OpUSA Staff Profile: Meet Laetitia Rwiyegura

Meet the faces of our organization! Our new Staff Profile blog series will introduce you to the people behind Operation USA. Check back every few weeks for new updates. This week, get to know our Office Administrator, Laetitia Rwiyegura.

 

551256_3973785384340_8386393_n
Laetitia with her son at a National Honor Society ceremony in 2012
 

NAME: Laetitia

 

HOMETOWN: Torrance, CA (Originally Kigali, Rwanda)

 

WORKING AT OPUSA SINCE: August, 2011

 

TITLE: Office Administrator

 

PRIMARY JOB FUNCTIONS: My duties include making sure that all collected donations are properly recorded, making sure we are in good standing with all our vendors & suppliers, paying bills, and trying to keep our office a pleasant place to work for our entire team!

 

BEFORE OPUSA I WAS: Working in the travel industry for 16 years

 

WHAT I LIKE MOST ABOUT WORKING AT OPUSA: We are a small team; it makes it easy for everybody to get along. The work we do is amazing, and we cannot thank our supporters enough for allowing us to help those in need.

 

CAUSES I CARE ABOUT: Feeding the hungry, educating the youth and lending a hand to the elderly.

 

MY BEST OPUSA MEMORY: When Operation USA got involved in helping the Rwandan community during the genocide of 1994 (though I was not working at OPUSA then).

 

IF I COULD SIT DOWN FOR DINNER WITH ANYONE IT WOULD BE: My Mom
BECAUSE: I was separated from her at a very young age, due to circumstances in Rwanda at that time. I feel like she missed seeing me growing up, she missed me becoming a teenager, an adult and a Mom myself as she passed away a few years ago! There are unfinished conversations. I would love to tell her about my son, how I raised him, and how, he now makes me proud to be a mom.

 

THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT ME:
1. I need to sleep more than 10 hours a night to be able to function!
2. I hate chocolate (with passion)
3. I love cooking, dancing and reading.
4. I always drive in the same lanes (do not like to change)
5. I am addicted to tea & TV!

 

ON WEEKENDS YOU CAN FIND ME: Trying new recipes or walking at the beach.

 

FAVORITE QUOTE: “Bad officials are the ones elected by good citizens who do not vote.” -George Jean Nathan