subject: Plan Canada | Because I'm A Girl | El Salvador Girl Becomes Town Mayor [print this page] Imagine never getting the chance to go to school ever. Imagine trying to learn to read and write while fleeing from gunfire and hiding from the military. For Rosa Candida Alas de Menjivar, this was reality. 12 years of civil war in El Salvador brought her a childhood full of unimaginable horrors.
But because she is a girl, the hardships Rosa faced only increased her determination to succeed. Today, she is the first woman mayor ever elected in her town.
Rosa tells how it all began: "I was only five when my father was persecuted for belonging to a farmers association demanding better wages. Many people at that time got killed."
As Rosa fled with her family from the army, she lived a life no child should have to experience. She witnessed constant bombings, gunfire, and the death of loved ones. "My life was hard as a little girl," she says today. "I remember hiding in the bushes, sleeping on the dirt, running barefoot from military gunfire and hiding from the army in underground shelters."
Throughout her childhood, school was an impossible dream for Rosa, but that didnt stop this determined girl. She learned to read and write from teachers who were also in hiding from the army, like her family.
Finally, when Rosa was 17, the Peace Accords were signed. She got married that same year and gave birth to a son in October. He was to prove her opportunity to enter a whole new world.
When Plan began working in her town after the war, Rosa registered her son as a sponsored child. She learned Plan was encouraging volunteers to help with communications between sponsors and children in the town, and promptly signed up for a training workshop.
"I was trained in leadership skills that have been very useful to me to this day," says Rosa. "The knowledge I learned is mine. It is something no one can take away from me. I learned to be more communicative, to work hard, be patient with people and listen to opinions that are different from mine."
Inspired by the new opportunities around her, Rosa seized the chance to further her learning and completed ninth grade through distance education. She also began helping Plan with their annual report, by visiting local families and collecting information.
After several years building rapport with the families in the town, the families asked her to be a candidate for mayor in the municipal elections. In 2006, this former girl of war became the first female mayor of Las Vueltas.
But 31-year old Rosa is still setting herself new goals to reach for. In between her mayoral duties, she is finally studying for her high school diploma.
Nothing will stop Rosa. She is the one who can change the world. Because she is a girl.
