Maya Gonzales of Our Little Roses was born in Tocao, Colon, a rural town on the North Coast of Honduras went to work after graduating from college for the bishop of the Episcopal Church. She coordinated missionary groups to take relief through medical assistance and medicine to people living in abject poverty in the rural and marginalized areas of Honduras. In 2002 she became administrative assistant to Diana Frade, founder and executive director of Our Little Roses, a non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to rescuing the girl child in Honduras from situations of risk, empowering and transforming them in a loving atmosphere of unity, respect, and security into successful women leaders.
Our Little Roses was founded in a rented, three-bedroom, two-bath house near the Episcopal Cathedral in San Pedro Sula. The home was named after Dr. Rosa Judith Cisneros, an Episcopal attorney and children’s rights champion who was killed on the steps of her home in San Salvador on Aug. 18, 1981. (Violence against women remains a significant issue in Central America.)
Diana and Mayra have since transformed the ministry into an enclosed compound on land donated by the then mayor of San Pedro Sula that includes a 24-hour year-round residential home for girls, a Transition Program for Our Little Roses girls over 18 who are working and enrolled in a University or trade school, a bilingual school that enrolls 24 girls from the Home and 200 children from the community, a medical and a dental clinic, a Spanish immersion program for visitors seeking to learn Spanish, and a retreat center for local, national and international businesses, associations and nonprofit organizations.
Please Visit Our Little Roses