Hi all. I'm Diana Chao, founder & executive director of Letters to Strangers (L2S), the largest global youth-for-youth mental health nonprofit. I founded L2S when I was 14 years old, and though many know it today as a global organization active in over 20 countries, the road to get here would've been impossible without the incredible drive and support of people I've met along the way. One such person is Reuben.
Reuben Reeves is our West Africa ambassador and the founder and president of our Liberia Chapter. Reuben and I have worked together for over 3 years now, starting back when he was still a teenager. Mental health can be a harsh and alienating topic, especially among non-Western communities where traditional values may be particularly stigmatizing - I knew this firsthand as someone from a rural village in the poorest province of China. Though Reuben faced the same struggles in his home country of Liberia, he was still determined to do his best to lead our efforts on the ground and make mental health personal, one letter at a time.
Over the last three years, Reuben has quite honestly blown my mind. He led efforts on multiple collaborations with universities, created a 24/7 Mental Health Resource Center in downtown Monrovia, and spearheaded the first, toll-free, 24/7 pan-African mental health hotline. In his very first year at this, he was able to work with the Office of the Liberian First Lady. All while balancing school and familial duties, and with the limited funds we could provide as a small, student-run nonprofit. Back in 2017, I was named one of Nile Rodgers' We Are Family Foundation's Global Teen Leaders. As one of the only nominations I ever made, Reuben unsurprisingly and well-deservedly also eventually won the award in 2020, chosen as one of just ~30 around the world.
A few days ago, Reuben was robbed by armed individuals who followed him into his home. He lives alone and was brutally assaulted, leaving him with internal bleeding that will keep him at the hospital for at least another week or two with no clear signs of improvement. All of his belongings were stolen, including his prized laptop and phone, the very technology that allowed us to connect halfway around the world in the first place. In fact, I had gifted him that laptop a few years ago to aid him in his work, and it was in trying to protect all of that that he ended up unable to escape the situation.
More than anything, Reuben is fiercely loyal, deeply committed, and proudly ambitious. He dreams of a better world and created other organizations like Rehab Africa to do whatever he can despite not having much himself. His team on the ground, plus those of us far away, want to help him recover the costs of his lost items and rest in the hospital without worrying about medical bills.
To be honest, I'd happily pay for all of this myself if I could. Unfortunately, I myself lost my father a month ago after two brief but immensely nightmarish months of watching him rapidly deteriorate under multiple end-stage diseases, and our family cars also completely broke down. Covering all of these costs has taken all of my savings, and we're still waiting for more medical bills to come, so I am no longer able to pay this out of pocket. I grew up under the poverty line and know how precious every dollar is - that's why I didn't bother or want to ask for help with my own situation. But this is my friend, and after everything that has happened, I cannot bear to lose anyone else.
So, for my birthday this year, I ask you to consider donating to our efforts to help rebuild Reuben's life and cover his medical costs. To be honest, $3000 is not a lot when you think about medical costs from an American healthcare perspective - my own father's journey set me back tens of thousands of dollars. As someone who's only been working full-time for a year (not on L2S, which I do as a volunteer) after graduation last year, that was basically all I had. But that's exactly why I'm fundraising for this - $3000 is not such an out-there cost that it seems impossible, yet it can make such a huge, life-changing difference.
Any amount we raise over this, I'll discuss with Reuben on how best to use it. I'm thinking that he should invest in a security system to protect himself in the future, but we'll keep you updated. Due to the the sheer number of steps involved in transferring funds from the U.S. to Liberia, instead of having each donation go through all those processes each time, we'll aggregate the donations to me first personally, and then I will send all the funds to Reuben or an approved family member of his directly. I am more than happy to provide receipts of this.
I remember back in 2020, when I was named a L'Oreal Paris Women of Worth, there was a period of time when the public could vote for one out of the ten honorees to receive additional funding. Without me asking or even implying it, Reuben put the voting link as his bio link across all his social media for the month, constantly campaigning for me and posting almost every day reminding people to vote. I don't think he knows I noticed, but I quietly cried, wondering how I had gotten so lucky to meet people who believed in me like this, and who I wanted to do everything I could to support, too. Watching my father deform in front of my eyes seared into me just how unpredictable and cruel life can be, and in this world, how incredible, how miraculous it is to find people who are willing to fight with you for a cause that means so much. I haven't even yet met Reuben in person. I don't want to take these friendships for granted. Help me help my friend - but only if you have the money to spare. I thank you: deeply, humbly, from the bottom of my heart.
PHOTOS OF PEOPLE REUBEN IMPACTED THROUGH L2S LIBERIA:
