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Mission Statement
Rural Empowerment Initiatives (REI) mission is to collaborate in the reduction of poverty through investment in rural areas and training of local people.

Vision Statement
REI's vision is to treat every created being with dignity, respect and love. We strive to work with those most in need by empowering people to recognize their God given talents, enabling them to make the world a better place and providing them hope for the future.

Our Principles
REI believes that all people are created equal.
REI will develop small to medium businesses (SMEs) as one approach to reach those most in need by creating jobs that build the economy in rural areas.
REI's partner businesses will be led, managed and majority owned by local people.
REI will always seek a triple bottom line of economic, spiritual and social transformation.
REI seeks to build sustainable community-oriented business models.
REI's focus of support is to the economically disadvantaged.
REI will seek attractive market and growth opportunities.
REI will incubate pilot projects with capable management.
REI believes in collaboration. We seek partners whose strengths complement our own in an effort to build well-rounded projects of lasting economic value for the communities in which we work.
REI is inspired by the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, and is therefore rooted in the Christian faith.

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Friday, November 13, 2009

Wow...this post needs more exposure.



Recently I have been in contact with some people who are doing development work in Liberia.
Here's a blog post you gotta read...


Some of you, intrepid souls that you are, have expressed an interest in experiencing life in Liberia, or Africa in general, but haven’t had the means or opportunity to do so. Some of you have said it would be good to have your family experience the reality of living in a developing country, in part to add perspective to life in North America.

After churning it over a bit in our minds, we think we may have come up with a way to create a Liberian experience in a non African context. We call it Livin’ Liberian. It is actually nothing more than applying the living conditions of most Liberians to a set of instructions for you to follow. For some of you, just reading about it may be all the “experience” you want to absorb. For others, you may want to try it with some modifications. But for those radical ones out there, you may want to do the whole thing.


The full version of Livin’ Liberian should take place in the hottest, most humid time of the year. It should last for a week to get a richer sense of it (although longer would be even better). However, even a day or two will work toward an understanding. Of course, there can really never be a full understanding, because we have the option of stopping-- of buying the food we want, of going to the bank, of driving a car, of having running water. Nevertheless, in place of the real thing, this could be meaningful.

You ready? Here we go. Remember, this is the full version. You may modify....

read the rest here

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Saturday, November 7, 2009