Salvadorian human rights activist Leonel Gomez worked alongside the U.S. government to crack down on human rights violations and other crimes in his native country of El Salvador since the 1980s. He succeeded in identifying the army officers who ordered the killing of Jesuit priests in El Salvador, putting an end to U.S. aid to the Salvadorian army to push the country closer to peace, and investigating drug trafficking through the country as well.
On top of political works, Gomez funded projects and charities to help the lives of many more people in his home country, which included building an orphanage and sending aid to rural communities in the countryside. When he passed away on November 25, 2009, his daughter Teresa Koudjeti, a former Spanish teacher at Sherwood, decided to continue his legacy by funding his charities and foundations.
"At the funeral ... people from all walks of life came to tell me that my father had sent their kids to school, fixed [up] their kids and paid for their braces. I had no idea of the extent of his charity work because my father would always talk about his politics ... but he never talked about the charity," she says. After meeting and talking with the director of the orphanage, she wondered who would help them, now that her father was gone. Who would send them the funds they needed? Koudjeti had never done fundraising or charity work before, but she figured anything she raised was money they would not have had otherwise.
Koudjeti had the connections she needed through her father’s friends and co-workers. There were experienced politicians, Congressmen, an ex-Ambassador of El Salvador and non-profit organizations she could work with and trust. With her first fundraiser already scheduled for February 27 in Dupont Circle, she has taken the first steps to helping more people and lives in her home country. When she has charities and fund raising under her belt, Koudjeti may look to more ambitious projects such as a center for justice, or even a program with Sherwood where students would be able to earn SSL hours by volunteering in her foundation.
"My foundation right now is just charity, and then it might be expanding into doing a center for justice," she says. "I’m working with very high-level people because of my dad, and they know so much more than I do, so they’re doing more of the politics. Currently, I’m just trying to do the charity, and that is a lot of work."
Though she was a teacher at Sherwood for just one semester, Koudjeti expresses regret at having to leave the school so soon.
"I had great, great students that I’m really going to miss ... I wish [some of them] had done more of their work, but they’re all interesting unique individuals with very bright futures," says Koudjeti. "I felt very welcome into [Sherwood’s] community, and I think I couldn’t have taught in a better school. I’m leaving mainly because my father’s foundation means more to me personally, but I think my experience at Sherwood couldn’t have been better."