Doing All Things With Great Love: TEP’s Founder & CEO, Rhondine Petrof’s Journey

“Do all things with great love” – Mother Teresa.

Rhondine Petrof, Founder and CEO of Toucan Education Programs (TEP) built her life and career around this ethos in the quote above. Coming from a humble background, she works tirelessly to make TEP an integral part of the international education arena.  This interview showcases her incredible entrepreneurial spirit to build a social impact organization with a mission and vision that empowers change makers in Belize and abroad. Through this interview, Rhondine wishes to inspire others to follow their dreams, stay true to their core values, and be ready for a roller coaster ride that is really rewarding. Here is her story!

I will start with a snap-shot of my childhood and the woman who raised me. So hang in there with me!

I was raised by my adopted mother who was always caring, protective, and wanted me to be successful in life. Although she did not have much, she was known for providing for others who were less fortunate.

Mom valued integrity, honesty, and hard work. With hardly a third grade education, she created a home that fostered hope for a brighter future and pride in one’s work.

My mother was an ambitious and resilient woman. She owned two small homes and ran a small business. On the side, she provided laundry and housekeeping services for well-off families in Belize City.

Mom never gave up on achieving her goals of being a homeowner, running a small business, and learning how to read and write.

She placed tremendous confidence in me as a young girl. I was responsible for assisting her with her school work and deciphering documents that she could fully comprehend. I always felt proud that I could help mom even at the tender age of 7 years old. After my school work became more demanding, she enrolled in adult education courses to improve her literacy skills. 

At the time of her passing, she had learned basic reading and writing, could write her own letters, and sign her name. She was an incredible inspiration for me as a young girl and continues to be a source of strength in my life.

My mother’s aspirations for me was simple, she wanted me to acquire a good education a nd have a comfortable lifestyle. Knowing this, my game plan was to overcome each day’s challenge wh ile trying to make an honest living. I had to provide for my family (husband and three children), which came along earlier than planned.

It’s been more than 35 years since my adopted mom passed away. This traumatic experience was further compounded because I was the only one with her, when she drew her last breath.

However, upon reflecting, I know this was her way of passing the torch to me. It was her way of saying she is confident that I will mature into the visionary she saw me to be.

I was now tasked with fulfilling this vision she had. Today, I remain committed to integrity, honesty, and love of helping others.

It is this passion of service to others that is woven into the fabric of Toucan Education Programs (TEP).

As a result, our organizational foundation is deeply rooted in empowering others through safe, high quality education abroad programming.

Together, with an awesome like-minded team, we are dedicated to providing epic study abroad programs for all. 

These programs aspire to address the needs of our community partners and nurture our participants, personally and professionally. 

I guess we are the anomaly in the education abroad space! However, I am starting to see a fundamental shift in the space with more locally owned and operated program providers arising in developing countries. 

We are very thankful to the few brave souls that gave our young organization opportunities to design their study abroad programs.

Intern in Belize Final Presentation

We remain indebted to those institutions such as Fairleigh Dickinson University, Quest University, the University of Indianapolis, New Mexico State University, and the University of Florida who partnered with us in our first and second years of operation.

They remain important partners today. Over the last seven years, our institutional partnerships have grown to include partners such as North Carolina A&T State University, Michigan State University, and Wake Forest University to name a few.

Other barriers TEP grappled with were related to the fact that I, an unknown Belizean woman, founded TEP. I have no impressive academic title, nor did I have social, or financial influence needed at that point.

TEP and the country of Belize as an education abroad destination was unknown to many.

In other words, TEP simply did not have all the traditional components of the typical education abroad provider when we launched eight years ago.

Nevertheless, we had a few dedicated brand ambassadors with terminal degrees who amplified our core values to their networks. Their referrals helped us to break down many of the barriers during our initial years.

TEP today

Today, we continue to grow into a strong organization with excellent potential to do tremendous good in our communities. Our dynamic team possess the academic credentials, knowledge, experience, and fortitude needed to overcome new challenges as we strive to grow and achieve our goals.

As a team, we remain true to our values, mission , and vision of reciprocity and always ensure they permeate throughout our programming.

Our stakeholders know we genuinely care about them. Our pledge to provide program participants , faculty , and our community with life-changing opportunities is evident in our approach to program design and implementation.

We live to provide you with a rich learning ecosystem while positively impacting our communities and their environment.

This is the ethos and personality of the TEP brand of education abroad programming.

Our institutional partners remain connected to us because of our unique knowledge of Belize and vision to positively influence the country’s development.

The journey from where I was to where I am today has been nothing short of incredible.

We have not reached 10,000 or 20, 000 participants but we have made a difference in many lives both in Belize and abroad.

For me, it is not about the numbers, it is about the positive impact we make on each person who interacts with TEP.

It’s like taking a deep breath of fresh air, when we truly reflect on the difference we’ve made. I am also a different person because of the amazing people both locally and foreign that I have met.

Each student , faculty , professional , and TEP community partner becomes a member of the TEP family. They are always welcome to remain in our family circle. We truly embrace everyone as family!

The experiences I had through TEP changed me and made me a better person.   

Together with a team of innovative people, I continue building on each journey to ensure sustainable growth and overall success for the organization.

The more than 600 students and faculty we’ve worked with and the countless Belizeans communities we’ve partnered with across the country humbles me. 

We continue to grow our community and participants base through beneficial collaborations.

Our future excites us and our size does not limit us. 

Our intention is to continue doing the small things we do with tremendous love and care. It’s the only way we know.

Walking CJV Medicinal Trails

TEP was indeed an education abroad breakthrough in Belize with its dedication to reciprocity , embracing diversity of people and ideas, and valuing all its stakeholders.

Seeing the impact we had made, I knew there was no turning back.

Our mission is simple: Serve. Learn. Explore. We accomplish this through impactful service oriented education abroad programming that provides each participant with pedagogy that fosters intentional learning while encouraging responsible exploration of the Belizean environment.

Our vision seeks to empower community change makers to realize their aspirations.

I draw my strength and resilience to continue in the face of adversity from those we serve, the participants we’ve worked with, and the many community partners who face even greater adversities.

Students , faculty , professionals come from thousands of miles away to connect with our community for the greater good. This is what keeps the fire in my belly going. Having a team that feel the same way makes me blessed. 

Our organization’s foundation that consists of our mission to always serve people, to foster life-long learning, while caring for our environment inspires me. 

TEP’s vision is another motivator. Our goal to empower individuals and organizations to be catalysts for positive social and economic change keeps me going.

We want to have mutually trust-worthy relationships with partnering institutions, participants, and our communities.

Our strong statement of ethics is our guiding principle that holds us accountable to you.

We advocate for truthfulness and transparency. We mitigate conflicts, while developing safe, high quality education abroad programming that meets The Forum on Education Abroad’s Standards of Good Practice 5 th edition and Code of Ethics for Education Abroad.

The dream!

I believe that every experience in my life, positive or negative, prepared me to take TEP from concept to actuality. I want TEP to create a legacy and for others to draw inspiration from our international education approach. 

Furthermore, I am surrounded by a self-motivated team of people who equally love people and our  planet. They are key to the organization’s success and equally subscribe to the goals, mission , and vision of TEP .

Finally, TEP is the purpose of my life’s journey, plain and simple!

I have grown both personally and professionally and have a greater awareness for open-mindedness and empathy.

I have become more driven to stand for our values that makes our world a better place not only for us but for several generations to come.