Mary Nohemi Mendez is a single mother of seven children, living in the community of Ojo de Agua in the Nagarote Network. She is the Community Coordinator for Ojo de Agua and has been since 1999.
When Mary first started working with Rainbow Network, her children were very young and they relied on the labors of her husband. Suddenly, her husband abandoned the family and she was homeless, along with her seven children. Luckily, a friend of Mary's offered her backyard for her to use. Mary built a small hut out of pieces of wood and plastic, and the family of eight lived there permanently, even through heavy rains and the winter weather.
Thankfully, Rainbow Network soon implemented a housing project in her community, and Mary was granted a home in 2006. She worked extremely hard to construct the home and to pay it off in a timely manner; today, the home is completely hers and she rests well knowing no one can ever evict her or take it from her or her children.
Mary started her own businesses selling homemade tortillas, which were very popular among the community members. Because she wanted to make more payments on her house and to provide more security to her children, she opened a second business as a seamstress and works in her community selling clothing, blankets, and other items.
Mary feels peace now that she and her children do not live in the backyard hut. Some of her children are Rainbow Network scholarship students and attend school. The older children are married now and building lives of their own. Thanks to Rainbow Network, Mary had a chance to better her own life as well as the lives of her eight children.