Leaving ADIMTU’s office in the city of San Marcos, we putted along a windy, impossibly rocky dirt road in the highlands until we arrived in the town of Corral Grande, one of the 13 communities where ADIMTU implements its education workshops that focus on the problems affecting young women in Guatemala, such as high school drop out rates, teenage pregnancy and low self-esteem. Like many of the communities where ADIMTU works, many of the inhabitants of Corral Grande are isolated from basic services like hospitals, dental clinics or schools.
Today would be the first workshop of a series with a new group of girls and mothers related to “La Vida de mi Mama” or “The life of my mother”. The focus of this work is to create an open dialogue with women and their daughters about the problems they have faced in their lives and how they prevent their daughters from repeating them. I was accompanying the workshop facilitators, Nancy Pérez, Ana Patricia Gómez and Karina Molina to Corral Grande’s Public High School where the workshops would be held. “ Today is going to be about breaking the ice, getting people talking and starting to build trust with the participants,” Nancy explained as we walked into the classroom.
I took a seat in the back and observed as Nancy and Ana welcomed a group of about 20 mothers and their daughters to the workshop and quickly introduced some of the themes that would be discussed in the coming weeks. “ How many of the mothers in the room have dreams for your daughters? What kind of life to do you want for them?” Nancy asked the group. After a long moment of silence and bashful stares, one of the mothers spoke up. “My dream is for my daughter to stay in school and become a professional so she can lead an easier life than I have had. I have always worked in the field, working very hard, long days, because I never had the chance to go to school. I want her life to be different”. The room applauded.
Over the next few months, ADIMTU facilitators will work with this group of daughters on “La vida de mi mama” project. These middle school girls will interview their mothers, learning about their lives, hardships, sacrifices, regrets and mistakes. The idea is that writing the biography of their mothers will build trust, understanding, and encourage an open dialogue of how to not repeat past mistakes and dare to dream about a better future.
- Noah Sternberg-Di Stefano, Global Education Fund Development Coordinator
