Aniuta Pino Pérez has been at the head of the Roberto Caballero credit and services cooperative (CCS in Spanish), located in the community of Pozo Prieto, in the municipality of Puerto Padre, for a decade. “I was introduced on May 16, 2014, and on the 17th I had my first activity with the farmers.”

Those years have not all been glorious, she clarifies. “We have had very hard times, but also good ones. When you face a cooperative, you understand that each producer is a company, a different world.

“I always try to encourage them. We often experience a huge drought, our CCS has various crops, but it is more livestock…, and without water, it is very complex.”

In her album of positive experiences, the days of assemblies occupy a privileged place. “For me, they are unforgettable because I share with each one.” In recent years, she highlights the passage of the Agricultural Intercooperation Support Project (Apocoop in Spanish), which upon its arrival in 2020 presented an opportunity for change, for progress.

But there were not many who believed that this was possible. Even so, the president did not give in to discouragement and dedicated herself to insisting on drafting the document with the urgent needs and dreams of the production unit. And she succeeded.

“This place around here has been very helpless; that is why people found it hard to believe. I told them to trust and finally, one day in 2022 what we asked for arrived and everyone was shocked, mainly, with the five irrigation systems, because even having a dam nearby we had never been able to exploit it to the fullest. We were overjoyed."

“Likewise, the forage machines were very well received, more so in drought; the cart and the windmills, which have been vital in accessing water.”

At the CCS, with its 45 producers, a group of which 10 are women and 78 associates in total, we can already speak of the impact of these resources on the growth of production in areas such as corn, cassava, and sweet potato. Everyone has seen that Aniuta was right in asking for trust.

“When I called some of them to accompany me to look for the irrigation systems, they even told me it was a lie. Once there, when I saw them, it was a beautiful thing, their faces betrayed immense happiness,” she says and cannot avoid her emotion."

“I will never forget that we gave one of those devices to a farmer who is already 80 years old and never thought he would see that. It's just that… (she struggles, but the emotion chokes her voice again). I have many photos of me watering next to him, and he still looks at that device and says: ‘No way, it's not credible, only you did this. ’ That is a glory for me; I talk a lot with that man, even about family problems.”

In that intense experience of each occasion, the gender workshops promoted by Apocoop itself and other institutions have left a deep mark on her. “I have learned a lot. I have been impacted by the experiences of other women and, after each meeting, I shared what I learned with the board of directors.”

Thus, day after day, she has been shaping her qualifications for the position and this construction “I am grateful for these and other opportunities for how they made my leadership and credibility grow, which is vital for a woman who works mostly with men. I do not feel less than them, I ride a horse, a cart, or carry milk. All the changes I have experienced have been for the better.

“Before, I was quite worried about whether I was neglecting my home to do this job. After a few years, I understood that I was not neglecting anything, because, in addition to the fact that this responsibility is not only mine, I had to share my tasks, the times.” She says this in a relaxed tone as if she had taken off a bag of wet sand, and she looks light. Dissimilar pressures were left behind. “I don’t have a set time to return home, because if I’m in an assembly, for example, it doesn’t depend on me how long it lasts. And in that sense, no one can tell me ‘Don’t go, you can’t do this’ or stop me from doing what I want. I feel liberated, empowered, and capable of facing any problem. I do household chores when I can, there’s nothing that forces me to do them when others think I should.

“I have my partner, but we are understanding about the role that each one has, and at home, we help each other. I have always had the support of my family, especially my mother, who never needed a gender workshop to give herself her place. I look for a way to spend time with her, with my father, my only son, and my two grandchildren. I have managed to get them to understand me.”

This understanding of who she is or of her potential leads her to look with concern at other women close to her, who in turn look at her with astonishment. “They have lived their lives around men and they don’t work. I look at them and I would like to change their reality, but I know that it is complex. My producers have received workshops and they are very strong and willing.”

At the beginning of taking the reins of the cooperative, Aniuta felt unprotected. She often thought that she couldn't cope with it. “Little by little, those feelings of defeat were left behind. I started to visit my farmers, which is what I do most. I am never in the office because I like to walk, tour the fields, talk to them... Today I feel satisfied and happy to be where I am. I perform my role with joy, with enthusiasm, despite these difficult times.”

At the time of our interview, the president was busy completing the engine parts for the tractor for collective use of the cooperative; while she lamented the two months (August and September) of non-payment to her producers for the delivery of milk, even though they add up to more than 1,500 liters above the plan. “And they have not stopped contributing, they know that the children are the main recipients.” She says this with pride, but she knows that her people live from these tasks, so she will have to continue looking for a solution.

And there she goes, with hundreds of new dreams in her backpack.