San Martin Jilotepeque                    March 2021

My name is Lucy Rosario Zamora Popol. I am 20 years old and I live in village called Varituc el Carmen in San Martin, Jilotepeque

My family is made up of four people. My 45-year-old father Baudilio Amado Zamora Atz, my little sister Karina, age 13, and my brother Rudy, 22 years old.  Mom passed away 10 years ago. I was 10, my brother was 12, and my sister was 3.

This  was a very difficult situation that we had to deal with in my family.  My dad had to take care of us because we were very young. My little sister got sick very often. My dad couldn’t go with any relatives because we didn’t have their support. My dad had to go out to work and take advantage of any work opportunities presented to him.  We would sleep with a neighbor because we we

re not used to being left alone.  As time went on we decided to stay home because we adapted to the idea that this is how we were going to live from now on.

My dream from a young age was to be able to study and have a good profession but I saw it was difficult because of the economic situation and the loss of my mother.  When I finished elementary school (6^th grade) my dad told me that I  had to support myself through 9^th grade.  So over the course of the road I made a decision and that decision was to go out to work. I was in 8^th grade when I managed to find a job working for a family in a house cleaning and doing laundry. It was harder because I had to work and study at the same time but I don’t care because my dreams were to be able to continue studying and I knew my dad couldn’t afford my monthly payments because he doesn’t have a steady job.

Along the way I was presented with obstacles because what I was earning was very little. I was paid only 20 quetzals a day ($2.67).  I had to help my dad with the expenses of the house and buy food. I’m still working in a house so now it also helps pay for my little sister’s monthly payments. She is in 8^th grade now.  I keep supporting my dad because there are days when he definite

ly doesn’t have a job. My brother has been my right-hand man because both he and I filled in all the expenses at home. My brother works in the fields and makes about 40 quetzals ($5.33).  It is amazing how God is always with us because he has never abandoned us.

In some of those moments of distress in my life I met a person to whom I told her about my situation and she told me about the Association of Men and Women in Action who supported young people who wanted to continue studying. I went to them and they subjected me to a process to see if I could acquire a scholarship. Throughout that testing process and interviews I asked God a lot to give me the opportunity to enter the scholarship program.

My greatest blessing came the day I was given the news that I was accepted into the scholarship program.

 I felt unexplained happiness. The year 2018 changed my life because it was the year I entered the scholarship program.

From that moment to now I have been very blessed.  In high school I studied business administration and I was able to earn my high school diploma.  Last year I was given the opportunity to start my law degree in college. I am now in my second year at the university. The Association has been my second home since it has cared about my family and me. We have been supported with food and cash to pay for the internet time. This year they supported me with a laptop to facilitate my studies since, as you know, the year 2020 the pandemic came to change our lives in a different way.

I am very happy to belong to the family of the Men and Women in Action Association because I have been taught not to give up when I am going through difficult situations in my life.  I will continue to fight to achieve my dreams and be able to be a successful professional. My goal is to one day be a judge.

I am very grateful to God and to you for helping me fulfill each of the dreams I set out as a child.

A strong embrace for each of you and may God continue to bless your lives.