Claudia Macz Chen, 23, is a mentor with the Abriendo Oportunidades program, which the Catrinka Girls Project is a part of. She is the 7th of 10 children, and suffered psychological and physical abuse as a child (unfortunately not unusual - Guatemala ranks 4th in the world in terms of domestic violence.)
Claudia says: "There is a difference between the girls who participate in Abriendo Oportunidades and the ones who don’t. It’s about having friends in the community. There are a lot of things that parents don’t let their daughters participate in. When you have friends, you motivate each other to continue your studies beyond primary school. In school, the girls talk a lot. They also meet up for the sake of talking to one another. Girls lose the fear of participating in class and the fear of public speaking. They now have more confidence. They are motivated to come up to mentors, like me and share a personal problem they’re experiencing." Read more via Girl Up.