Zoila Esmeralda Catun rebelled against her father and cultural tradition to fulfill her dream to study. At the age of 12, her father wanted her to marry an 18-year-old man, but she refused. He told her there was no money for her to study and insisted that she marry another man. When she heard about Ak’ Tenamit, Zoila borrowed money and traveled approximately 200 miles from her home in Alta Verapaz to the Moran Center alone. She seldom returned home and worked at Ak’ Tenamit’s restaurant/practical classrooms during vacations to repay the money and support her tuition.
Zoila admits that she was very shy when she arrived because she had been taught that as a girl her voice didn’t matter. “Here they encouraged me to speak in class and I learned that I am valuable, that I can do anything I set my mind to. Anything. Now I want to make sure every woman and girl knows that they are capable!”
As her self-confidence grew, Zoila became a member of several student councils at the school, and her own experiences inspired her to become actively involved with our We Must Educate the Girls program. Zoila graduated from the Moran Center last fall with a diploma in Rural Community Development and says, “I feel so happy to have achieved my dream and reached a place that hardly anyone else reaches.”
In the future, Zoila hopes to receive a university degree and is passionate pursuing about a career that will allow her to empower indigenous women to stand up for their rights and earn a decent living. She is currently working as a girls’ residential counselor at the Moran Center and as a program coordinator with the We Must Educate the Girls program to gain experience coordinating girls’ empowerment activities and to have the opportunity to attend leadership trainings related to women’s rights.