"Today, my crochet art helps me support my family… my children are in school and they're getting really good grades… they motivate me to keep on working hard for them and for their dreams."
"I'm Gloria Rosalva Rosales Argueta and I work in crochet. I was born in Guatemala in 1976.
"When I was a child, I went through some very difficult moments. My mother had to work to support the family and she had to leave me alone at home. One day, I didn't notice when a relative slipped into the house and sexually abused me. It was really, really hard for me and for my family. But thanks to my mother's support and unconditional love, I was able to move past this.
"I began crocheting at a young age. In school, we had a class in education for the home and I always got a perfect grade there. In fact, the teacher called me her star student. But even before that, my mother would teach us to crochet in the afternoons when she got home from work. My sister didn't care for it, but I did.
"As time went by, I learned to create different designs but always through trial and error. A lot of my work didn't turn out well but Mother was my number one fan. To her, everything I made was beautiful. This encouraged me to improve my technique.
"I began selling my crochet work and people asked for more and more designs, many of them special orders for different kinds of items. This helped me innovate in everything, from the very small to the large and complicated designs.
"Today, my crochet art helps me support my family. I've been able to gain the confidence of shoppers and they're a great help. Thanks to them, my children are in school and they're getting really good grades. I'm so proud of them and they motivate me to keep on working hard for them and for their dreams. This is a big step ahead in my life and I'm grateful."
