George and Leora Epp (Bangladesh)
George and Leora Epp worked as Representatives for Mennonite Central Committee in Bangladesh from 2017 to 2020. They were fired in 2020.
We were deeply involved with MCC Alberta for at least 18 years prior to going to Bangladesh: Leora provided support to Low German families, and I managed MCC’s Newcomer program, both with funding from Alberta Mental Health. We donated regularly to MCC. All leadership and staff at MCC Alberta knew of the years of involvement and our commitment to help others.
In March 2017 we signed up for the Country Representative assignment at MCC in Bangladesh, prepared and left for orientation in July and arrived in Bangladesh on Sept 1, 2017.
During our term as Country Reps in Bangladesh, we were repeatedly pressured by our supervisors to participate in activities that were not compliant with government regulations.
We were often put at personal risk in that country because of these non-compliant activities. Early in our time, we were in a meeting with our Area Directors (ADs) and I mentioned that I had some concerns about the integrity of MCC Bangladesh program’s financial affairs. The ADs both closed their laptops and I as I recall they were visibly very upset. The words I recall were “You have just started and you already don’t trust the staff.” However, as it turned out our initial observation was right and has been proven over and over again.
We repeatedly spoke out against financial mismanagement and lack of transparency in the Bangladesh program and made improvements to many areas. We were working hard to get that program in line with what MCC says they’re about. However, our ADs resisted and discredited us at every turn. They had been instructing our staff to falsify financial records and pressured us to do the same.
When we reported to MCC Canada that one of our ADs had gone as far as to interfere in a “surprise” KPMG audit process, our concerns were minimized and brushed off by the highest leaders of MCC Canada, including the Director of Financial Services, the International Program (IP) Director, Executive Director, and Human Resources (HR) Director. These people were all present on a zoom call and the Financial Services Director informed us that HR had investigated our complaint and had decided it was unfounded. Yet the MCC investigators had never spoken to our staff members or to us, even though we could have provided strong evidence supporting the allegations. They seem to have simply believed the denials of the AD in question.
Throughout our term, we were harassed and undermined (psychologically, emotionally and mentally) by MCC leaders. The term “gaslighting” accurately describes our experience. We repeatedly spoke out against financial mismanagement and lack of transparency in the Bangladesh program and met resistance from our ADs and from the most senior MCC leadership. We also experienced a total lack of support from HR during personally traumatic events and were pushed to return to work when we were ill.
In November 2019, my brother and his wife had just arrived for a visit when my brother died suddenly in our home. We had an extremely stressful time figuring out death documentation, police investigations, autopsy, Canadian Embassy process, and international border security, besides the grief for us and our sister-in-law and her family. All that time we were still working on MCC Bangladesh tasks, without any assistance from MCC ADs.
We traveled back to Canada on Nov. 20 with my brother’s body. No one from MCC Canada attended the Nov. 26 funeral help an hour away in Winkler, Manitoba. In a conversation with MCC HR staff in Winnipeg two days later, they said that according to the policy, we should already be on our way back to work in Bangladesh. We suggested staying in Canada and working remotely for a few weeks until our planned return on Dec. 30. They told us that the only way to avoid having to go back to Bangladesh right now was for us to get a letter from a professional to authorize an MCC Stress Leave.
I (George) consulted a psychologist, who gave me a letter stating “It is my opinion that Mr. Epp should be away from work for several months. His current symptoms suggest a post-traumatic stress reaction that is certainly going to manifest further into the future.” I sent that letter to HR and there was never any response, follow-up, or offer of support from HR or from our supervisors or the IP Director. We sent a follow up email and still no response. Then I made a phone call to the MCC Canada office, but they had already closed for a Christmas break without having given us a reply or offer any support.
Given no other alternative, we returned to Bangladesh on Dec. 30 and continued working. Even when MCC Canada would have returned back to work after New Years, they didn’t reply to those emails and still haven’t. Nothing at all, even when I asked.
A few months later, we began to learn about Covid spreading from China throughout the world. In consultation with the MCC we purchased a return ticket with the understanding that we would return to Bangladesh after Covid risks passed. On March 16 we traveled to Canada and ended up in quarantine in Calgary to continue working remotely with staff on MCC Bangladesh work.
On April 7, while we were in quarantine, still working online and facing our own health challenges, we got a call from the MCC Canada HR Director and International Program Director. That call was horrible, unkind and had a tone of them threatening us. We were given one hour to decide between resigning or being terminated, in which case the “messaging” would be “different.” We refused to resign because of our commitment to the staff and people in Bangladesh who depended on us. We told staff that we would be back to continue our work as soon as we could. MCC then abruptly terminated us.
Because we didn’t resign, MCC systematically advised all our contacts, staff and other colleagues in Bangladesh, implying that we had been fired with cause. We were advised by our church in Bangladesh that MCC told them it would be better if they didn’t communicate with us. We had had no chance to prepare for leaving Bangladesh and no chance to say goodbye to the people and our home. Our loss was overwhelming after putting heart and soul into the work for almost three years. We were traumatized and I (George) continue to have horrendous nightmares and to suffer from PTSD, almost five years later. MCC neglected any responsibility to offer support and help for us.
We communicated for years with the MCC Canada Executive Director and he just brushed off our concerns about the abuse, dishonesty of other MCC leadership that led to risks to our personal safety and the misuse of donor money. It took about 20 months from when we were terminated until we were reimbursed for all of our own basic out-of-pocket expenses. The final response we have from the MCC Canada Executive Director is “I appreciate that you do not agree with determinations made by MCC in several matters. I am sad that we cannot come to a mutually agreeable understanding, however, this will be my final written communication.”
After we were fired, we also corresponded with an MCC Canada Board chair for several years. He consistently minimized our concerns and responded with condescension and gaslighting. When we outlined our serious concerns about abuse, harassment and conflict of interest involving MCC Area Directors and MCC land in Bangladesh, the board chair limited himself to vague promises to look out for similar issues in the future, rather than seeking to remedy the wrongs that we had identified.
Donations are not going to where we thought and are not being used for what we thought.
The poor and most vulnerable remain poor and vulnerable.
We will never support MCC again.
Please sign the petition to demand that cases like these be fully investigated.