Changing Life Experiences
How would your teachers have described you in the third grade? If you have children at home, ask them what three words their teacher would use to describe them. I would love to hear what they say. Before coming to International Samaritan, I asked a group of students...
Too Young to Die
“Seventy is the sum of our years, or eighty if we are strong” (Psalm 90:10). Honduran women on average live to be about 74. But what if you live near a garbage dump, where the life expectancy is only 35? Iris, the mother of our sixth-grade scholar Bryan, died after...
Does the Fountain of Youth Exist?
Twenty-two years ago, I was privileged to live and serve with Jesuit Volunteers in Tacna, Peru, teaching English and coaching basketball. The small city sits along an arid slope halfway between the Pacific Coast and the Andes Mountains in the Atacama Desert, one of...
A Sister Can Make All the Difference
When five-year-old Selam transferred to an elite Catholic school in the middle of her first-grade year, she found herself on the outside looking in. Her new classmates had attended school together since pre-school. They already had forged friendships and friend...
A Second Chance
"When they kept on questioning Jesus, He straightened up and said to them, 'Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.'” John 8:7Have you ever been given a second chance when you did something wrong? What if that opportunity had been...
We Need Your Prayers
I was boarding a plane to Washington, DC, on Thursday when I received a jarring call from one of our team leaders. She told me that “Freddie” and six of his friends had gone to play soccer on Sunday, and they have been missing ever since. They left their cell phones...
Training for Life
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable." 1 Corinthians 9:24In this...
For Richer or Poorer
I met Melkamfire four years ago when she was in college. Her mother was a recycler at the Kore garbage dump in Addis Ababa when we met, but due to a worsening lung condition, her mother’s employment at the dump soon had to end. Her mother began hawking produce on the...
A Girl with a Dream Come True
I am grateful to God that I can help our scholars and their families and see their priceless smiles. It makes me proud when they finish their studies and find jobs to improve the quality of life for themselves and their families. Our scholars overcome many challenges...
Progressive People Unite!
I must confess that my children have accused me of being exactly like the people Progressive commercials make fun of—and I am guilty as charged. Sure, I was embarrassed when the commercials first came out. I was still printing directions for long roadtrips. But I have...
A Day Without Water
Can you imagine a day without water in your house, in your office, in your hotel, in your neighborhood? You could survive, no problem. One day goes by fast, and you could manage. But what about not having water every day? Or only having water twice a month? You could...
Two Peas in a Pod
Over time, every organization gets shaped by and resembles the people who contribute the most to it. Part of the reason I love International Samaritan so much is because of how much it resembles an 84-year-old woman who has been one of its most faithful...
