International women’s day is observed every year on March the 8th, it took me a while to think about a public figure who played a role in a society & worldwide, I couldn’t come up with a specific name, they are all conventionally prominent, activists, feminists who left their mark in a way or another, I wanted something more deep, more inspiring & emanated from day to day life struggle.
I chose Mrs. Soraida Hurtado, an unpretentious retired teacher and director of one of Curacao schools located in a lapsed community delineated with poverty and teen violence, to tell me her story, how she was able to empower generations of students in general and girls in specific, how she gave them a voice and a will to access information & resources for a more positive thinking & proper decision making.
She spent her entire life teaching & coaching girls, it is a story of a woman who lifted herself, her family and her community out of economic hardship, we took a seat in her comfort zone surrounded by books in her humble house located in a busy street and I asked her the following questions:
Q: “How do you describe your childhood as a girl?” A: “I lived in a government house back then (around 13$rent/month)barely sheltering a family of 7, my mother, my father and 5 children, the sole provider for the family was my father, he used to clean airplanes at the airport, my mom stayed home to take care of us, she didn’t finish school for some reasons that’s why she wanted her children to have an education. she always had this idea that I would be a great teacher one day, I used to help my friends in school with their homework and she knew that I had something in me that others didn’t, my dream was to become a doctor but our means were scarce & only selective girls were given the privilege to go to good schools, at the age of 18 I felt the need to start working to help my father who was barely able to put some food on the table and pay the bills, but that didn’t stop me from pursuing my mother’s advice to become a teacher, I continued my studies in a teaching academy and ended up as a teacher”.
Q: “how did your mother influence your character& development?” A: “she was a very strong woman, tough from the outside, resilient, I learned a lot of life lessons just by watching her, she strived to give us the best that she possibly could, for her It was all about the will and the determination, but most importantly about the heart, I can describe it as Aristotle said that educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all, for her, it was not a sign of weakness but a sign of courage, she used to tell me that every woman and a girl needs to feel valued and not to limit a girl to one’s own learning for she was born in another time, those were her life experience lessons for sure.”
Q: “How did you empower girls ?”A: “A teacher is an important catalyst for empowerment, I formed an essential part of girls’ social & cultural development, I did my very best to build a positive self-image for them through education, many of them suffered from low self-esteem and confidence problem, they needed supportive gestures & effective strategies, too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve, I created a school environment that allowed girls to be themselves, to feel comfortable to fail and learn from mistakes, to express & deal with their emotions, to appreciate their families, to develop capabilities such as critical thinking and communication skills because I knew that this will lay the foundations for decent livelihoods and equitable relationships in adulthood.”
Q: “Did your income benefit your children" A: “An old adage says: “More is caught than taught”, my ability to work and make money gave me control over my own life to make decisions about health and education, I was a decision-maker, and my children were aware of the fact that I didn’t need a man to give them a better life, with or without him I was doing great, it is both a process and an outcome to be able to empower your children & when a woman earns, everyone benefits, in addition, I was able to help my community, there were families that couldn’t provide bread for their children and these kids were students in my school, I figured out a way to make sure that they had a satisfying portion at school from my own savings without making them feel that they were any less than the others, I believed that good nutrition helped them to be more prepared to learn mentally and physically, malnutrition always leads to negative behavior.”
In Mrs. Hurtado’s opinion, girls’ access to education is a crucial demand in every society to close the gap of gender inequalities, it is a necessity for families and communities knowing what greater impact it can have on economic development and public health, in post-primary levels of education many girls drop out of school for many reasons such as early marriage and pregnancy, violence in and around schools, poverty, household chores, among others, it is every girl’s right to complete the full course of education & to be recognized later for her national linguistic, cultural, ethnic or political achievement empowered girls means empowered future.
