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22 | CANYON CORRIDOR CONNECTION 2016
INSPIRA
P
ahoran Fornes always had one goal — to
make his parents and siblings proud.
He played sports, kept his grades up,
volunteered within the community, attended
church and looked after his brothers. It was a
tight-knit bond.
But that cocoon was unraveled during his
sophomore year at Washington High School
in Phoenix when he arrived home one day and
found it nearly empty — his parents, three of his
four siblings and most of their belongings were
gone, with only his bed and clothes left behind.
His uncle Jesus gave him a place to stay, and
it wasn’t until the following day that Fornes
learned what had happened: His family had been
deported to Mexico.
Jane Sabuni, her parents and six siblings didn’t
have it easy in their native Tanzania, but they
were happy where they were until civil war
forced them to flee in 2010. They were placed in
Phoenix by the U.S. Immigration Service, and
Jane was forced to assimilate into school. She
didn’t speak English.
Fast forward from those incredible challenges
to the evening of May 12, when Grand
Canyon University brought together the first
100 recipients of its new “Students Inspiring
Students” full-tuition scholarships for a
celebration at GCU Arena.
The featured student speakers? None other than
Fornes and Sabuni — one left here by fate, the
other brought here by fate, but both determined
to make fate their friend.
The idea of the program is as simple as it is life-
changing for both students and their families:
The GCU Learning Lounge has provided free
tutoring and mentoring for more than 1,700
neighborhood students from kindergarten
through 12th grade since it opened in 2013,
and now those inner-city students can earn
scholarships, then pay it forward by serving in
the Learning Lounge to help the next generation
of students behind them.
Tears of joy … and sorrow
When Fornes’ parents were living in the U.S.,
his mother made money cleaning homes and his
father was a construction worker. In Mexico, he
said, they barely make enough to survive.
“Of course I miss them every day, but I’ve
learned to deal with it so that someday I can
provide for my parents just like they have for
me,” Fornes said.
Fornes was left behind along with his older
‘Students Inspiring
Students’ filled with
great stories, but
these two twists
of fate resonate
B Y J E A N N E T T E C R U Z
Students Tutored in Learning Lou