I first started doing a sewing course; after my certificate I started to make clothes for children, which I sold in the street, because I had no other place. Afterwards, I started working in a sewing workshop, but I continued to sell in the market. I finally found out about the trade union, thanks to a friend. That’s how I discovered that if we get together we can better defend ourselves against harassment and violence, and fight for our rights to be respected.
Today, the confederation is large, it speaks at government level. I saw that the self-employed workers do not benefit from social protection. We sensitized women vendors in the markets. We fought for social protection and all the benefits associated with that, for all workers. I have personally participated in several trainings and conferences on social protection and on the formalization of the informal economy. I did it from my experience as a street vendor. I am very proud of our work, and we continue to fight and raise awareness of informal economy workers in the markets.
