FINISHING THE STORY OF MARIA

In my last Blog I shared the beginning story of one of the women I had interviewed in Chiapas, Mexico.  Her name is Maria. Her life story left off at the point that she had returned to her village and was raped by a man who bought his way out of being arrested.  Her father was shamed by his daughter, and would have nothing to do with her. She had to leave the village and return to San Cristobal.

“I had no money or clothes when I returned to San Cristobal.  I did not know I was pregnant as nobody ever explained my body to me as I was growing up.  I knew nothing about sex and what created a baby.  I stayed with my mother, and when I got very sick, she sent me to a doctor, who  told me I was about to deliver a baby.

It got worse. My mother disowned me, and I was really alone and I had to find a job.  I found a job working as a house maid.  I delivered my baby and the woman I was working for would not feed me enough food and would not let me do anything for the baby.  My baby died.

Life was very, very hard, but I managed to keep going by cleaning houses and taking care of families.  Sometimes the families never paid me.

I found a group of women who were also struggling with life and I decided to go to secondary school and study.  My life got better. Today I part of a group, Fortaleza de la Mujer Maya (FOMMA).  We use theater as a tool for education and community building.”

One thought on “FINISHING THE STORY OF MARIA

  1. An amazing story of the power of women connecting with each other. Thank you for the reminder. (I’m curious if Maria is in one of these pictures and did she go on to have children?)

Comments are closed.