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Learning To Value Herself

AFEDES - Guatemala - Women’s Empowerment

“Now I don’t just let my husband make all the decisions. And I know I am here not just to be his servant. He has had to learn this and now he even makes dinner sometimes.” –Doña Margarita

“I know how to write my name. Little by little, I am learning to read.” — Doña Margarita

For many, many years, Doña Margarita lived a life of subsistence farming in Sacatapéquez, Guatemala that began long before the sun would come up. She grew tired of unpredictable yields and wanted more for her family.

In 2002 she joined a women’s cooperative sponsored by AFEDES to make and sell traditional textiles at a fair price. She and the other women in the cooperative also make traditional crafts and push for women’s rights in the area.

A New Way of Thinking

Doña Margarita comments that the microcredit – or small loans to start income generation projects – is often the draw for many women, but then they gain much more from participating in trainings. It introduces women to a new way of thinking about their lives.

“I never had the chance to go to school when I was a child,” Doña Margarita says. “Thanks to AFEDES, I learned to value myself and now I know I am a capable woman. I know how to write my name. Little by little, I am learning to read. Now, all my daughters are in school.”