When Cristina Margarita Alvarez was a child she wanted to become a teacher. Unfortunately, because of a lack financial resources, she only attended primary school before leaving her community of La Batea, Honduras. She found work as domestic worker in the city of Danli in order to support her first daughter Berenice. She was sixteen at the time.
She lived in Danli for four years when she met Félix Donaldo Martínez. They got married and decided to settle in the community of Flores #2 where Felix had grown coffee for 22 years.
They had three children; Darwin Donaldo, Josué Fernando and Josías Enoc. The first two have moved out and created their own homes and Josias studies at the Luis Landa Basic Education Center in the community of La Libertad.
Once settled in Las Flores # 2, she began to attend the Catholic Church, which motivated her to teach catechism to girls and children between 7 to 12 years of age. In a way, her dream of being a teacher of primary education was fulfilled with this task.
When Vecinos Honduras began to support her community, she became interested in participating, especially in activities related to community health, drawing attention to the topic of food preparation based on local products. When the health monitors in her community were selected, she voluntarily offered to work with the children in Comprehensive Childhood Care in the Community and Early Stimulation. She mentioned that at the beginning of the AIN-C program she had not participated because her one-year-old granddaughter Tifany Mikeyla Salinas Martínez was in her care, which prevented her from attending the trainings. However, in the next phase of training for health monitors she managed to train and currently serves 15 girls and boys from the Las Uvas neighborhood.
“My wish is for children to be smarter so I treat them with all my love and affection. Now that I teach what I learned with mothers I feel good because I do not keep the knowledge, but I share it, taking into account that everyday I learn more.”
It is important to mention Cristina Margarita has the support of her husband and children, since they all share domestic chores, have common dreams and make efforts to improve their life situation. An evidence of the family effort is that based on their collective work they have managed to acquire other lands where they currently cultivate 15 acres of coffee, a space in which the whole family works collectively.
Cristina Margarita is a worthy example of struggle, perseverance and dedication to her family; her volunteer work and her desire to serve others is a permanent source of inspiration.
Prepared by: Michael Newman program facilitator team
Date: August 25, 2018
Photography: Manuel Castellanos