Early life
My name is Arely, I am originally from Guerrero, Mexico. I am 13 years old and I have 2 brothers. Since I was little I lived with my grandparents since my mom was never with us, she always went to work and left me with my grandparents, they took me to work in the fields to sow and harvest corn to have to eat and pay for basic services, my grandparents and my siblings were sad and worried about my mom because sometimes she didn’t come home for months and she didn’t give us money, I don’t know my dad because before I was born he abandoned us, when I entered elementary school, I studied until fourth year, my grandmother told me that I would no longer be able to study because I no longer had money to pay for my studies, my grandmother was very sad, we had started to sell the corn harvest and with that we could study.
When I entered Villa de las Niñas, Chalco, my life changed completely since I met girls from different states. My family in Villa is Santa Gisela, in this family I found the support and understanding that I had never had, with my family. I share the bedroom, dining room, living room and basic services, my Sister Esmeralda is my Mother Sister, who always fills me with joy and tranquillity with her smile and her way of being. In the future I want to be a police officer to protect others, people who need it.
Life at school
The first days I entered the village I received requirements that are soap, toilet paper, cream, shampoo and deodorant and they also give it to us every month, I also received socks and underwear. When we feel bad or we are sick, we go to the infirmary where they check us up and give us medicine to heal quickly. When our teeth hurt, we are treated by dentists who also give us medicine if we need it. We have vacations in December and in July, on my first vacations that I went home I found out that my mother had another family and that she lived far away with my stepfather and her children, that caused me a lot of sadness, but it did not prevent me from getting ahead and come back with great happiness to continue studying.
Every Saturday and Sunday we receive a snack and it fills us with happiness because in my family we always share everything. The activity that I like to be in is in basketball, I love being able to type on a computer keyboard and sew on an over machine, I love to dance, run, sing and do spiritual activities with the mothers in charge.
I am very grateful to the benefactors who have given me the opportunity to continue studying.