Open Positions

- Teaching Assistant at SIUT

Description

REI began in Kazakhstan in 1992, with short-term teams exploring business and education development opportunities. By 1994, several REI families were onsite, and first a local NGO was established, followed by several businesses and another NGO led by REI and associated staff. At about the same time, REI established teams in Samarkand and Tashkent, Uzbekistan and in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. With time, due to changes in the political environment and the staffs’ own changing life circumstances, REI reduced staffing and closed each country. By 2015, the last REI staff transitioned out of residential involvement in Central Asia. 

But in 2019 the Wileys returned to Central Asia, and to Kazakhstan specifically, with the intention of re-establishing REI work across the region. Their involvement since that time has specifically been in partnership with several universities in Central Asia. Most recently, they have taken a leadership role in establishing Samarkand International University of Technology, both in recruiting and staffing the institution, in preparation for the launch of SIUT undergraduate engineering programs in September 2023. Samarkand has been revived as a REI team location after an almost 20-year hiatus, with the Wileys’ move there in 2022.  

The Vernons arrived in Samarkand in early 2023 as REI country leaders for Uzbekistan and as English teachers at SIUT.

At present, everything that our team is doing in Samarkand is centered around our contributions to the university and local community. This includes: 

• Teaching at the university. With the exception of English, this requires a doctorate in the desired subject, typically in the field of engineering. SIUT also has a business school. English teachers need a Master’s in the subject. 
• Serving as a teacher’s assistant at the university, largely helping with the students’ needs in English. 
• Teaching at a nearby K-12 school, which helps our university’s international staff through teaching their children. 
• Coaching a women’s lacrosse team. This is an unusual opportunity, which has just come to our attention. 

There are also alumni of REI’s fruitful programs in the past who desire ongoing mentorship and involvement, as we seek to re-establish REI’s presence in the capital city, Tashkent. Our Uzbekistan team is part of a broader Central Asia regional work that is growing in Kazakhstan and seeking to expand into the other countries of Central Asia.