Gender Equality Dominican Republic Project #6980

Unleash the Leader in a Girl

by The Mariposa DR Foundation

Project Report | Sep 3, 2026
Becoming a Butterfly: Meet Erika

By Jessica Lawson | Co-Founder

Erika as an oruguita

Every butterfly starts as a caterpillar.

Erika joined Mariposa in 2014 with one of the first groups of girls to walk through the doors of our center. Back then, she was an oruguita, a little caterpillar, just beginning her journey. Today, she is a Mariposa alumna who embodies everything we hope for every girl in our programs: resilience, determination, and an unwavering work ethic.

Over the years, we watched Erika grow through education, mentorship, and the kind of friendships that only form in a space where girls feel safe to be themselves. Every challenge she faced became another step toward the confident leader she is today.

Where She Is Now? Erika is the manager at Mariposa's social business, Cabarete Coffee Company. She earns her own income, is raising her son with strength and independence, and has become the first literate woman in her family. This incredible milestone reflects not just her own hard work, but the ripple effect that investing in a girl's future can have across generations.

Erika's story is proof of what happens when donors like you believe in a girl long before she can see her own potential. A decade of education, mentorship, and community turned an oruguita into a leader in her family and her community. She proudly supports her family, and is writing a new story for the generations that follow her.

Thank you for helping girls like Erika become who they were always meant to be.

Now a manager at Cabarete Coffee Company

A butterfly living on her own terms

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May 5, 2026
"I Come to Mariposa to Learn"

By Antarah Chopra | Executive Assistant

Ask eight-year-old Diana which class at Mariposa is her favorite, to which she replies, “All of them,” without hesitation. “I love all the classes. I come to Mariposa to learn.”

Diana is eight years old and lives in La Cienaga, one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in Cabarete. She is growing up in a home where extreme poverty is the daily reality. Dozens of people share the same cramped space around her, which means privacy is a luxury she has never known. Clean bathrooms are not a given. A quiet corner to read, a stretch of ground to play freely, a moment simply to be a little girl; these, too, are often unheard of.

The circumstances of Diana’s life could easily diminish curiosity and hamper a child’s excitement to engage with the world around them.

Yet, for Diana, Mariposa is the place where she gets to be a little girl, and an enthusiastic learner. She loves every class. She embraces every activity with a huge smile. When she talks about the time she spends playing at the center, her words perfectly describe our aim in creating a center full of experiential learning: “Even when we play, we are learning.”

At home, space is scarce and noise is constant. At Mariposa, Diana has space to move, to think, to ask questions, to make mistakes, and to try again. For a child from La Cienaga, that room is more than a luxurious and distant dream.

The Unleash the Leader in a Girl project exists precisely for girls just like Diana: girls with enormous potential who face enormous obstacles, and who deserve resources to support them through every facet of their lives.

Your support truly allows each of the Mariposa girls to dream the impossible and actually make it possible. Thank you for unleashing the leader in the Mariposa girls.

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Jan 7, 2026
Esmelada is flying high!

By Jessica Lawson | Co-Founder

Esmelada loves biking!

Esmelada is 18 years old. She became a Mariposa at the age of 8.

In her ten years at Mariposa, Esmelada has grown into a confident, skilled young woman with a strong voice. At the Mariposa Foundation, she has learned how to swim, surf, sew, meditate, and—perhaps most importantly—how to believe in her own power.

Esmelada lives in La Ciénaga, a densely populated and very poor neighborhood where running water and electricity are never guaranteed, but noise—motorcycles, trucks, speakers—is constant. Amid the chaos of her surroundings, Esmelada has found peace in unexpected places. She's a voracious reader, loves cycling, being out on the water on a stand up paddle, singing and playing guitar. This girl is fully engaged in every single thing she does!

Esmelada is also very ambitious. She’s passionate about owning her own business one day and she’s learning how to run one at Mariposa Foundation’s very own Cabarete Coffee Company. There, she practices her English with customers, learns how to make drinks, and studies the rhythms of a small but thriving café.

She’s not just clocking hours. She’s dreaming.

“I want to run my own business one day,” Esmelada says. And with every latte poured and every conversation practiced in English, she’s one step closer.

Esmelada will graduate in 2026 and she represents everything the Mariposa Foundation stands for—resilience, joy, sisterhood, and strength. Her journey from a shy girl to a calm, confident young woman is not just a story of personal growth—it’s a story of transformation in the face of adversity.

Because when girls like Esmelada are given the tools to thrive, they don’t just survive—they thrive and lead.

Esmelada is a voracious reader.

Esmelada loves being out on the water!

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