Santa Clara University

It's ironic that I receive your email at this moment in time. Your vision of global social justice and transformational Jesuit educational opportunities for all people, have inspired me to find a way to bridge Santa Clara graduate students with underprivileged populations around the world. I'm sitting in the Miami Airport right now getting ready to fly to the jungles of Belize to explore the possibilities of setting up a teacher to teacher mentoring program between the teachers there and Santa Clara University teacher education candidates. Within the next 5 days, I'll be meeting with people from the Department of Education and the University of Belize. Most teachers in Belize only have their high school credential so they are in desperate need of mentoring. We will be investigating the work of a K-12 school for at risk students in the jungle. The mission of the school follows the Jesuit tradition of educating the minds, hearts and souls of marginalized youth. These students would have no future educational opportunities if a such a school and scholarship fund hadn't been provided by the Pathlight organization. Check it out on this website: http://pathlight.org/jaguarcreek/ I will be presenting my findings to the SCU department of education in April. Your dedication to follow God's call on your life will continue to have a ripple effect on all who come in contact with you. Thank you...Thank you... for your tender heart of conscience, competence, and compassion! P.S I'll miss making you the "Finsk" short bread cookies every Christmas and giving you a thoughtful book to read! Pray for our endeavors as we become the "hands and feet" of Jesus to many of his children around the world. This quote from Elie Wiesel encapsulates much of the passion I have learned from you: "This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century -- solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others." Always looking forward, I press on... Cheryl