This month in the banks, we made a dream come true. We had an encounter on May 18th in which we gathered all of the women from the 7 different mini-banks for a “conference” of sorts; something the bank team has been idealizing for awhile. Silvio, Grety and I worked very hard prior to the event as there was so much to organize. We gathered the women with the objectives of strengthening the unity of the women in the banks, allowing them space to get to know the women from the other groups, and uniting forces of the women that have the same businesses so that they might be able to start buying items together at lower prices and through this, benefit them and their clients. We arranged with the women that the Sunday morning activity would count for two workshops* so that they would come [*in a 16 week cycle, the women receive 3 workshops: one of evaluation and two of personal growth]. 111 of the 166 women arrived to a beautifully decorated pavilion with all their names on scrolls and name tags, images of working women, a sign that read “Vivan las Mujeres” and a rose in hand. With a prayer, ice-breakers, group work, and of course, refreshments, we certainly achieved our objectives and I believe most of the women really enjoyed being there.
I loved being a part of celebrating these women. They work so terribly hard and they inspire me daily with their strength and perseverance. These are the women that wake up at 2am to make tortillas from scratch and sell gum and cigarettes from baskets on their heads in the middle of boulevards´ traffic and who often raise their many children on their own. This morning I had to thank God for the privilege to be here in
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