WorldLegacy Extreme Giver Kay Reibold
She has been a refugee advocate with unrelenting love and commitment. She has received three national awards for her contribution to refugee advocacy and human rights. Her earlier career as a writer and producer involved extensive research in China, Japan, the U.S., and Vietnam, including public television documentaries shot on-location in these countries. Two programs depicting the Montagnard people of Vietnam’s Central Highlands, Remembering the King of Fire and Living in Exile, were broadcast on PBS.
Kay remarked that when she visited she saw the people living in poverty. Even with poverty, the Montagnards still offered what little they had each time she visited the tribal people of Vietnam’s central highlands.”They have so much compassion and love and genuine friendliness for me,” she said. “They had very few chickens, and so to have a pig sacrificed or a chicken sacrificed in my honor was such an example of friendship and hospitality.”
In November 2001, Kay Reibold was a member of NC48 WorldLegacy Leadership Program in NC and afterward went on to do the WorldLegacy LP PhD program. She was also a senior coach for a WorldLegacy Leadership program. She had many trainers and coaches at WorldLegacy which were grateful to be able to coach such a powerful woman with a vision.
In 2005, Kay received the 2005 Unsung Heroines Award from Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who nominated her. In 2006 she testified at a U.S. Congressional Hearing on Vietnam. Kay Reibold is a WorldLegacy Extreme Giver.
I loved being teammates with Kay Reibold on the NC48 Leadership team in the summer of 2002. She was an inspiration to all of us, and throughout our LP experience, she was always there to support, coach, and cheer on any teammate. Ask any of us Kay’s favorite expression and we’re likely to quote, “Go team member!”
When we began our community project–an outdoor amphitheater at George Watts elementary school in Durham–we called on Kay to be the documenter of the project. The great photos you see in our plaque on the wall at the WorldLegacy are thanks to Kay. As the team’s project leader, I was thrilled to have NC48’s dynamic and committed givers honored with such a loving tribute, and every time I’ve passed it in the Center, it’s been like Kay’s energy is there yelling “GO TEAM MEMBER!”
Laurel Ferejohn, NC48
Heartfelt thanks to Lori, Laurel
(NC 48) and all the splendid Team at the WorldLegacy. The trainings and breakthrough experiences transformed my life so that that truly living my vision of peace and freedom for myself and all beings is now possible. Love, Kay
My work with the Montagnards took me to Vietnam 17 times from 1988 until 1999, including several trips to the central highlands. My last trip was with a U.S. congressional fact-finding delegation to the central highlands 10 years ago. I doubt that I will return.
Our modest little Vietnam Highlands Assistance Project, which was sponsored by Lutheran Family Services in the Carolinas, struggled for 12 years in an effort to carry out a humanitarian program focusing on various Montagnard villages and hospitals throughout Kontum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong provinces. Often, our trips were sabotaged through visa delays by the Ministry of Interior in Hanoi, and often medical shipments never reached the intended clinic, which was always upsetting, given the enormous need in many villages where the tribal people suffer from Hansen’s disease. Even at Ea Ana hospital, near Ban Me Thuot, the local Ede were not permitted to worship in their tiny chapel on the leprosarium grounds.
It also was very disturbing that nearly all of the major U.S. and international nongovernmental organizations (NGO) from 1989 right up until our project closed in 2003 were reluctant even to attempt development assistance in the Montagnard central highlands because Hanoi insisted that it was off limits. It always frustrated me that the mainstream NGO community seemed more concerned about being politically correct with Hanoi.
We struggled, too, with the U.S. government for years, making trips to Washington and having countless meetings with the State Department, National Security Council and congressional offices. State usually had a polite and concerned response but never a forceful message to Hanoi.
In the past few years, there has been a shift of attention, thanks in large part to continued advocacy from friends of Montagnards, a few members of Congress and a handful of European and U.S. NGOs.
KAY REIBOLD
Project development specialist
Montagnard Human Rights Organization
Raleigh, N.C.
My Dear Kay…It is gratifying to see you honored in this way and gratifying to see a little increased attention to our Montagnard friends with HYoanh’s book, Escaping Vietnam and recently the Enloe Highschool documentary by 5 students, “The Montagnard, Dontor’s journey” These too are your legacy. Thanks.
My Dear Kay, It is gratifying to see you honored in this way and gratifying to see a little increased attention of our Montagnard friends with HYoanh’s book, Escaping Vietnam and the recent documentary film by 5 Enloe Highschool students, “the Montagnard, Dontor’s Journey”. These too are your legacy. Namaste.:)