Hi, I'm Ericka, I want to share my story with you.

I grew up as an only child, since my twin sister died very young. My parents were extremely hardworking people, so they tried to give me the best. My mother, in addition to her job, sold pastries and typical food, and my father always worked overtime.

When I was 15, I thought the English teacher, a 28-year-old man, was incredibly handsome. He was the son of the school owners and also managed the family business. I noticed that the teacher also had his eye on me. Because I was nervous and not progressing in class, so I could pass the year, my mother asked him for private lessons.

I had never had a boyfriend before, so I had no experience whatsoever. We didn't talk much about sex, so on that first day of class, besides him kissing me, we were intimate. I felt very scared, but above all physically hurt, because even though I told him he was my first boyfriend, he was extremely rough, but he said that's how painful it was. Even so, I felt in love.

The year ended, I obviously passed English, but I was starting to feel very sick, listless, sleepy, and had morning sickness. I was expecting my first daughter. His parents forced him to marry me; my parents agreed on the condition that I stay home. Six months after the wedding, my daughter was born. A year later, I had twins. Two days later, my parents were in a serious accident; they didn't survive.

I inherited a life insurance policy, as well as two houses. One was sold, and he asked for all the money. I agreed out of love. From that day on, things changed. He started hurting me. In fact, he constantly reminded me that on our first day together, I gave myself to him. He would repeat all of this when we were intimate, using his penis, tubes, or whatever objects he could think of, making me feel like it was my obligation.

I dedicated myself to caring for my children; I was an indifferent man, but every weekend he drank, using me by repeating the same things and doing the same things to me.

I started selling pastries and typical food from my mother's recipes in secret from him to have some income, since my children lacked nothing because he was a good provider for them, but I never handled cash, thinking that I would give it to another man.

For many years the abuse continued, even during the pandemic. He would stay home all day and hurt me constantly, always in the same way, with insults and threats. My children realized what was happening, until my eldest told her siblings and me that she was leaving home with her doctor boyfriend for Quiché. The three of them decided to suggest that I go too, obviously not with my daughter, but a friend of her boyfriend's father would lend me a vacant storefront in exchange for cleaning it while I found somewhere else to live.

My three children gave me some money, but I knew it was only for a short time. I didn't take anything from the house except the clothes on my back and my documents. Twenty minutes after this conversation, we left the house while the man was still asleep from the previous day's drunkenness.

My daughter and son-in-law dropped me off at the place, which was full of dirty, smelly used clothing left behind by the previous tenants. Even though I was many kilometers from home, I was scared, but the first thing I did was leave. I knew I had to be back before 6:00 PM because of the confinement, perishable food, and cleaning supplies, since it was going to be a long and busy weekend. To be comfortable, I arranged the dirty clothes strategically and slept in the most delightful and smelly bed I've had in the last 21 years.

The following Monday, the owner of the shop came to see if I needed anything. Quite boldly, I suggested we become partners. He looked at me intently, puzzled. I told him I could go to a wholesale market and buy fruits and vegetables to sell—people wouldn't go to a market out of fear—but that I needed a capital partner because I wasn't going to rent out the shop until the pandemic was over. With an approving look, he said, "You're being forward, but how much do you need? I don't have much money, but if you want, we can go now and buy some. If it doesn't work out, you can pay me when you have work."

Happily, I climbed into his pickup truck and off we went. Obviously, that first time, we didn't buy much, but he told me, "When you sell most of it, let me know, because we have to go earlier to find better prices."

That same afternoon I called him to inform him that I had already sold everything, that I already had the money to buy more and so the months went by, until it became a prosperous and established business, half of the profits were divided in two since that was the deal, he received much more than he received in rent.

I don't want to criticize him, because thanks to him I had a roof over my head and an income, but when he saw that I rented a small one-bedroom apartment a few blocks away, and that I bought a bed, refrigerator, and stove (all used, thanks to neighbors who sold them to me at a good price), he decided to tell me that the business was his and that he could have me as an employee, earning a salary. Obviously, I didn't accept, so he asked me to leave the premises. I simply thanked him for his help, returned his keys, and left with dignity, realizing that I could do it myself.

Along the way I remembered my mother cooking and decided to sell food for home delivery, contacting all those good customers who had supported me, things started going wonderfully, after a year I rented a bigger place, with tables and chairs, still doing home deliveries.

At the end of 2023, my children graduated from university and became independent from their father, who never mistreated them. My daughter is very happy with her husband.

I decided to hire a lawyer to recover my house, which my parents worked so hard for. Obviously, the man had renovated it, making it very beautiful and luxurious, but he did so with my money as well. In the middle of last year, he voluntarily moved out. Besides the income from my coffee shop, I also have the rental income from that house, which will belong to my children when God decides to take me.

Last year I graduated from high school through adult education and this year, 2025, I am entering university.

This is my story. I thank God for his mercy, my children for their support, and the people who lent me a hand. I hope to be an inspiration to any woman going through something similar.

- Ericka