Women Making a Difference
Mothers Building Bridges for a Healthy Future
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Gladys Soto during a growth monitoring activity. Source: Ruben Espinoza, FUNDAZÚCAR |
Gladys Soto
Gladys Marisol Soto is 29 and a mother of two children, ages 3 and 11 months. A few years ago, Gladys, a housewife from a rural community from San Pedro Jocopilas on the south coast of Guatemala, received a visit at her home from a community facilitator working for the Mejores Familias (Spanish for “Better Families”) program. He invited her to join a training program for mothers.
“That was one of the best decisions of my life,” she expresses, referring to the moment she decided to become a participant in the program. Gladys has always lived in a rural community, and she says that her expectations in life were limited to staying at home and taking care of her children and husband.
After one year of participating in Mejores Familias, she decided it was time to look for a job – one that could allow her to give back to her community all the knowledge she had gained.
Just last year she was recruited as a field facilitator by Fundazúcar, the organization that implements Mejores Familias. Currently, she is responsible for six communities and reaches approximately 215 women and 293 children under 5. She delivers training on best practices in nutrition, women’s empowerment, and does growth monitoring for children aged 5 and under.
“I am so pleased to be working with Mejores Familias, as I see myself in other mothers’ eyes, know exactly what they go through, and that is the reason why I am sure we are that bridge towards a better future for our children. Sometimes I start thinking that if I were not here, maybe there wouldn’t be someone else who could detect those malnutrition cases and treat children on time; there wouldn’t be someone to tell the mother what to do to prevent her child from getting sick!” she exclaims while acknowledging that she is part of the change her community needs in a country where half of the children under 5 are chronically malnourished.
“We are bridges; we build bridges for a better future,” says Gladys Marisol Soto.
USAID|Alianzas, a project that strengthens public-private partnerships focused on health and education, has worked with Fundazúcar, the corporate responsibility arm of the sugar industry. The collaboration has supported Mejores Familias since June 2007, reaching 16,511 mothers; 16,479 children under 5; and 545 “monitoring” mothers.
Story provided by USAID/Guatemala
>>> Read more stories from the Women Making a Difference in Global Health Series |
