Marcela Monroy Mendoza

MY STORY

At Flor del Bosque A.C. I have learned many things from the meetings we have had here. We learn to develop ideas, to talk in front of other people. Sometimes we can’t do it because of the pain or we don’t have that confidence to say things sometimes because of fear. We have also learned to be respected, just as we have learned to respect people. The values learned in my Council are fairness, love, trust, responsibility, and honesty. I liked math in school, in my community I have been a health worker in the clinic. Currently, I work at home, doing embroidery, and occasionally cutting coffee plants.

When I started coming to PSYDEH, they said, “Come on, there will be a workshop. They are going to pay for our tickets.” I said, well, I’m learning something new to know, even if I have to leave some housework. It motivates me because I have to be responsible for something I committed myself to. Another motivation is also the seed project where we are trying to do something about health, and if that is achieved I will be more motivated, I would have that pride that something was done in my region so that people will be inspired and say: “women like that get motivated.”

The health project motivates me a lot because there is a lack of resources in the community. And I want to feel that I did something for the community. I feel proud of the Flor del Bosque Council: I feel that this is going to continue and we are going to succeed with the projects we can carry out. I like the meetings, the talks, the activities like listening to the qualities of others, and sharing my own.

I believe that I am a leader in making the talks here public, as well as motivating the women by letting them know that there are projects and that they can say, “We made it because we are united, and we can achieve many things.” For me, even if my companions do not attend, I have a commitment to leave my things at home, whether I leave my work done or leave someone in charge, because for me it is nice to participate and be in all the workshops and do our part. If I don’t do my part, nothing is done to be a leader. I couldn’t leave my mother because she had to take her medicine and I brought her along so I could take care of her. Because it’s important for me to be here.

Many said that because we were women, we couldn’t go to school, and besides there was no school, only primary school. That was an obstacle, and my parents also said why should she study if she’s a woman. Later I went to work abroad for two years and then I got married and couldn’t go out anymore, I locked myself up until now when I discovered PSYDEH. For me, if I’m honest, my husband told me what I had to do, that if you have your children you have to take care of them. There were embroidery workshops in my community, but I didn’t go. Until I came to PSYDEH I said enough, here they are telling me that I can go, because if not I will never go out. I like it here and my children have to understand that.

In the community they say things: “they go because they have no work or they like to be there running away, so they go if they have their children.” But I think there’s time for everything. I’ve already devoted a lot of time to my children and my husband who sometimes don’t value it. My achievement is to have my family, my grandchildren, and my children who may not be educated but are all hard workers. I know that they love me and that they will always love me, and I will always be with them. Another achievement is that my family is well, to have our things, we didn’t have anything, but now we do. Sometimes I embroidered tablecloths to help my family income when my children were little.

I have done my best for my children, and in that respect, I am worth a lot. In the clinic we have worked with workshops in communities, we explained, we showed evidence, we did evaluations. The themes were respect, equity, and many women said they liked the way they had their workshop and wanted more. And I still went to give others for pleasure without being asked by those at the clinic. For me, it is a source of pride because they tell me “maybe you can go to the presidency to give workshops, maybe you don’t earn much, but it’s nice”. And even though I don’t have the studies to give workshops, I learned to give them and for me it was nice, I knew how to explain. And well, being a mother, in 2005 I finished high school in the open modality.

Sometimes they lower your self-esteem, they say “you’re not worth anything” but if you think about it, you’re worth a lot.