When it comes to planning a career, Brad Strobel suggested to juniors and seniors that they should consider Africa.
It was on that continent, specifically in Uganda, that Strobel worked as a missionary from 2008 to 2012 and where he adopted two of his sons: Henry Strobel (now a senior at CHS) and Nathan Strobel (now a junior).
“There’s a bigger world than Cleveland, Minnesota, Le Sueur County, Twin Cities,” said Strobel, a native of Gaylord, MN. He spoke to the 11th and 12th-grade students in the new gym on Tuesday. “There are a lot of amazing things, and a lot of an amazing people, and I don’t want you to limit yourself.”
Strobel said Africa is more advanced than people might expect, especially with technology like cell phones and internet, and it offers opportunities in several types of careers.
Construction, he said, pays a lot and most expenses, from flights to housing, are covered.
“Your company buys everything for you, so there are huge benefits.”
But other things, like the visa you need, will cost a lot, he said. A 12-year-old car cost him a whopping $8000 USD equivalent, half of that in taxes.
Teachers are also in high demand in Africa, Strobel said.
“If you go to Africa and teach for a couple of years, you are more likely to get a job back here.”
The continent also has many opportunities for entrepreneurship, Strobel said.
“You can go there and start your own business.”
Working for the US government is another prospect, he said, or, like he did, a person can go to Africa as a missionary and make a comfortable, middle-class living, but you have to solicit funding yourself.
When he started, 86 kids in his orphanage. When he left two years later, there were 135.
“There is a lot of work and a lot of need for orphanages.”
Although Uganda is great place for a career and has beautiful scenery and wonderful people, it has a dark side too, Strobel said. Corruption, notorious warlords, vigilante “street” justice, and superstition that results in violence—not to mention dangerous animals—all make it hazardous at times.
“I saw some messed up stuff; I’m not going to lie.”
At a club one time, Strobel narrowly avoided a terroristic bomb attack when a friend noticed people clearing out and said they needed to leave too. He saw a mob in the streets going after a starving man and eventually beating him to death. The man stole a couple of chickens.
Another time, Strobel was arrested for murder when a woman he had provided CPR to passed away. She had been beaten by her husband, who in turn blamed Strobel, an easy thing to do as people didn't understand what CPR was.
“They took my passport, and I couldn’t leave,” he said.
A few days later, the husband confessed, and charges against Strobel were dropped.
Tensions are always high there, he said.
“The country is just a sneeze away from a civil war.”
With only 10 percent of the country’s 45 million people employed, Uganda has little money for infrastructure.
“We build the roads for them,” he said.
Witchcraft became more popular as economic hard times hit, Strobel said, because people were getting more and more desperate. As a result, adopted children of wealthy white parents were taken and sacrificed because it was thought doing that would provide financial blessings.
“Henry and Nathan were high on the list to get kidnapped and killed.”
Hippos are the main people killer in Africa, Strobel said. They will trample anything in their way. Besides that to worry about, there are venomous cobra snakes and monkeys that will eviscerate a human given the chance.
“Monkeys are not nice. They will steal your food. They will bite you. They will kill you.”
Despite his love for Uganda, Strobel decided to return to the US because he lost his funding in an economic down time.
“People cut their donations. I lived off of donations,” he said. “So I had to come back.”
But Strobel also wanted Henry and Nathan to realize the opportunities in the US, he said.
“I wanted them to have a high school prom, to come out here and play basketball or run in a state cross country meet.”
Strobel first went to Africa on a two-week missionary trip. It was then he met Henry in the orphanage he was serving. Six months later he returned for a longer stay and adopted the pair as a single father. Later, he married. It took two years to get the family back to the US.
Despite the violence and instability in Africa, if he were guaranteed a living, he would return to the continent in a heartbeat, he said.
Above: Brad Strobel shows off a necklace made in Uganda from recycled paper.
Nathan and Henry Strobel with their dad.
Brad Strobel shows seniors Jack Schloesser and Jacob Rohlfing a necklace made in Uganda. On the left is social studies teacher Brandon Gleason, who helped organize Strobel’s talk.