by Ann Munson, Outgoing Associate Country Leader, Laos
A new small thing in your life or mine may seem insignificant at the time but grows to have lasting consequences. Agreeing to a simple request could be life-changing for you and others. Sometimes just showing up because we were asked to leads to incredible outcomes.
In 2008, my husband Bill and I came to Laos on a six -week trip with three university students in response to a last-minute request. This was a new undertaking: REI was new to us, and we didn’t know if we had the skills to lead college kids or to teach English to doctors and nurses. We didn’t know what kind of people we would encounter. Would they be welcoming or suspicious, unfriendly or hospitable? Frankly, we were intimidated!
But saying “yes,” despite fear, was the start of what turned into a labor of love with repeat trips. As a result, we have been blessed with a large interconnecting web of friends throughout the city of Vientiane and we’ve been able to contribute to a work that aids this developing country.
Our last and recent trip occurred after a ten-year interim in the U.S. In 2022 we were asked again, and despite being older and enjoying our large family at home, we went. A request came from Dr. Craig and Patsy Kent who were looking for successors after investing more than a decade in medical and English education in Laos. We agreed to a two-year commitment.
The response upon our arrival was overwhelming. The significance of returning impacted original friendships, speaking love to those who had been friends before. We were welcomed and received with enthusiasm into both the hospitals where we had worked and the homes of former acquaintances.
And so, we began teaching English at both Mittaphab and Children’s Hospitals in Vientiane. We also invited friends from Seattle to come over for short-term trips to give instruction in medicine. We hosted student interns who observed in the hospital wards and taught English with us.
At the request of a good friend in the Laos Ministry of Health we initiated a project to provide medical equipment to a few of the neediest hospitals in the country. That project is still underway and nearing completion.
We wrapped up our time in Laos the end of June, and our final weeks in country were filled with ceremonies and celebration dinners, toasts, gifts and tears. Doctors and nurses who had studied English with us for the last two years received final certificates. Students gave speeches in English, encouraging their classmates to continue to pursue English in order to further their career advancement.
“But, teacher, who will teach us English now?” This repeated request was heard in the hospitals and at the University of Health Sciences. We are fortunate to have another couple who are willing to come in a year’s time and take our place to continue the work of REI in Vientiane.
What is the takeaway? The work that REI does takes people out of their comfort zones in order to build up and develop people in other nations who have great needs so that they can build their nations. The rewards of being part of this work are sharing in the love of a new and larger family and engaging in meaningful work.
A friend of REI shared with us that after living and working side by side with people overseas it is normal to come away with a divided heart. Part of our heart is at home in the familiar place where we grew up, but another part will always be in that other place with those other friends who we were blessed to share life with.
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