Devi’s story

“When I arrived from the village I was very quiet,” says Devi Juarez Moretto. “I didn’t know anything about living in a city. I found work in a house, but I didn’t know how to sweep floors, how to cook, anything. But I learnt.”

Devi started taking part in Progressio partner organisation EDUCA’s training workshops in 2008. EDUCA aims to empower women in marginalised urban areas, like San Juan de Lurigancho in Lima, to participate in local government decision-making and set up community development projects.

Devi learned about her own rights and, she says, has changed as a person. Her sense of identity and self-esteem have grown.

“Now I’m not so quiet,” she says. “EDUCA has trained me to be a facilitator, to express myself better, to be more at ease talking to other people. Before I would have just kept quiet, but now I will stand up for myself and say if I don’t like something.

“It has really helped me – in fact, I’d say I have changed completely.

“As a citizen, I have also changed. Before I didn’t even know the name of my neighbour. Now I am a coordinator of the Glass of Milk scheme (a significant role in grassroots organising), and I get involved in everything.

“Now I’m on the management committee for the project, and I’m running training sessions for other women. I think what I can bring is my experience – how submissive I was when I arrived, and how much I have gained from the project. I’d like to transmit that energy to other women.”