A Look Back

My history with Safe Passage began in early 2006 when a colleague gave a presentation at a civic organization meeting I attended.  She had worked as a volunteer in the Safe Passage office (back then located in Antigua) during the start-up days from 2002 to 2004. She shared fascinating stories of her experiences while there. Little did I know at that time that new worlds were about to open to me. Life has a way of unexpectedly transforming an ordinary day into a life-changing one. That was such a day.

Immediately after the meeting, I sent an email of inquiry to Safe Passage.  It included a brief summary of my career in higher education as an administrator, instructor in ESOL programs (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and as an adjunct professor at several universities around the world training ESOL teachers. I posed the question, “Can you use my skills as a short-term volunteer at Safe Passage?” The following day I received a response from Hanley Denning. I still have a hard copy of her email – it read: “Can we use you????? YES!!!!!”

Upon arrival six months later, it took about a day, and I was hooked. It was astounding to witness first-hand the contrast between the lives of the children beyond the walls of Safe Passage and the opportunities afforded them within.  I wanted to be a part of it for the long haul.  But I never made the sacrifice of a long-term volunteer. My contributions were limited to consulting stateside, video calls and short-term annual trips over a ten-year period when I was asked to conduct workshops for rotating volunteers. But each time I departed, I had a gnawing sense that I would return.  If this were a memoir instead of just a reflection, I would have an extensive list of long-term volunteers, teachers, administrators and board members whom I met along the way. So many have left a rich legacy that paved the way for the extraordinary international model that Safe Passage has become. Today, I could include a new list of remarkable staff carrying on.

My most recent visit in March 2023, marks eight years since my last workshop. My hopes were realized back in 2015 when a full-time Guatemalan professional educator was hired to coordinate the English program. Elizabeth Franke, now the Director of the Hanley Denning Elementary School, attended my last workshop that year to become familiar with the training I had been doing over the years. We became fast acquaintances, and I knew the fledgling English program would be in good hands. 

As I look back to those early years of Hanley’s vision, the growing pains of 2006, and the tragic time of her loss, I witnessed a committed and highly skilled Board of Directors, along with dedicated staff and volunteers, that made some difficult changes to continue her work.

Sadly, I never met Hanley. She was traveling during the first weeks of my initial visit. I considered stopping by the Antigua office to meet her during my last morning before heading home that year. But I was reluctant to drop in unannounced and decided to wait until next time.  Her accident occurred two months after I left. 

Although I never worked with her face-to-face, I did experience Hanley’s influence while she was there. In my files I have kept a few hard copies of her emails; she outlined a vision for replacing scattered English classes with a fully developed English program on each site. Her tenacity, humility and commitment were awe inspiring. Safe Passage was facing a host of challenges as it grew from 46 children in borrowed space in 1999 to a beautiful new school reinforcement center for 500 children by 2006, when I arrived.  It was said that Hanley didn’t want to say no to ideas posed by volunteers as long as they raised their own funds. Such was the status of English in the early days.  As the lingua franca of the global economy, I feel endlessly grateful that an insightful Board maintained English instruction so often not available in developing countries for children in poverty.    

During this trip, I didn’t meet with any staff who were there when Hanley was still there. The children in attendance now were not born at the time of Hanley’s passing. Yet one child, when learning I was returning after many years, asked if I had known her. Hanley is obviously the soul of Safe Passage. Her culture of love and unfaltering belief in the potential of each child remains remarkably the same. Her memory, as well as her legacy, is indelibly preserved. 

The transformation of an after-school reinforcement center to a fully accredited Guatemalan-led school addressing the plethora of social, psychological, health and academic needs of families in extreme poverty is beyond extraordinary. I want to shout the successes from the rooftops!