50 Guatemalan educated girls will be unstoppable!

18-year-old Miriam lives in a rural community in Guatemala’s Jalapa department. She is a spokesperson for Plan International’s Girls Get Equal campaign and an active member of the organisation’s Leadership School project.

Due to the quarantine imposed by the government in March 2020 to control the spread of COVID-19, her school is closed so she now spends most of time at home with her father who is a small-scale farmer who grows corn and beans, and her mother, who is a domestic helper.

Although she is missing school, she is trying to see the positive side of the situation and is enjoying spending more time with her family, especially with her father who is usually away during the planting season. "I like that we are together, in spite of everything, I prefer this to being alone at home with my mother."

But her biggest concern is her studies. It took a lot of work for Miriam to reach the last grade of secondary education, but with the school closures, she and her classmates have had to find alternatives ways to continue following their school programme.

"When the quarantine began, we came up with a system to share the contents of the classes. I charged my cell phone and downloaded the homework assigned by the teachers. But soon they stopped sending any content. I bought credit, but no longer received any class materials,” says Miriam with a little frustration.

She was due to graduate from school in October 2020, but now she does not know when or how they will complete the curriculum. Again, she tries to stay positive. "Despite what is happening, my goal remains the same: to achieve what I want from my life. This situation will not be the reason why I will stop fighting for my dreams; on the contrary, it will make me stronger to fight for a good future."