Luz grew up with five brothers and one sister. All of her siblings joined the armed struggle against the Somoza government, during which Luz lost her sister. Luz stayed out of the armed struggle in order to be with her children.
Luz was active in many areas of social work during and after the revolution. She worked in literacy campaigns as a neighborhood coordinator. She volunteered for the Women's Battalions, which worked in areas of need, such as working on farms for single mothers, health care campaigns, and security at strategic points. Luz has been a member of the AMPRONAC and AMNLAE national women's associations, and she has served on the National Culture Promoter Association - organizing social and cultural events.
In 1982 Luz was invited to travel to Cuba to advocate for a group called Permanent Peace Action (PPA). She gave several talks on the situation in Nicaragua and the revolutionary government. Her delegation succeeded in winning the support that PPA needed to continue working.
In 1994 Luz was invited to travel to the United States, where she spoke on college campuses, at schools, women's organizations, factories, convents, and even retirement communities, from California to South Texas. She spoke about the issues that the people of Nicaragua confront, such as labor rights, global economics, global politics, and community organizing.
Luz co-founded the Unemployed Women's Movement after the victory of the Chamorro government in 1990. She is proud to say that, since then, the Unemployed Women's Movement has trained more than 3,000 women in marketable skills.
Luz's vision for the future is that women have their own work, which allows them economic independence. She wants to continue to generate consciousness of gender and self-esteem among women, so that women value themselves. Luz dreams of all women being able to plan their families, and of better lives for all families.
Luz reminds us that women in Nicaragua organize themselves to confront all kinds of problems, and that all the people of Nicaragua are ready and able to take action, they just need the resources to support them. |
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