submitted by lutterma@augsburg.edu
As Augsburg’s CGEE-Mexico Site Director, I want to thank the entire Augsburg community for sharing your condolences with the family of Augsburg-Mexico employees Moises Rios (50) & Isabel Sánchez (48), a married couple who died of COVID-19 last month. I especially want to thank all of you who made incredibly generous donations to the family through the GoFundMe campaign to support the Rios-Sanchez family, including 11-year-old Sliri (pronounced “Es-leer-y”): https://www.gofundme.com/f/supportriosanchezfamily
This fundraising campaign was organized by Mary Laurel True, who participated in Augsburg’s first semester program in Mexico in 1979, and four other former CGEE-Mexico students who studied here, as well as myself. Our goal is to raise US $20,000 to support the family. 25% of the funds raised will be dedicated to Sliri’s education since there is no longer public high school in Mexico. We want to make sure that Sliri is able to go to high school and college, which was her parents’ dream – that she be the first in the family to graduate and attend college. “Maybe Augsburg,” Isabel used to say with a shy smile. Thank you again for your empathy & generosity, Ann Lutterman-Aguilar