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.
Links:
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
