Mujeres Sembrando la Vida (MSV): Strong woman

Magdalena Gómez Pérez has four daughters Xunka, Rosa Teresa, María Yolanda and María Cristina. She was widowed at a very young age and since then she has struggled to raise her four daughters. She is an active member of Mujeres Sembrando la Vida.  

She did not have the opportunity to study and always worked to give her daughters education and support so that they could have an academic preparation and a better work and personal future.  She motivated them to learn to weave on the back strap loom, to embroider, and also to be strong and independent women.

Magdalena is a very strong woman, with the will to stand on her own.She fought for her rights and learned many things in different organizations that helped her to found the MSV cooperative.

She started forming a small group of women in search of economic opportunities. t first it was difficult because of the lack of knowledge and the language barrier, since not speaking Spanish well was one of her biggest challenges. Over time she mastered the Spanish language, learned to be a leader, and taught many women to become more prepared to face today's challenges.

She is the person who has been with the cooperative the longest -- 21 years!  She  still promotes teamwork and learning and organization to continue growing as a unit. She made improvements in the quality of the products, expanded the client portfolio and learned from them. She also learned more about the cooperative and its needs.

Magdalena continues to work with her four daughters. Working at home has made things easier without making them less important. She sees life easier as she weaves products that are mainly consumed by tourists from the comfort of her home.

She is very grateful to life and to God for the strength, the greatness and the opportunity to get ahead and to be the main motivator for women to be independent and to participate in the family economy. Above all she motivates the women to work in harmony doing what they like the most, knitting, embroidery and that was given to her by MSV.