Empower a Girl in Guatemala: Education after COVID

Marceli is a 16 year old girl from a small town in Retalhuleu, where the main sources of employment are agriculture and informal businesses.

She is currently studying 9^th grade and is the oldest of 4 siblings. As she is the oldest of the children, she is in charge the family business (selling fruit) when her parents are not at home, as this is their main source of income. 

Melissa joined the scholarship program in 2015, at the age of 10 and studying 4^th grade. She was a very active child, she liked to collaborate with her classmates in group tasks, but public speaking was something she found difficult; therefore, she set out to overcome the fear of public speaking, and her words were: “Success is the sum of small efforts made day by day”. 

In sixth grade Melissa presented her life project in front of several parents and fellow students, and she set out to give a quality presentation and... she succeeded! That was the moment she needed to overcome her fear. 

Currently, she is a few months away from finishing her elementary studies, and has the goal of studying for a high school diploma at the Community Institute.

For this new goal, her family is her engine, because she knows that they are the ones who encourage her to achieve her dreams and succeed in life.

The young woman has a dream to study nursing. However, her desire is to study high school, so she can find a job and help her family with the income she generates. And, above all, to be able to help her 3 younger siblings have access to education and get to where she has been.