OUR NEWS

25 Mar 2022

Salma Sinaí Soto Montes, Field Corps Leader

PSYDEH’s dynamic staff is one of the reasons why we are a paradigm-changing Mexican grassroots organization.  

Our team is much more diverse than our peers, with people from all over the world representing diverse professional backgrounds. Having a multi-disciplinary team is by design; it is one of our Value Propositions. We thrive because of the diversity of our staff, partners, and allies. 

We hope you enjoy this personal interview with Salma Sinaí Soto Montes, Field Corps Leader. 

What did you study in college or in life? How do you explain your career and professional interests?

I studied a degree in Language and Culture. I feel quite passionate about ethnographic research, I’m interested in the documentation of practices and their dissemination through mass media, in addition to the design of playful teaching and learning materials, and historical research in local and state archives.

What languages do you speak?

Spanish and I am in the process of learning Otomí ñuhu from the Sierra.

What do you like most about Mexico?

I love Mexico’s multi-diverse music.

Who is the woman you admire the most and how has she impacted your life?

There are countless women who have left an incredible mark on me, but to mention one would be Doña Pascualita, she is an Otomí woman who has been dedicated to the field all her life, besides having “the gift” as she is a healer and midwife, an extremely beautiful woman.

Salma during a field visit to the community of Piedra Ancha.

Why did you decide to invest in PSYDEH and its work?

I love the idea of being in communities, since I get inside their practices and their way of looking at life, I love the fact of carrying out projects from everyday life and local needs.
It is a great exercise of interculturality, I also believe that the fact of displacing sexist practices within rural communities is quite necessary, as in many cases certain acts of violence are seen as every day, and this cannot continue in this way.

What impact do you want to make with PSYDEH?

With the help of the team, I intend to generate gender awareness as well as the opening of new markets for women who had been oppressed and even discriminated against by various social actors. I also seek to generate a space where the Otomi language is not oppressed that is governed by the values of sisterhood, fair payment, and the displacement of macho practices that were previously normalized. And that this learning would be transmitted generationally.

 

psydeh

PSYDEH is a non-profit civil association, which was formed by the initiative of a group of young women from the municipality of Santiago Tulantepec in the State of Hidalgo. PSYDEH is committed to working with and for the most vulnerable communities in the region through the promotion of a Sustainable Human Development.