Fight Poverty: Educate Women in Panama

CAPTA friends,

Over the last few weeks one of the assignments given to the CAPTA students was to write a personal evaluation of themselves.  In an overall period of four hours the students were able to write what their actual situation was and who they thought they were. The purpose of this exercise was to help the students develop a picture of who they really are and who they can be. Most of the women in CAPTA are victims of domestic violence and have low-levels of education so this exercise is extremely important for self-exploration and goal setting.

The following self-evaluation written by Yajaira Quinoz, shows her thoughts of who she is and what she wants to be, at the end of her piece she makes a short list of her life goals.

**

My current situation:

Personally, I am like any other mother struggling with the kids, trying to make sure they grow up in a good place. The place I live in currently is not all bad but can have various unfriendly consequences if you’re not careful.  In my household, there is only one income and as we all know, everything is getting more expensive and its hard to maintain a family of 5 with a minimum wage salary. I feel obliged to find a path that will take my family to another level.

My Personality:

I am aware that not everyone likes me. Of course, I’m not a sweetheart, but that doesn’t hinder the amount of qualities I know I have; I am a very responsible person, I make sure that everything I do was done the best as possible, I am and learned to become more social here at Calicanto, and like to make friends with people who share different opinions than me. I’m a very joyful person, and it’s not easy for anyone to upset me. I have a strong character but it still doesn’t change the fact that I am very loving in my own way. 

Who am I?

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been discovering who I truly am.  I realized that I can be better, and change not just for me, but also for my family. That is why I want to be much more than what I’ve been until today.

Today, I learned today how strong I am as a person and I know I want to be the best example my kids will ever have.

My goals:

To own a home

Education for my children

Yajaira Quiroz

*It is important to note that the next 2 hours of the course, which will be taught in up coming weeks, will allow her to develop her goals and add more context to what she plans to do after CAPTA training.