Rachel

Interview with Rachel Wolff, Class of 1993, by Eimi Olson-Kikuchi, Class of 2015.

These two alumni sat down at their computers on the opposite sides of the world from each other a towards the beginning of the COVID pandemic and had a chat about their involvement with Nepal and their memories of NIS. 

Eimi: Could you tell me what you do, what your role is, and what CARE does?
Rachel: Sure. CARE has been in Nepal continuously for about 45 years, and the focus there, as it is around the world, is on making life better for women and girls, finding justice in their lives, and helping them escape poverty. We have found that focusing on women and girls is the best way to help their children, families, and entire communities. If we can empower them, we can train them. We can give them agency to work on all the systems in their lives that exclude them, oppress them, and forget about them. This way they can actually take part, have a voice, and help lead change in the communities transforming some of the policies and unjust systems that have caused them and their children to suffer.

E: Wow!
R: We focus heavily on health — helping with family planning, reproductive health, sexual and reproductive health rights, all the way through to when they start giving birth, then with maternal health, child and newborn health. Research tells us that the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, health is very critical. Also, education, especially, for adolescent girls here in Nepal is an issue. They are easily excluded, and dropout rates for girls are much higher than for boys. We help them stay in school, delay marriage, and then have healthy births once they’re adults and married. 

Alongside that, we help with agriculture, which is still a major way that women earn an income for their families and survive in Nepal. We help with farming for women and also dealing with climate change which affects them. We also help women with their economic options outside of farming, like small businesses, enterprises, and skills-building. Nepal, is very prone to earthquakes also, like Japan.

E: That’s incredible. Did I hear you correctly, that you mentioned girls dropping out of school at higher rates than boys? And that you were working to prevent child marriage?
R: Yes. 

E: Right. That’s actually one huge issue, that and malnutrition. We at the Nepal Youth Foundation noticed an increase in numbers during COVID. A lot of our COVID responses tackled those issues — education, child marriage, and malnutrition. Would you say you have noticed those too, over at CARE, or were there other issues in Nepal that COVID has exacerbated?
R: Yes. Hunger and nutrition are a huge focus of ours. Thankfully because remittances have continued, something we were worried about in the beginning, the floor hasn’t fallen out at this point. There hasn’t been a massive hunger crisis like in other parts of the world. But, another concern that we have been addressing, and monitoring, especially with the lockdowns, is that women were unable to get to their antenatal and postnatal appointments. We did see an uptick, especially in the first year of COVID, in maternal deaths and newborn deaths which we had worked so hard to prevent! The numbers have really started to come down over the past fews so that was really tragic. I think during this year’s lockdown everyone was much more aware. Again, men are in charge right? In villages and in local governments and they don’t think about these things because they’re not the ones who are pregnant. Raising awareness and making sure that communities are prepared to make accommodations for women and keep them safe is so important.

E: Oh my goodness! You all must’ve been so busy during COVID this last year and a half, though.
R: We have! It has really affected people’s lives, especially in 2021 with the Delta variant. CARE launched a major COVID response in both years.

E: Yeah I bet! Now, moving away from COVID, something that’s really guided me and my team in this work is being really critical and aware about how we fundraise and talk about our programs. Our founder and fundraising team in the US has always been majority white, and even though all of our programs are led, managed, and run by Nepalese people and our entire staff in Nepal is Nepalese, we are the ones who communicate the great work they do, and the ones who usually ask for and provide funding. Our donors are also largely from the US. So it’s been really important for us to move away from this white-savior narrative. We’ve been highlighting our Nepalese staff, using asset-framed language, and communicating program-related materials with sensitivity and integrity. So, from one non-Nepalese person to another non-Nepalese person who does this work in Nepal, I’m wondering if this has come up for you and your team. What are some things that have been helpful for you all - operating in Nepal - when thinking about this? I think it’s a really important discussion for us to have. 
R: Absolutely. At CARE, we’re actively having these discussions about decolonizing aid. Making sure that our teams and leadership are globalized is a huge part of that. At CARE we’ve set a target for 80% of our country director leads to be from the Global South, obviously I would be in the minority. But even here in Nepal, we have a majority national team. I am the only expat in the country of 80 staff, and we have two assistant country directors who are Nepali women. It’s also about ensuring women’s leadership in our own organization, in our own country programs. This is really critical.

I think where it works well is when you intentionally combine the local and national, the knowledge, expertise and leadership, and you’re building Nepali leaders. In fact, many of our senior and mid-level staff are advocates and human rights activists in their own right — aside from the work they do in CARE. They’re known in the country, they do op-eds, they’re a part of the movement. They’ve dedicated their professional lives to these issues as well. It’s really important, who you’re bringing to the table. It’s not just about a person being Nepali — do they also represent the movements that you are trying to support? Do they bring that perspective? Do you have minority ethnicities represented? Do you have women? But when you do have international staff, whether it’s from the Global North or another part of the Global South, are you doing that in an intentional way?

For me, I can’t tell my staff Nepali context, I don’t speak the language. But what do I bring? Well, I worked in Bangladesh, which is in the same region. I bring experience from there — models that we can think about or adapt, or even things that didn’t work in Bangladesh that we don’t want to repeat. I grew up in Japan, and studied in Vietnam, so I’ve had that wider pan-Asian experience. I’ve worked extensively in eastern and southern Africa, where a lot of donor money has gone, historically and currently. So there are a lot of models that we can learn from there. The more experience that I get and the older I get, I recognize that as much as we have to go deep and understand the nuances and every context is radically different, the world is not that different. A recent Nepali leader that I met asked me, “How do you find the caste system in Nepal as a foreigner?” I said, “I don’t know if I’ll ever understand it, it’s very nuanced, it’s rooted in hundreds and even thousands of years of history…” but on the other hand, I feel like wherever you go in the world, every culture, every context, every country, go back a thousand years, go back ten thousand years, it’s just about power.

The issues between women and men. The issues between religions, castes, economic strata, how racial issues are playing out in the US, it’s all about power. So it’s both — it’s being humbled to say, “I don’t understand, I need to learn, I bring some ideas but I depend on my team, we find the best together.” But we also need to reflect and say, “You know what, human dynamics — why we screw things up — there are so many similarities.” So it’s holding out to both of those extremes and moving forward together in humility. That’s when it works. I think that’s what an organization like CARE brings to the table in this day and age: that we are authentically rooted in the local context where we work. Again, we have the long history and the nationalization of the staff, but we don’t leave it at that. There’s something missing if all of the work in the country, even in the US, is only being done by groups that understand that context. So combining that, bringing in the richness of an organization like CARE that has worked in 100+ countries. We bring in models from Sri Lanka, from India, from Tanzania, from Panama - you know, you name it. There’s such richness there and we can make a difference faster sometimes because of that. And like I said, avoiding mistakes too, that’s important. (laughs)

E: Tying that to your time in Japan, do you think you’re able to come to that conclusion, and have these thoughts, and this kind of global awareness because of your upbringing in Japan and your time at NIS?
R: Before I came to NIS, I was completely enmeshed in Japanese culture. In fact, my first six months at NIS, I was enrolled in ESL because my English was so bad. My first teacher at NIS, Mrs. Quinn, bless her heart — I love her so much, really helped me. I think she felt sorry for me because I could not spell to save my life. I attended NIS for three years with my two sisters, from 5th to 7th grade. My father [Steve Luttio - 1969] is an NIS graduate, and all my aunts and uncles also attended, giving us deep family ties to the school. I had always heard them talk about NIS. I loved attending, it was one of the best experiences of my life. Three years sounds so short but it felt like 30. 

E: Where were you living before attending NIS?
R: We were in Kagoshima where I attended Japanese yochien and elementary school. My father, having grown up in Japan, of course is a native speaker, and my mother was quite a linguist so her Japanese was excellent. We were supposed to speak English in the home, but we didn’t. My sisters and I only played in Japanese, and all of my friends were Japanese speakers. We had zero foreign friends. There was no English in my life, except for when my mother would speak to me in English — to which I would respond in Japanese. I was one of the top students in my class in Japanese public school. I was only watching television in Japanese. Everyone in my life was Japanese. 

E: That is incredible. 
R: Yeah, so it was a unique upbringing that truly made me not only bilingual but bicultural. To this day, I still consider Japan as my home. It’s my spiritual and emotional home. I don’t get back that much but that’s how I feel. The bilingual part, of course, is great and enriching, but the bicultural part has been such a gift. My natural personality is very stereotypically American. I’m highly independent, I don’t like anybody telling me what to do — but my Japanese side forces me to be very respectful of my leadership. So I thrive in these large organizations because I am an excellent leader. I guarantee you, I would not have had that had I not been raised in Japan. 

Coming to NIS was the bridge for me. After NIS, we went back to the United States and that was not a good experience for me at all. It was horrific. I was so angry, I didn’t fit in, I struggled. I adjusted eventually and had a good high school experience but I struggled for a couple years. If it were not for NIS, it would have been a hundred times worse. NIS is what allowed me to sort of bridge that 99% Japanese experience with the “I’m back in America, this is horrible.” 

I felt so at home at NIS because I could speak with my Japanese friends and the longtime Japanese residents whose Japanese was just as good as mine. I could be part of the classroom and the extra curricular activities in English. I could blend the languages and blend the two sides of me — which was pretty common in my day and I’m sure in yours as well. So it was really the best of both worlds and prepared me to re-enter US society, and eventually accept my American side. You know, people always still ask me where I’m from...

E: a contributing factor that led me to where I am now is my upbringing in Japan and specifically my education at NIS. It definitely shaped me into becoming a more global-minded person.

E: Oof, that’s always a tough question to answer for a lot of us from NIS. 
R: Right! Well my passport says US but I grew up in Japan. That’s what I usually say, and that allows me to have a conversation that’s meaningful to me about who I am. 

E: Absolutely. For me, a contributing factor that led me to where I am now is my upbringing in Japan and specifically my education at NIS. It definitely shaped me into becoming a more global-minded person. It’s so unique and such a privileged position to be in, to be able to grow up in that international space, so yeah, I’m right there with you. You were at NIS for three years, is there a favorite thing, event, club, person, teacher, etc. that you remember during your time at NIS?
R: Oh, yeah. Mrs. Quinn, my fifth grade teacher was very influential. I have my yearbooks right behind me, actually. Mrs. Bergman in 6th grade, I think I had her in 7th grade as well. Her husband Mr. Bergman was the principal at the time. I really loved the academic challenges. As much as I had to catch up on my English, NIS was very, very stimulating. We had classes of 10-12 people, and the curriculum was flexible and based on individual needs. I felt challenged in every area. 

When I got back to the US, I was miserable, because supposedly I was in “one of the best school systems in the United States,” but it wasn’t. I advocated for myself, very forcibly, saying things like, “this text we were reading in the 5th grade, I am now in the 8th grade - give me something better.” So, yeah, NIS had really good academics. 

E: The small class sizes at NIS are such a gift. I went to a really big public university after NIS, and didn’t really personally get to know my professors. I was in classes with 300-400 students my first two years. It was such a strange experience after NIS.
R: Yeah! Activity-wise, I was most involved in musicals. Back then, we had an incredible music director — I can’t quite remember his name, it was a long Eastern European name [Roskowski?] — anyway, he had been in Japan forever. He was very gifted and I was involved in shows all three years at NIS. It was the most seminal part of my experience at NIS. The first year it was Wizard of Oz. Back then, we would do one show on campus but we would also perform them at a theater in Nagoya City. 

E: What! I don’t think we did that when I was at NIS. 
R: Yeah it was a huge part of the PR of the school for the city. Because we had such a gifted musical director, he led the whole thing, and I think he had relationships with the set companies. We used the full broadway script, music, and everything. We did Wizard of Oz, Bye Bye Birdie, and Annie. I had roles in all of those! As a 5th grader I played Mrs. Hannigan, I was taller than the high schoolers at that point. I also played the mother in Bye Bye Birdie. I had roles and solos in all of the plays. There were rehearsals every night allowing me to even make friends with the high schoolers. My sisters were involved as well - actually the whole school would be involved, because all the extras would be the elementary school kids. The director intentionally chose shows that could easily bring every age group. So of course, with Wizard of Oz, all the munchkins would be the little kids.

E: Wow! I think I did a couple plays, and I was a part of Oliver Twist, once, but I don’t think I had a speaking role. I was one of the extras in 5th or 6th grade. I was more involved with athletics at NIS so that was probably the only musical I was a part of. But that’s awesome, I didn’t know about the connection NIS had with the city. NIS actually has a new theater now, they built that recently - I’m not sure if you saw.
R: The last time I visited must’ve been… Gosh, I don’t know. I took my husband to visit Japan long ago, maybe in 1998? I don’t think I’ve had a chance to go back since then. 

E: They’ve got some really great new buildings.
R: Of course, living abroad now, our younger children haven’t quite started school. They’re three and five, and my older ones are 20 and 22. Our older ones went to International School in Kenya, and when I visit these schools and take a look, my reference point is NIS - the only International School I’ve ever attended. My dad, aunts, and uncles went to ASIJ and CAJ, but NIS is my reference point for everything. So if a school is even half as good as NIS, then yeah. NIS had it all. It was the right size, a safe and fun place for me. The academics were stellar. I mean, I went to Georgetown University, and got my MBA at Wharton — and I remember being at Georgetown like, “Yeah, NIS was as good or better.” I got the best education of my life at NIS!

E: I totally understand that. I went to Berkeley for undergrad and found that some of my high school classes were more challenging than classes there. 

R: NIS is where I was challenged, intellectually, the most. It was where I had the best community experience — I loved my teachers, and I was very stimulated extracurricularly. Can’t beat that! 

E: Absolutely. 
R: And oh my gosh, the fun we had on the bus! Did you take the bus?

E: I think I took the bus for a very short period of time, but we moved really close to the school soon after that.
R: We lived in Toyota, so we took the Tomei bus with a couple other kids that lived there, and it was like a 20 min ride into Nagoya City. Then we’d wait, 45 minutes to an hour, because of the timing, for the NIS bus. There was this park where we’d all hang out. Then the NIS bus ride would take another 45 minutes. So that would be like an hour and a half to get to school. And my poor baby sister, when she started kindergarten, she was so tired. We would do homework on the bus. I remember the high school students would pick the music, and we would be like, “Oh this is so cool, this American music.” You know, I had never really listened to western music before that, so I was getting exposed to pop culture on the bus as well. It was super fun and a highlight too — hanging out on the bus every day.

E: Yeah I bet (laughing). So do you keep in touch with other NISers?
R: Yeah, loosely. One of my best friends, Hanako, she was one of my bridesmaids at my wedding. She had gone to boarding school in the U.S., but she was from Nagoya and her entire schooling before that was at NIS. We’re friends on Facebook. I haven’t seen her in many years, but that was a dear, dear friendship. Other than that, it’s mostly Facebook friends. 

E: Before we finish, is there anything you’d like to share with other NISers, or current students at NIS?
R: I would say take full advantage of everything the school offers. It’s hard to know when you’re there how unique and special the experience is, but recognize that going to an international school, and NIS in particular, is such a unique experience. Hardly any other people on the planet get to have that experience. To have an international experience within a Japanese context is really special. Going to school with people from all over the world, with all kinds of international experiences, roots us to be international citizens. When you live your life in your home country or travel around the world, when you can conduct yourself and represent yourself as a global citizen, it’s a different contribution that you can make to our world. So I would say take full advantage of that both while you’re there and after you’re there, and keep in touch with your roots. It’s such a special school — and let’s support the school, because if we have more leaders, globally, who can be bicultural and multicultural in the way they conduct themselves, then those leaders can make change in a way that is different. 

E: Yeah, fantastic! Thank you so much. So last thing: I haven’t been to Nepal yet, but I’d love to visit. There was supposed to be a trip not too long ago, but COVID happened. I’m wondering if it’s OK to touch base with you if that happens. I’m sure my colleagues and I would love to visit your office and have you visit ours as well.
R: Please! I insist. That would be fantastic. 

E: Great! Well, thank you so much. Hope you have a fantastic day. 
R: Yeah, I’ve got the day off, actually.

E: Right! Happy Tihar! (Nepali holiday).