Maira Aguilar
Born in the mountain village of Lorencito, Maira (pronounced MY-ra) was the oldest of seven girls and two boys. Her family resided in a one-room mud-and thatch-roof house. Maira’s childhood was spent daily helping her mother tend her siblings. When she was about six years old, the family moved to the town of Olanchito so that her father could seek work. Her father rented land for a milpa (a type of farming which involves the inter-planting of maize, beans, squash) and planting of yucca. Daily before school, Maira and her sister worked alongside their father in his milpa. Although Maira loved school, she has only completed sixth grade, since there was no money for her to extend her schooling.
Her father was well-known for raising good crops. Unfortunately his success made many of his neighbors envious. They would turn their horses loose into his milpa, causing his crops to be ruined. After four years of this treatment, the family returned to Lorencito where there was no trouble with the neighbors.
When she was sixteen years old, Hurricane Mitch, a Category-5 hurricane, devastated Honduras. Residing in a small mud hut with a tile roof, her family was held hostage by this furious storm. The nearby small stream rose, dividing the house and trapping them inside. The horrific winds blew all the tiles off the roof. Trees toppled onto the house. Although petrified, they were all able to escape. After the storm, there was a new stream where the house and the fields had been. No crops remained and life appeared bleak.
Maira was 17 years old when she heard about a new land movement that was forming to relocate peasants to land that the government set aside for them. The movement was offering land, cattle projects, education and security for the future. All that was required was an entrance fee payment and an agreement to stay with the group as they entered the land. Finding themselves with nothing, both Maira and her parents saw this as a promise of a future, the ability to own a house, and possibility of a job all in one package! Maira relocated to the city of San Pedro Sula to find work in a maquila (sweat shop), constructing shirts. She worked on the inspection line, with thousands of shirts passing by her each day. Working from 7am to 6 pm, she was paid about $20 per 6-day work-week. From this pay, she only spent money to rent a room and for her food. Walking everywhere, she diligently saved for her entrance fee to the new land and her new life.
Upon saving enough money for her fee, her parents shared that the movement was beginning and that she needed to return home to help pack the family’s belongings. Such an exciting time ~ full of hope and promise! Gathering their belongings, Maira and her family joined fifteen other families in climbing aboard a large cattle truck for transport to the new land. These families joined the throngs of people ~ 10,000 people ~ who arrived via trucks, horseback and on foot. This land, which would become the village of Guadalupe Carney, was set to absorb all of these people in one day between 10pm and 1am. What awaited them however was an unfriendly “welcome” ~ the ranchers in the nearby hills, firing their weapons at the newcomers to chase them away. Ten thousand people filled with hope found their dreams to be challenged with the unfriendly welcome, little food to eat, and no money for a return trip back home.
However, these are a resilient people. The next morning the energy of the village movement was evident. Everyone had a job to do. People began to construct mud-and-thatch huts. Maira was assigned to be a member of the Education Committee. The committee was responsible to build a stick-vine-and-thatch school building on a cement slab, to teach the village children, and to secure a permanent teacher. A government-paid teacher arrived in the village. As a committee member, Maira loved her new job, working with the children to give them a future.
After a year of living with army & fire ants eating their crops and making life miserable, Maira and her family moved across the road to more favorable land. With government assistance, the people built a new school and acquired new teachers on the new village land. Maira received an offer to continue her schooling (past sixth grade). However, her empresa (company) would not grant her a leave of absence from work detail. Since she had no husband or partner, she had to fulfill the daily work of cutting grass and planting palms alone.
After working for a few years, Maira persuaded the empresa to grant permission for her to attend school in the afternoons if she accomplished her workload in the mornings. In this manner she was able to complete six more years of schooling. Maira experienced the happiest day of her life when she received her diploma! Her mother and sister attended the ceremony.
After she graduated, she met Francisco, who was also part of the village movement. Francisco already had one daughter, and now he and Maira have a daughter together - Tanya Joselin Rameriz Aguillar. They are committed to helping the village survive and to giving their children a future.
Their roles involve daily work in the palms on the empresa’s land. There are long-standing arguments about land ownership between the rancher who first resided on the land (though he has no title to the land) and the village. There have been serious points of strife and contention resulting in great unrest and violence. However, Maira and Francisco remain committed to residing in the village and helping to obtain the land titles from the government. They are tenacious in this task for they believe this to be their future.
Maira recognizes that the land is not the most important thing in her life ~ God is. She says “It is through Him that everything is given to us. All opportunities are from Him.”
One amazing opportunity was being invited to be part of the craft group, Made in Honduras. Having learned to crochet from her mother, Maira would create small bags for friends and family. Maira discovered she was too old to be a member of the youth group, who were learning crafts. But when she was introduced to the newly-launched Made in Honduras Craft Co-Op, Maira was invited to sell her crocheted bags at their craft market. She experienced success with selling her bags to teams of people visiting the community. Maira has subsequently learned how to crochet angels, nativity sets, table runners and tablecloths. Her latest product is crocheting delicate, layered necklaces and incorporating tiny beads within the design. Additionally she is a member of the silk scarf painting group which meets once a week to create colorful scarves in original designs.
Maira’s products have given her a new confidence, personal pride and a job of her own. She views her craft work as providing for food for her family and for a future for herself. With the craft co-op having voted her as their president, Maira believes it to be a privilege to lead them.
With her baby and her work in her home and for the empresa, she is very busy. However, Maira feels blessed with a daughter, and hard-working man, and a job that offers her hope for the future.
