Raquel (or Abigail as she prefers) Jiminez was one of the first children to enter our Santa Cruz shelter in 2003. She was seven years old. Her mother was a single parent who had numerous health issues as she was growing up. Despite her home life, Raquel was always driven to do excellent work in school.

Raquel entered our High School scholarship program in 2009. She continued to excel in school, being one of the top students in her class. On one trip to Honduras, I sat down with Raquel to see how she was doing and how her family life was. I will never forget what she said to me during that meeting: “What are you and Osman Hope going to do to help me go to University?”

This was three years prior to the inception of the Sherry Kunkel Memorial University Scholarship program. So Osman Hope took it upon themselves to help her with her University finances. The main financial issue was that she lived 90 minutes from the University and transportation was very expensive. Virtual learning during COVID helped her out.

But seven years later she has completed all her studies and her internship, attaining a degree in Electrical Engineering. She has asked for our prayers so she can get her first job as an electrical engineer where she interned at the hydroelectric power plant (pictured).