tim & sharon

Tim Economides grew up in Downers Grove, Illinois, just outside Chicago. Throughout his high school years, he developed a passion for practical service through years of leading teams to rural Kentucky to work with impoverished families. When his aunt and uncle moved to Pakistan in 1999 to work with SERVE, he promised his cousins a visit after graduating from high school in the summer of 2000. Once a commitment to visit was made, he was asked to come for at least 6 months during 2000/2001 to assist with computer and technology needs SERVE had in Afghanistan, and happily accepted.

Those eight months were a formative time for him and in the process, Tim grew to love Afghanistan and its people. Returning back to the States in late spring 2001, he began studying Electrical Engineering at the University of Illinois. Though he’d planned to journey back to Afghanistan, war and personal issues made this impossible until, at the invitation of several friends, he returned for two weeks in 2004. Upon seeing gaps in technology support, he committed to bring teams out annually to address these needs and others. He presently works as an electrical engineer in Chicago and directs a non-profit organization (Hobo Project) dedicated to sending skilled professionals to work in the development community in Afghanistan.

Timothy Athan means “honoring God without death”. Athan is Tim’s grandfather’s first name.

Sharon Craig was born in Peshawar, Pakistan. Her parents, Steve and Kathi Craig, worked with SERVE in Afghan refugee camps. When Sharon was 16, the Craig family moved to California, where she finished high school in 2001 and attended the University of California at Berkeley. Sharon majored in English Literature and minored in Persian. While in college, she got trained as a doula and started attending births as a volunteer support person. She pursued midwifery trainings and internships in California, Russia, and the Philippines and became certified as a midwife in 2005. In August 2005, Sharon moved to Afghanistan. Her first year was at CURE International Hospital in Kabul, where she helped open the Maternity Ward and NICU. In her second year, Sharon trained community health educators in Birth Life Saving Skills (BLiSS) with Operation Mercy. Sharon returned to California this summer for an extended furlough of renewing midwifery skills. She is working in a group home birth midwifery practice in the San Francisco area, pursuing a Masters degree part-time, and teaching midwifery classes to entry-level students.

Sharon Moshdeh means “Good news in a desert plain” or, the Farsi variation Shireen Moshdeh means “Sweet good news”