Francisca at school. Photo by Kate Lord.
If you’ve been following our blog for a while, you probably already know Francisca’s story. STF photographer Kate Lord and researcher Maisy Page met her when we travelled to Guatemala in January, and we each fell in love with her spirit the moment we met her. She’s the kind of girl you notice as soon as you walk into the room, because she has the biggest smile, the loudest laugh, and friendliest eyes there. Despite the language barrier (my Spanish would make Dora the Explorer cry), Francisca was willing to be fast friends, and learning her story remains one of the best parts of my Guatemala trip.
But today is a big day for her, because today is her graduation! She’s the first in her family to graduate high school, though things didn’t always look so certain: She had to drop out for a few years when her family needed her to work, and was only able to go back when the Starfish One by One program (our partner in Guatemala) learned about her and brought her into the program. And now? She’ll be one of their first graduates!
It’s stories like Francisca’s that keep all of us at She’s the First motivated, because she reminds us how much of a difference an education can make — hopefully, she’ll have the same effect on you. Here’s a video Kate made about Francisca (we’ve featured it here before) while she was still in school:
Isn’t it thrilling to know she achieved her goal of graduating, and is now on to university?
Have any words of encouragement or congratulations for Francisca? Write them in the comments, and we’ll make sure they get to her!
