Maribel Matul-Ramirez, the wife of Lynn’s first Latino city councilor, Obed Matul, started her long and successful career when she moved from her home in Tahuexco, Guatemala, to Lynn alone at the age of only 14.
Now co-founder and president of the charitable non-profit His Love Foundation, co-owner of the local graphic design business Full Color, a mother of four, and a graduate of North Shore Community College with two degrees, Matul-Ramirez reflected on her struggles and eventual successes as a teenage girl in a new city and country.
“My reasons for leaving were the violence I was witnessing in my country — the corruption, the injustice. We were struggling with poverty, and seeing the lack of opportunities pushed me to make that decision,” Matul-Ramirez said. “I left my family and everyone behind. It was a very hard and painful decision, but I did it because I really wanted a better future for myself. I wanted to work for something better for me, and that meant sacrificing everything that I had known my whole life and leaving my homeland.”