Nayeli Pale

"In firefighting, the area where I was working, was not well known by women. To engage more women, I tried to do several things. To begin with, for the Indigenous communities, I tried to speak in their native language. My language is Tzotzil, so speaking to them in Tzotzil helped me understand their knowledge of the subject, which led to significant progress. [...] In the training sessions within the brigades, we successfully included at least one woman in each, particularly those who expressed interest. They began participating in patrol rounds and digging firebreaks alongside their male peers. One of the younger women even had the opportunity to lead a brigade. She told me that, on one hand, she was afraid of being rejected, and on the other, she felt brave enough to say, 'If you can do it, so can I'."