Cooperation Runs in the Family for the Taylors

Robb and Jeanette Taylor still recall the day they asked a group of 110 Tanzanian high school girls whether or not any of them owned a mosquito net. Not a hand went up. Then they asked how many girls had suffered from malaria before—and every hand went up. “Then we announced that every one of them was going to leave the conference with a treated mosquito net,” says Robb. “The place was bedlam. The reaction we got was incredible.”

The fact that a $6 mosquito net could generate such thunderous excitement is emblematic of why he volunteers, says Robb.

But that’s just one among hundreds of memorable moments in the Taylors’ careers as international development volunteers, which began in the mid-1960s. Since then, they estimate they’ve spent about 40 per cent of their time in developing countries on one project or another, including Tanzania, Papua New Guinea, Nepal, Botswana and Sri Lanka.

Starting a family didn’t slow them down for a moment. Their daughter, Kim, was just 10 days old when they left for a three-year posting in Tanzania. In 1979, when Kim was 10 years old and their son, Chris, was six, they embarked on a two-year stint in Papua New Guinea. 

Both retired high school teachers—Jeanette taught French, Robb math and computers—the Taylors often had to resign from their jobs to accept multi-year postings abroad.

Nowadays when they’re not working overseas, the Taylors are busy raising awareness of international development issues here in Canada, usually in or around their home town of Lumsden, Saskatchewan (just outside of Regina).

“We spend most of our time talking to school, church or library groups, doing slide shows, always with a focus on education,” says Robb. “We’ve sponsored a fun run [to raise money for the Khama Rhino Sanctuary in Botswana],  and done some long-distance computer support for some of our projects.”

The Taylors also write a sporadic newspaper column for the weekly New Waterfront Press in Lumsden.

For Jeanette, raising awareness of international issues at home is vital. “After seeing the horror of Rwanda, I think it’s so important to put a human face on what happens in other countries,” she says. “The media don’t always do a very good job of that. We’re concerned that it’s always ‘us’ and ‘them,’ so we’re trying to get rid of that impression.”

If the influence they had on their own children is an indication of their ability to sway others, the world should be a better place in short order. Their son Chris, now 32, has done a stint with WUSC, spending six months in Malawi, where he met his wife. Their daughter Kim, now 36, is a French immersion teacher. Both kids have travelled extensively on their own as well as with their parents, and over the course of their lives have been to parts of Africa, India, Australia and Europe.

As well, a former student of Jeanette’s is now teaching French in Tanzania. “I talked about Africa all the time in my classes,” says Jeanette.

Although they haven’t lost the travel bug, they know their work here at home is also essential. “All the slide shows, talks, CDs, the column—it’s always with the idea of raising awareness of another part of the world,” says Robb. “It’s about getting people’s brains out of Saskatchewan.”

The Taylors’ next trip will be to Botswana in April, where they’ll introduce a tour group to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary.