Caregivers Deserve Their Own Space Too

Asociación Rompiendo Límites – Guatemala

There is a kind of work that rarely appears in reports, statistics, or recognitions: the work of women who care. Who dedicate their time, their energy, and often their own well-being to supporting a person with a disability, day after day, without anyone asking how they are doing. Asociación Rompiendo Límites decided that had to change.

Through the project “Transformación Mujer: Recognition and Value for Caregiving Women and Women with Disabilities,” they accompanied 25 caregiving women and 25 women with disabilities in a process designed to go far beyond skill-building. It was a space for caregivers to do something they rarely allow themselves: talk about themselves.

About their rights, their dreams, their needs, their life projects. Not about the person they care for — about them.

Many said it in their own words: it was the first time they had found a space like this. Through trust circles and participatory activities, they strengthened their self-esteem, incorporated self-care practices, and built a support network that remains alive long after the project formally ended. That bond doesn’t close with a final report.

The most powerful result was collective: the participants jointly built a care agenda grounded in their own experiences, with real challenges, concrete priorities, and proposals to make the work of caregiving women visible and valued in their communities. Because caregiving is essential work for families and society, and those who do it deserve recognition, support, and the opportunity to grow too.