By Elisbeth Pinto | Communication Assistant
Abigail’s story
Abigail gave birth to a young girl just days before her 15th birthday. She never took a sex-education course before or had access to birth control because she was born and raised in an indigenous region with a very strict culture that believed bearing a baby during childhood is a betrayal of the family and a sin. After giving birth to her child she was forced to leave the house.
She dropped out in the fifth grade and moved to her aunt’s house at Cerro Batea (makeshift houses atop a mountain). She didn't have stability in her home, shifted from house to house until she finally met her partner. The instability and long distances between these homes and her school made it impossible for her to continue her studies and led her to drop out at a young age.
No access to water or electricity, Abigail’s lives in a makeshift home, roughly the size of a regular bedroom, with her partner, daughter and two cousins. She is now 20 years old and faces the reality of many poor women living in Chepo (district in the outskirts of Panama).
She found the Project CAPTA (Fight Poverty: Help Educate the Women of Panama) through her aunt, a CAPTA graduate, who told her that there were job opportunities for her in the hotel industry and all she had to do was call and ask about the job. At that time she neither worked nor studied. “I have a daughter. I need to work and do everything possible to survive for her”she said. Doubtful at first, she was finally encouraged by her aunt to participate in our intense seven-week program that would conclude with a job opportunity.
To participate in this program, Abigail faces many difficulties and makes tough choices everyday such as: leaving her four year old daughter alone, not knowing what they will eat or where she will find the money to feed herself and her daughter. In the wee hours of the morning when most of us are still sleeping she is already on her way to San Felipe where the foundation is located. It takes her two hours, walking by herself at dusk, a bus and a train to arrive on time.
One of the most valuable things she has learned in the course is to control her anger. Assertive Communication has taught her to think things through before speaking, to be more tolerant of others and to improve her attitude. In order to make the most of this opportunity she tells herself: “I have to fight for this, I have to achieve this!”.
“I want to work to protect my child’s life”. In spite of all the obstacles she faced, Abigail finished the program with a better self-esteem and is now ready to pursue a professional career that will help her pay for her daughter’s education expenses. This will be the way out of poverty for Abigail. Now she counts with the tools and skills to find a job and she has the confidence and ability to deal with the challenges ahead.
(The names in this report have been changed to ensure the privacy of our beneficiaries.)
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser