Yo’onik Learning Center: An amazing grandmother
In Yo´onik there are many life stories that have had a positive impact and have demonstrated the desire to improve, motivation and inspire to give the best. Among these is that of a great woman, grandmother Maria Gonzales Perez, who was born in Zinacantan around 1945, her exact date of birth is not known, as in the past there were no official birth records.
Grandmother Maria was a woman with an unbreakable and hardworking heart. She did not have the opportunity to study and she went every day to the mountains to shepherd her sheep, cultivate the land and was always dedicated to the care of her daughter and also four grandchildren.
She sowed the foundation of Yo'onik, just as she did with the seeds in the ground, by donating the land for the Yo'onik building. She saw the importance of the children's project and improvements in education. She was pleased that we learned about leadership and our rights, she saw the importance of preserving our culture and native language, as well as to read and write in Tzotzil and Spanish
One day she said "if you have that dream and the desire to work, I will gladly give you my cornfield to construct the Yo'onik house to gather the children". We received her donation with great emotion, tears of joy, because we never thought that our grandmother would make that donation< we believed that it would be very complicated to get a land to build.
However due to the lack of learning opportunities and the hard life she'd led, her heart opened to donate. Despite knowing that that land generated an income for her, she decided to share it to the project out of love.
From that moment on we communicated with Natik to tell them about the donation of the land and that we lacked money for the construction. With Natik's support we raised funds and built the second floor, we were all excited.
Since then in Yo'onik we have been working with the children, and today the fruit has been extraordinary, studious boys and girls who have gone to high school and university. That excites us and fills us with great joy as we see the fruit of our work. Now we have our own space and we don't have to wonder where to gather the children.
Maria Gonzales Perez, a great woman who is no longer with us, but wherever she is, we will be eternally grateful for her belief in our work, education, culture and love. Thank you.
