Maria Gabriela González

Maria Gabriela González _{SEED Coordinator, Mexico}

"I think that the only way to reduce social inequalities in the world today is by educating our children."

 

My name is Maria Gabriela González. I was born in Caracas, Venezuela on the 19th of November in 1973. I enjoy practicing sports: cycling, hiking mountains, tennis and yoga. My favorite place in Venezuela is called La Gran Sabana, visit the website and you will agree with me.

The first 8 grades of my basic education I attended a private school, but when I was 15 I had to move and change to a public school. That change was not easy, but my Mom's support and my interest in practicing Karate kept me on the right track. At that time I experienced first-hand the huge difference between the public and private education system in my country. In Venezuela, as in most developing countries, it is expensive to receive a good basic education. As a consequence, the poor people rarely have the opportunity to improve their living standard.

During the seven years I practiced Karate I became brown belt and I won many competitions at home and abroad. I think this determined my personal development: it taught me discipline, concentration and that we always have new things to learn and to improve on.

When I was 17 I decided to study Chemical Engineering at Universidad Simón Bolivar. My career is very interesting indeed: my favorite subjects were Heat Transfer and Separation Processes. However, I wasn’t 100% happy: I wanted to feel that I was helping human beings while working, so I decided to develop my thesis in a field called “Bioengineering”. I designed and built a reactor to generate Ozone for therapeutic purposes.

I joined Sema Group in 1999 to work as SAP Consultant in Venezuela and then Chile. In 2000 I moved with my husband to Norway, which is the best country if you love to ride bicycles and hike mountains. There I worked for Schlumberger in a project related to SAP and I also took Norwegian classes. That experience helped me a lot, not only to meet amazing people from almost everywhere in the world, but also to learn about the culture in Scandinavia. The thing that I admire the most about the Scandinavian society is that everyone has the same opportunities in their lives.

Personally, I think that the opportunity of sharing with and learning from other cultures is priceless, not only because you learn about others but also because during this process you learn more about yourself. SEED offers this opportunity through Collaborative Projects.

I was living in Norway when I heard about SEED for the first time and it caught my attention immediately, as I have always been interested in working with underprivileged children. A few weeks later, we were transferred to Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico. I remember that we were still living in a hotel when I started to get involved with the only SEED school that runs in this location. I started my volunteer work by teaching computer basics to the teachers at the school. In June 2003, I was appointed SEED Coordinator for Mexico.

I think that the only way to reduce social inequalities in the world today is by educating our children. If today we fail to give them the tools they need to survive in the future, we'll just loose them. I do believe in this project and in its impact in the lives of the people involved, especially in the little ones.