Many Hats of a Consultant: Caring for Families from the Home Office (part 1)

Continuing with our “Many Hats of a Consultant” series, we want to focus this time on education consultants who do their work from the home office of an agency. This role can be very different from those who serve outside of their passport countries as consultants. So for those of you serving families in this way, we are pleased to introduce two very experienced consultants, Carolyn Eumurian and Terri Harmon, who will share their insights into the role as they have experienced and shaped it.

What role do you have with your organization? How long have you served in this role?

Carolyn Eumurian: I’ve been the MK Education Consultant at Avant for 10 years. I’m also the point person for Child Safety and Protection in our organization.

Terri Harmon: I am an education consultant, a teacher of our candidates and I train education consultants at Ethnos360 (formerly New Tribes). I have served in that role for 14 years.

How long did you live/serve overseas?

CE: I was 21 years in Ecuador, serving in two schools.

TH: I lived overseas for 7 years.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

CE: Reading, exercising, being outdoors (when I’m not allergic to it!), helping others, keeping in touch with close friends around the world.

TH: I really like watching Hallmark movies. Always have. Always will.

What services does your role include in terms of education, MK care, etc.?

CE: MK education would be my main role: more specifically, preparing families to educate their children overseas and then serving as their resource for the duration of their time with Avant. This involves lots of communication and advising, all with the goal of connecting them with the resources and information they need to address their children’s educational concerns. In addition, workers come to pre-field trainings with their children, at which time we also run a concurrent kids’ program to prepare them for life overseas that I helped to start. When workers visit HQ while on HMA, I often have informal debrief time with the children while the parents are being debriefed, and…I am the childcare team coordinator when there are MKs here on campus with their parents. Bottom line, I do what parents want/need me to do in order to help them and their children thrive in the environment where they are located, in terms of their education and well-being. I do not include “Care” in my work description, because there is another couple with that title, though their focus is on teens and college-aged MKs.

TH: The services my role includes is mostly on the education side of things, although care is never far from any conversation. I provide current information on education options used overseas. That includes keeping up-to-date information on schools, homeschooling resources, costs, etc. so that families have all of the information they need to make choices. I track statistics for our mission and keep the MK Education section of our member website current with resources related to families and education.

What advantages do you find in working at the home office of your organization?

CE: I meet all of our new members right at the start of their time with us, which builds the foundation for further relationship and trust in my person and expertise. I am available to those who come through on HMA and might want informal conversation about how their children are doing. Being here facilitates connection with leadership, as well as an MK Education strategy that fits within the overall goals and structure of the organization.

TH: I am a first contact for many people in regards to education overseas. I am able to give a big picture overview of various options and I enjoy doing that. I work with teachers who may serve as consultants as well as families who are on their way to the field. They are hungry to know what may lie ahead, so they are great to teach. Because I gather field information and statistics annually, I feel that the information I am sharing with new consultants and families is relevant and realistic. I enjoy sharing ideas from various points of view and working from the home office allows me to do that.

Part Two of our conversation with Terri and Carolyn in our next article!

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