Brave Mothers, Bright Futures: Meet Margarita
Meet Margarita: a mother of four who has called San Francisco home for the past 16 years. She loves taking Zumba classes, watching Disney movies with her children, and cooking for her family—especially cooking Mexican food, such as mole or cochinita pibil with homemade tortillas. These foods remind her of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, where she’s originally from. She loves keeping that culture alive here in SF so that, when she takes her children to visit Mexico, they’ll be ready to embrace the culture and the food. Her daughters, Roselyn and Lupe, have been in our dance classes since the beginning. Here more from Margarita, in her own words:
What advice would you give to other mothers?
“Find a community of other mothers to support you. I immigrated here on my own, and BJM has helped me a lot because, though I didn’t have a single person to navigate parenting and life with, I had an organization of women who have helped me and motivated me for the past five years, since my youngest daughter was in kindergarten. I love that BJM is faith-based, and I’m grateful to have had space to pray with others.”
What brave, bright future do you imagine for yourself?
“I lived my brave future when I immigrated here. That was a very brave thing for me to do.”
What brave, bright future do you imagine for your children?
“My children have support and better opportunities, and I imagine them helping other girls to grow. Maybe through translating, or through being teachers like Miss Gabby, Miss Sylvia, Miss Laina, and all the other teachers at BJM. My younger boy wants to be a soccer coach, and I say, ‘Why not?’”
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