Written by Carrie Schmid
When Hortensia Mandujano was an elementary school student in
Mexico , she
remembers a warning a teacher gave the class after his students did poorly on a
math exam.
“He told us, ‘You’re going to want to get this time back, to
pay attention and to learn,’” she recalled him saying. “’But you won’t get it
back.’”
Mandujano completed school through the ninth grade. As a
young adult, she moved to the United States
to be with her family. She had four children. She worked seasonally in
agriculture. Sometimes, she would think about going back to school.
“I was wasting a lot of time,” she said. “I felt like there
was a lot I could do, but I couldn’t do it (at home),” she said. “I wanted to
study but I thought it was too late. I didn’t think there was a place I could
study.”
Then, in the spring of 2010, Mandujano heard about Adelante
Mujeres’ Adult Education program, which offers classes for Latina
women in English and GED preparation, plus classes for toddlers and pre-schoolers.
As a non-profit, Adelante Mujeres is primarily supported by foundations and
donors, so students are asked to make only a small contribution each trimester
and give back to society through weekly community service hours.
“It made me really happy,” said Mandujano, who had
remembered what her math teacher had said about getting back to school. “I said
to myself, ‘This time you have to take advantage of it. You’re going to pay
attention.’”
Mandujano set a goal to obtain her General Educational
Development Diploma within one year. In the spring of 2011, she managed to
raise her math score by 500 points, said Arturo Villaseñor, a math instructor
at Adelante Mujeres. Mandujano passed the math exam, the last test she needed
to obtain her GED.
“I think Hortensia is a successful student for two reasons,”
Villaseñor said. “First, she has a good level of confidence in herself. Second,
she works hard in practicing her exercises over and over until she knows them. With
this combination, she could achieve her goal.”
At Adelante Mujeres, Mandujano says she received more than
just a diploma; she also gained confidence. “I feel more comfortable with
myself. I feel like I can do a lot of things,” she said.
Since graduating from the program, Mandujano landed a job as
a caretaker. This fall, she plans on going to Portland
Community College
“I want to be a social worker or a counselor,” she said. “(Adelante
Mujeres) has opened my appetite to learn. What I did when I was at Adelante
Mujeres was just one step.”
Building self-esteem and love of learning is at the core of
the mission of Adelante Mujeres Adult Education program. For four hours a day, five
days a week during the school year, women study academic topics like math, English
and Spanish.
Since 2002, the adult education program has graduated about 200
women.
Students also take a weekly course called ESPERE to learn to
improve communication and transcend conflict. ESPERE (Escuelas de Perdón y
Reconciliación) is a program originally developed in Bogota ,
Colombia Columbia
and around the world.
Two classes a week at Adelante Mujeres focus on the
development of life skills — nutrition and parenting. Mandujano was surprised
at how much she gained from these courses. “Before I entered, I didn’t even
know I needed a parenting class,” she said. “I started to learn things I hadn’t
talked about but had been thinking about.’”
Additionally, women spend one class a week with Spanish
literature professors Nancy Christoph and Mariana Valenzuela on the campus of Pacific
University
Mandujano has a hard time choosing which class she liked the
best. “They are all really important. They are all integrated,” she said. At
Adelante Mujeres, “you’re learning how to get ahead, but also how to get
outside of yourself.”
The experience in Adelante Mujeres, Mandujano said, has also
taught her the importance of giving back. “I want to do something for the
community, and to have my children do something for the community,” she said.
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