Those Unexpected Things In the Right Moment...

My life suffered a turmoil last year: my mother passed away unexpectedly. I had recently returned to Guatemala after completing my master’s degree scholarship in Spain. My mind had widely broadened by the cumulus of stimuli offered by the variety of the context I wasn’t used to experience, new places and faces, different points of view, good things and others not so good, but in the end, facts that enriched myself to a whole new level. At the same time, I had the impression on my return, that I would be following the footsteps the majority of my friends had already taken before: boyfriend, commitment, marriage, children and Sunday afternoon reunions with all those who previously had acquired the "husband and wife" status.

Well, all went down the drain in a flick of a switch… I remained wondering who had turned the lights off. Something I’ve always missed to understand, is that I tend to look at the bright side of things instead of the gray-shaded or black ones. But this time, I was really way out of my orbit, feeling part of the Apollo 13 crew. I was determined to get this straight "All by MySelf" (...and here comes Eric Carmen to my mind, sorry for the music pause, inevitable), but, sincerely, I was messing everything up! In the midst of troublesome times though, the light of God shines through someone eager to risk herself to help you out. And so, I discovered a valuable treasure in two girlfriends, that no matter what, they would do anything to cheer me up and make lighter the unbearable weight of emotions and pain placed over my shoulders, of the loss of my mom and consequential legal paperwork.

One of them, particularly, established a very profound relationship with me, in which we would be delightedly having a coffee and speaking about her work, that relates to issues about feminicide and gender violence in our country. I was unaware about the impact that this would do to me, but I started analyzing, how things could be way much better, if women had actually an empowerment tool, a special union. Since I am related to things concerning to cultural heritage and education, I commenced to think in strategies, so in the future, not so far away, this could be achieved.

This idea was running through my mind, performing acrobatic jumps and falls, when I received my weekly e-mail bulletin of Indesgua, an organization that publishes the scholarships and grants opportunities around the globe. And there it was, between a storytelling contest and a short-term course in India, the Voices Rising program at World Pulse! Instinctively, I clicked over the link, and what can I say, I’m here, writing!, spending joyously my time discovering a new side of me, but mostly a whole new world full of admirable women who set examples to follow. I’m learning and I’m enamored, (not in the boyfriend-conventional way); starting to rise my voice.