"I am nineteen years old, I have two children and I am pregnant with my third. When I was thirteen I made a sex video with my boyfriend. The video was on my boyfriend's phone and his phone was stolen and the video was published on Facebook. Because of the video, my parents made me marry the boy. The cyber-bullying was awful and I tried to commit suicide several times and started seeing a psychiatrist. But, when I was 15 I gave birth to my first child, my son, and because of him I knew I had to lift myself out of my depression and out of my situation. I left my first husband because he mistreated me. Now I am remarried and I want to write a book about my experience. I am only nineteen and already I have experienced a lot of pain but I also know that when a woman wants to, she can lift herself up." - Diana Iris Muniz Navarrete is a mother and waitress in Troncones, Mexico.
Amanda Tafoya
"Being a teen mother at 17, changed my life. I remember looking into my baby's big blue eyes and I was determined he would have different parenting than I did. I didn't want him to feel unloved or uneducated like I felt. So, I signed up for emotional intelligence classes and I signed up for a parenting class that I went to once a week for many years. And then I sent him off to Duke University where he will be a senior next year. I have three more children and all of those parenting and education skills trickled down to them as well. And, after getting my GED I also received my EMT and nursing licenses. And most recently I've become a licensed real estate agent." Amanda Tafoya is a real estate agent in Taos, New Mexico.
Dominga Lukas Castro
"When I was a teenager and studying to become a teacher I got pregnant and dropped out of school. At the time I thought my work and the rest of my life would be in the house and in the kitchen. But after participating in some community women's groups and raising three children with my husband, I decided to become a health promoter so I could earn my own money and go back to school. I earned Q300 which was enough to pay for my school materials and my uniform. I only had one uniform for all three years I was in school. I had to borrow money from my family so that I could buy the clothing I needed for my graduation. But I kept pushing myself toward my goals. It was hard but I just kept going. While raising 5 children, I became a teacher and now I am the Director of the School." - Dominga Lukas Castro is an educator and business owner in Huitan, Guatemala. She also gives literacy classes to her mother-in-law (yesterday's EVE) and older women in her community.
note: This project is dedicated to Dominga and you can read a longer version of her story on meandeve.com. It is the very first story published.
Ana Lucrecia Laynez Escobar
"At first my father didn't want me to continue my studies. He had given that opportunity to my older sisters but they broke his rules which were. NO BOYFRIENDS and ONLY STUDY, NOTHING ELSE. They never graduated. They went to school in the city, had boyfriends, got married and pregnant. I had to convince my father that I shouldn't be punished because they broke the rules. I told him that I was certain I would achieve my goals and become a nurse. I am studying now and my parents are really proud of me, but more importantly I am really proud of myself." Ana Lucrecia is a nursing student and a community health promoter for The Coffee Trust in Chel, Guatemala.
Regina Garcia
"I was 17 pregnant and single. I didn't tell my family because I was scared. They thought I was getting fat and kept putting me on diets. When I was 9 months pregnant I started having pains and I called my friend. I snuck out of the house and my friend took me to the hospital. She went back to my house to tell my mother I was pregnant and in the hospital and my mother passed out. I was going to give the baby up for adoption but my Mother said we should keep him and raise him. When he was 20 he was shot in the back by a kid who had to kill someone to get initiated into a gang." - Regina Garcia is part of the New Jersey Chapter of Mothers In Charge
Ana Torres
After finishing up a photo shoot in the Bronx River Park I was making my way to the subway when I saw a woman selling water at the intersection. Smart idea. It was hot and humid and I stopped to buy a bottle. And then like always, out came the story and out came my camera.
I had to ask if she was really making any money sitting there in the sweltering heat. Turns out, she can make between $200-600 depending on the day and I guess the temperature. "I only do this in the summer. I'm a teacher during the school year. " (sad side note here: I am fairly certain she is making more money per hour selling water than most teachers earn during the school year.) And being a single mother with four children she needs a summer job.
At 12 Ana was pregnant. Spoiler alert! There is a happy ending.
She needed an escape, her father was an alcoholic and her older brother's beat her and her safety net from the beatings was a boyfriend. His grandmother lived in an apartment downstairs and she spent a lot of time there." When my mother found out I was pregnant, she threatened my life" recalled Ana, "And she refused to let me have an abortion - and I would have." Her daughter is now 21. "I kept going to school even while I was pregnant. There was a daycare at my high school, but after a while I couldn't take it so I quit." Ana got a job at McDonald's and her GED through associates.
This is a list of jobs that she has had; McDonald's, Volunteer office at Jacobe, Patient relations at North Central Hospital, Jeans Plus, Intern at the career services at Monroe College, Hospitality at Monroe College, medical billing at an Optometrist's office. Six years after she had her first child she had another. But as Ana puts it "I pulled through." While working all those jobs and raising two children, Ana got a bachelor's degree in Business. And then, while working as a dialysis technician she completed her Masters in Education. She teaches 2nd grade at ICAR charter school and is a TA for ELA to help mediate reading. "I know," she said, "I beat the statistics."