Deysi's Story

Education Project for Girls

in conjunction with CANFRO’s partner, FONDO

Traditions in the Indigenous village of San Pablo Güilá, in the Central Valley of Oaxaca, are embedded with certain expectations for girls. It is a rare young woman who breaks the mold to pursue educational achievement and a profession.

But Deysi Gómez Hernández had a plan: “As a little girl my biggest dream was to study, have a profession, and be able to help my village,” she writes. She also had three role models: aunts who studied, despite the prevailing belief that this was not “normal.”

Thanks to the support of a scholarship from CANFRO´s partner agency, Fondo Guadalupe Musalem A.C., Deysi has realized her dream. After completing high school, she went on to successfully complete studies in Economics at the BUAP (Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla), graduating with top honors.

Pursuing a high school education requires paying for books, supplies, inscription fees and uniforms. These and other costs put dreams like Deysi’s out of reach for many young Oaxacan women. CANFRO’s Education Project for Girls works with FGM to help girls and their families to cover these costs. Along with financial assistance, scholarship holders come to Oaxaca for a weekend each month to attend FGM workshops on topics such as women’s rights, empowerment against gender-based violence, photography, film debate, sexual health and academic tutoring.

Deysi credits her FGM experience with setting her on her current path. She notes that the workshops “helped me make important decisions about my education that I probably wouldn’t have been able to make before; it gave me the courage to confront the deeply rooted customs in my community that limit what women can do.”

FGM’s headquarters in Oaxaca, she writes, “was like my second home. I met incredible people who supported my growth as a professional.” Deysi recognizes that not everyone has such an opportunity. “I feel very grateful to form part of this network of women who work for the well-being of our Oaxacan girls.”

Deysi plans to use her Economics background to focus on autonomy and entrepreneurship for women in rural communities. She sees education for young Oaxacan women as a tool “that will liberate them…Education is a right for all,” she writes, noting that thanks to organizations like CANFRO, “FGM gifts us the light of hope to change lives and later, change communities.”