• Debera O’Leary; Public Relations Manager
Debi is the most recent addition to the Lift up Their Hearts team. Although she knew little about Rwanda aside from news reports of the genocide of the Tutsis in 1994 she felt drawn into the organization after hearing Lift up Their Hearts co-founder Kristina Worm speak. She was intrigued by Rwanda's determination to leave the genocide in the past and move forward. While speaking Kristina mentioned that she loved taking people to Rwanda to experience the beauty of the country and its people. Always interested in travel and never having visited Africa, Debi decided to travel with team Rwanda 2011 to see how this little country was mending itself.
While in Rwanda she witnessed the poverty and enormous level of need there but was impressed by the goals of the government and its people to bring prosperity to this country. Lift up Their Hearts started small, with no celebrity spokesperson or big sponsor. It recognized that providing an orphan with a pair of shoes means she can attend school and providing widows with simple garden tools or a goat will help them earn enough income to live free of dependence on charity. And now Lift up Their Hearts will help transform 150 underprivileged young adults into skilled employment for the ICT industry in Rwanda.
A strong partnership with key individuals in Rwanda helping to identify needs and oversee operations there assures that Lift up Their Hearts money is used responsibly. All individuals volunteer their time and resources. Debi is firmjly committed to helping Lift up Their Hearts pursue its mission in Rwanda.
Debi has a Bachelor'g Degree in Business and Communications and has work experience in corporate communications. She and her husband Scott live in Plymouth, Minnesota and are the parents of two children.
Posted on Sat, May 7, 2011
by Emily Yost