The mother of a Kansas University student who was slain while doing research in Costa Rica hopes to raise enough money to create an educational center in the Central American country.

Jeannette Stauffer is in Golfito, Costa Rica, this week meeting with potential sponsors for a center that would train people on computers and teach English.

“The last thing in the world I want to do is change their culture and lifestyle,” said Stauffer, whose daughter, Shannon Martin, was fatally stabbed May 13, 2001. “The only thing I want to do is help them earn money to support their families and change Golfito from a severely impoverished country to a community that can be economically stable.”

The Costa Rican Coast Guard Academy has offered Stauffer the use of a room for the center, which Stauffer said would serve as a memorial to her daughter. Potential sponsors could contribute some of the $60,000 cost of buying 20 computers and software for teaching English.

Three men have been charged in Martin’s slaying, but a trial date has not yet been set.

Martin, 23, of Topeka, was killed while walking to her host family’s home in Golfito. She was not part of KU’s study abroad program but was in Costa Rica finishing a research project.