holding onto and celebrating his Burundian heritage. Today, Abe works as a caseworker at WR Quad Cities, helping others feel welcomed and embraced in their new community. Abe is passionate about inclusion, representation and walking alongside people as they rebuild their lives.
Abe shares how his role at WR Quad Cities helps him give back to his community in the video below.
*Update: Since this article was first published in 2021, Abe has moved on from his full-time position at World Relief.
Working for World Relief Quad Cities helped Abe achieve his dream of going to college and pursuing a career as a public speaker. In 2021, Abe was crowned Mr. Burundi America through the Mr. and Miss Burundi America pageant in Quad Cities. He took a year off from school and traveled back to Burundi to visit family, and he also got the chance to speak to local schools, where he distributed school supplies and encouraged kids to keep pursuing their dreams.
“They saw me, face to face, and saw how much is possible,” Abe said.
Today, Abe is back in the Quad Cities working and plans to go back to school and complete his Bachelor’s degree. He remains committed to helping refugees in Quad Cities and stays connected to World Relief, contracting part-time as an interpreter. Abe is grateful for his time as a caseworker, and we’re grateful for him too!
“If I never worked with the World Relief family,” Abe said, “I wouldn’t have developed that mindset to make an impact. It became more influential, see, like ‘hey, I can make a difference.’ …Now, there are certain things I can recognize and communicate, and I only have that knowledge because I was a caseworker. It helped me with my community, and it helped me think bigger.”
People like Abe are changing the world, and you can join them when you apply to work at World Relief! World Relief is growing our team to meet the increased needs of our world, and we’re looking for people like you to join us.
Kelly Hill serves as a Content Writer at World Relief. She previously served as Volunteer Services Manager at World Relief Triad in North Carolina before moving to Salt Lake City. With a background in International and Intercultural Communication, she is passionate about the power of story to connect people of diverse experiences.
Get to Know Our Staff: DR Congo
Liliane Maombi is a passionate leader with 17 years of experience working in the sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) health field in the Goma region of DR Congo. She holds degrees in nursing and reproductive health with a specialization in midwifery, and she cares deeply about coming alongside women as they heal.
Today, Liliane serves as World Relief DR Congo’s SGBV/HIV Officer. She joined World Relief in February 2021 and leads the team in fighting against gender-based violence and the prevention of HIV/AIDS. She approaches her work with creativity, leading awareness workshops, forming youth clubs, creating flyers and collaborating with local authorities and other NGOs to decrease gender-based violence and prevent HIV/AIDs. She cares deeply about the women she works with and feels it is God’s call on her life to come alongside them with compassion and mercy.
Though her work keeps her busy, Liliane took a few moments out of her day to share a bit of her personal story and about her work at World Relief.
We are grateful for Liliane and the rest of our team in DR Congo. We invite you to pray for them as they lead and serve others in vulnerable situations. On Sunday, May 22, 2021 Mount Nyiragongo, a volcano, erupted just six miles from the city of Goma where World Relief DR Congo has an office. The lava flow affected 297,016 people including two World Relief Staff who lost their homes. Our team is on the ground working to assess the needs of those affected. If you want to join World Relief in responding when and where disasters happen you can join us on The Path, and be a part of a community that is able to give monthly where it’s needed most.
Liliane Maombi started working with World Relief in February 2021. She supervises sexual and gender based violence/HIV programming as the SGBV/HIV Officer in the North Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is her mission and passion to walk alongside and bring healing to women survivors of SGBV and/or HIV who have been marginalized in their communities. She received her BS degree in Reproductive Health, specializing in midwifery, from the Higher Institute of Medical Training of Goma in 2019. She also has received several degrees in the field of Nursing. Liliane has acted as an emergency health professional in the Goma area since 2003 for numerous international non-profit organizations, including CARE International, Save the Children, and the International Rescue Committee.
Get to Know Our Staff: Haiti
In 2021, we’re giving you the inside scoop on the work World Relief is doing in communities around the world through a new series called, Get to Know Our Staff.
Today, we’re excited to introduce you to Esther Pyram, World Relief Haiti’s Integral Mission and Church Empowerment Zone Manager. Esther is a writer, a wife, a sister and a friend. Her prayerful spirit and joyful work ethic are contagious, and today she’s sharing more about her role at World Relief and the transformation she’s personally experienced while leading alongside others in Haiti.
What is your name?
My name is Esther Phtama Pyram Louissaint, a Christian believer. I am a wife, a sister, a friend and a beloved daughter.
What is your role at World Relief?
I have been with World Relief since February 2016. I joined as a field coordinator. Currently, I work as the Integral Mission and Church Empowerment Zone Manager.
What is your favorite thing about your job?
There is nothing more exciting than doing what you know you were called to do. It is a complete joy to serve, to participate in this holistic transformation we are looking for in our community. Therefore, in the past five years, I have always considered myself a servitor rather than an employee.
Can you share some stories that excite you?
I had the privilege of witnessing churches’ growth and seeing them proudly standing up for the most vulnerable. I saw children going to school for the first time in communities where there was no school before and where State Institutions are absent. I have observed church leaders contributing generously and with inexplicable joy to organize community weddings regardless of religious or denominational backgrounds. I saw widows’ homes restored, gardens planted, and crops at their feet to face the new season. I have seen life blooming, and hope being restored for many brothers and sisters.
Yet, the most wonderful part of it all is to witness my own transformation through this process. I have become stronger, more confident, empowered and impacted. I am working with more tact, joy, love and a constant quest for excellence in all areas of my life.
How have you grown in this role?
My relationships with God, with myself, with my family and others have been transformed beyond belief. Areas of my life which I struggled with in the past have been restored, including my finances, my ministries and my dreams.
My increased mental strength allows me to face nasty critics with steadiness and an unwavering attitude. Such critics can no longer put me down. In short, I know who I am: a loved, gifted and blessed girl, and all the assets in the world cannot compensate for such newly built confidence in myself and in Our Loving Father.
What are your hopes for the communities where you live and work?
Like World Relief, I want to see local churches empowered to serve the most vulnerable. I diligently pray, and I long to see women in our communities, and especially those in our local churches, rise to their talents, gifts and abilities so they may answer their divine call and enter their destiny.
I want to see our youth plan their future with more hope, certainty and dignity. I want to see my community rise and move forward on the road to progress, success and development. I want to see families becoming stronger by the days and despite the challenges. I long to see respectable citizens taking the lead in their communities in this new generation. In short, I want to continue witnessing blooming life and daily revival of hope for all.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
I work with a wonderful, competent, and dynamic team under the supervision of Athanase Ndayisaba (World Relief Haiti Country Director). In my spare time I read, sing, pray and write beautiful novels that one day may be published. I inspire others to stay motivated and confident.
It was a pleasure to share a little of me with you.
Do you want to create holistic transformation in communities around the globe? World Relief is growing our team to meet the increased needs of our world, and we’re looking for people like you to join us.
Rachel Clair serves as a Content Writer at World Relief. With a background in creative writing and children’s ministry, she is passionate about helping people of all ages think creatively and love God with their hearts, souls and minds.
Get to Know Our Staff: South Sudan, Women Who Are Making It Happen
In the flood basin of the Nile River in South Sudan lies Unity State — a region of overflowing waterways, more and more due to the impact of climate change. Traditionally, most people who live here are from one of two ethnic groups, the Nuer or Dinka people, and live as pastoralists — they farm, fish and raise herds of cattle.
And yet, post-independence grievances, spurred by decades of northern Sudan-dominated rule that pit ethnic groups against each other, has resulted in violent conflict in Unity State. This conflict has inflicted terrible humanitarian atrocities and internally displaced at least 2 million people, further weakening an already fragile ‘world’s youngest nation’.
It is in this setting Anek Sendrella and Muraa Rose — World Relief staff — live and work, bringing lasting change to women and girls amidst the challenges of violence, displacement and poverty. Today, as part of our Get to Know Our Staff series, Anek and Rose share about how they’re challenging the issues their communities face and fighting for lasting change. These women are making it happen, lean in.
Anek Sendrella Lupu
What is your role at World Relief?
Anek: I am an Education Project Officer and provide mentorship in primary and secondary schools.
Can you share a little about your work — what you enjoy and what you find challenging?
Anek: In both primary and secondary schools, I encourage girls to learn and stay in school while also reaching out to vulnerable girls and women in the community to help them find a way to receive education.
Not only is this work difficult due to conflict, which prohibits schools from meeting, but also because of harmful social and gender norms that devalue education for girls, keeping them home to do housework and other duties, while their male counterparts study and go to school. Challenging these norms is difficult, but I want girls to know their value and change norms around education.
How do you see your work helping to improve the lives of women in your community?
Anek: Since we began our work here over three years ago, women in the community have worked alongside schools to build holistic and sustainable learning environments. We have built school gardens with varieties of vegetable crops like okra and sukuma (collard greens) where children can learn about farming and the crops themselves. Those vegetables then are sold, and the money helps pay teachers, which grows the teaching staff.
When looking at education for girls, we must first look at the harmful social and gender norms — child marriage, early pregnancies, forced domestic work and violence — that force girls to drop out of school or never enroll in the first place. Mentoring and focus groups have been crucial because when this is talked about, we begin to challenge these norms and change can happen.
What changes in the future do you hope to see in your community?
Anek: When a girl has a mentor, they have a person to share their hopes and fears with. This can help give her a sense of direction, to help give focus toward that direction and possible steps she can take to get there. Not only does this help in her career path, but other aspects of her future as well. When a girl has someone who believes in her and encourages her to achieve their goals, it can boost their confidence immensely.
If you have a daughter, what are your biggest dreams for her?
Anek: My biggest dreams for my daughter are in these phrases:
“Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny!”
Now, just for fun! When you are not working, what are some activities you enjoy?
Anek: I spend time with my family, and enjoy visiting my grandparents and eating together. I also enjoy learning new skills by attending courses at a local institute.
What is your favorite Bible verse?
Anek: Deuteronomy 31:6 — “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Muraa Rose Adauto
What is your role at World Relief?
Rose: I am a Reproductive Health Officer.
Can you share a little about your work — what you enjoy and what you find challenging?
Rose: In the maternity ward at our clinic in the Bentui Protection of Civilians camp, I conduct daily antenatal check-ups and ensure all pregnant women receive routine care. This work ensures that when the time comes for women to give birth, they can have a safe delivery for themselves and their babies.
I also lead focus groups with adolescents around health. The biggest challenge I face caring for the health of women and babies is the lack of resources and modern equipment available. There can be complications at any stage of pregnancy, labor and delivery, and without proper equipment, we are limited to what we can do. Even something as easy to do as an ultrasound scan can help us detect obstetric complications early and keep both mother and baby safe.
How do you see your work helping to improve the lives of women in your community?
Rose: My work at the clinic and through focus groups saves the lives of many in the community. By making services available and bringing awareness of these services to the community, women are more likely to understand their risks, take steps to prevent them and maintain their health and the health of their children.
What changes in the future do you hope to see in your community?
Rose: I hope to see women in the community pursue their prenatal, antenatal and postnatal health. With more women visiting a clinic for routine checks as well as for delivering their babies, there will be fewer complications than when all of this is done at home. It will also be important for people in the community to know and learn about family planning to reduce the rate of maternal mortality and morbidity.
If you have a daughter, what are your biggest dreams for her?
Rose: I dream she will go to school, study hard and become a health care worker.
Now, just for fun! When you are not working, what are some activities you enjoy?
Rose: I love storytelling and singing, especially singing at my church.
What is your favorite Bible verse?
Rose: Philippians 4:4 — “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”
Anek and Rose’s leadership is changing beliefs, shifting systems, combating injustice and fighting for lasting change. They are challenging to change gender and societal norms to create a better world for women and girls. Will you join them?
Dana North serves as the Marketing Manager at World Relief. With a background in graphic design and advertising and experiences in community development and transformation, Dana seeks to use the power of words and action to help create a better world. Dana is especially passionate about seeking justice for women and girls around the world.
Get to Know Our Staff: Kenya
In 2021, we’re giving you the inside scoop on the work that World Relief is doing in communities around the world through a new series called, Get to Know Our Staff. Each month, you’ll hear from a different staff member from across the World Relief network. Through videos, stories and interviews you’ll learn more about who they are, the communities where they work, what they do and why they love what they do.
On deck this month is Noah Sankale Pesi, our Church Empowerment Zone Coordinator in Kajiado, Kenya. Noah has been working at World Relief Kenya since 2018 and is passionate about seeing churches mobilized to serve the most vulnerable. Hear more from Noah in the video below!
Do you want to create lasting change alongside passionate, mission-driven coworkers like Noah? World Relief is growing our team to meet the increased needs of our world, and we’re looking for people like you to join us.