TRIBUTE TO MARIO ACEVEDO AGUIRRE

At ITD we were deeply saddened to learn of Mario Acevedo Aguirre's passing. He died on August 11, 2016, in Cali, Colombia, after a prolonged illness. He had recently retired from the Universidad del Valle, Colombia's third largest university, where he was a professor at the Instituto de Educación y Pedagogía https://www.umass.edu/cie/losses-cie-family.  Mario was a remarkable man known for his immense talents and tireless dedication to popular education. During the late 1980's he regularly worked at ITD while a graduate students at UMASS' Center for International Education (CIE). He was one of the core members of CIE practitioners tirelessly developing and refining popular education workshops and techniques targeting grassroots community leaders coming to ITD through the Reagan era Central American Peace Scholarship Program. His dedication and passion helped to shape ITD's philosophy and vision that continue today.  His legacy lives on at ITD and in the hearts and minds of the thousands of people in rural communities throughout Latin America that he or one of his inspired students has inevitably touched. With Mario's passing, our world has lost one its brighter and more caring lights.