Happy 2017, everyone!
What changes and new adventures are you anticipating this year? What revelations have you had as you look back on 2016?
Here at CoEd, our pondering and reflecting led us to an important conclusion: it was time to update our vision statement. This statement serves to guide and inspire us as we work, along with all of you, to help Guatemalan students break the cycle of poverty. It gives us a picture, or vision, of success, so that we always know what we’re aiming for.
Drum roll, please:
Beautiful, isn’t it? Go ahead and read it once more so it will soak in, because this vision not only guides and inspires us, it also articulates what YOU are accomplishing through your support. You should feel proud of this: it takes a very special kind of person to see the potential in others and seek to nurture it to fulfillment.
So why the change? Our Director of International Programs, Katie Camillus, put it this way:
While our mission is breaking the cycle of poverty, the staff, board, and supporters of CoEd have never seen our goal as simply material betterment for participants in our programs. We understand that the benefits of education and our programs have the potential to be much broader—allowing people to develop, find their potential, and give back to their communities. Putting this idea on paper in our vision statement explicitly communicates a value that we’ve understood since CoEd’s founding.
We hope this makes you feel as warm and fuzzy inside as it does us. Factor this into your vision for 2017: YOU helping bright, deserving, students cast off the limitations that have bound them and stand up to shine their own lights in the world.