Six Cuenca Women Honored at 'Mujeres Apoyando a Mujeres' Recognition Event

What Happened

On Tuesday, April 21, the Hotel Oro Verde in Cuenca hosted the fourth edition of Mujeres Apoyando a Mujeres — a local recognition event that has quietly become one of the more consistent community gatherings on the Cuenca calendar (source).

This year's edition introduced a new award: "Cosecha lo que siembras" — "Harvest What You Sow." It's the first year the award has been given. Six women received it.

The Six Honorees

• Dory Marina Merchán Luco
• Mary Martínez
• Verónica Tola
• Cumandá Merchán
• Diana Arévalo
• Elizabeth Bravo

The event was coordinated by María Angélica León. Its founding team — Karina Muñoz, Mary Martínez, Verónica Tola, and León herself — started the initiative four years ago and have grown it into a recurring annual moment for the city's women-led community.

The Philosophy

León summed up the spirit of the project with a line worth quoting in full:

"Queremos fomentar el lema de que 'juntas somos más poderosas', pero sin los hombres es imposible hacerlo."

("We want to promote the motto that 'together we are more powerful' — but without men it's impossible to do it.")

This year's edition centered on women's economic contribution — financial literacy, entrepreneurship, sustainability, and participation in household and civic decision-making. It's a shift from earlier editions, which leaned more heavily on cultural and social work.

Why This Matters for Expats

If you've been in Cuenca longer than a few months, you start to notice that the community work happening here — the real week-in, week-out connective tissue of the city — is disproportionately run by women. This event is one of the few public moments when that's named and recognized.

A few expat-relevant takes:

• If you're looking for volunteer or collaboration opportunities, the women honored here are all active in ongoing community projects. Their networks are worth finding.
• If you run a small business here, the entrepreneurship-focused conversations happening around this event (and its alumni network) are a genuine resource.
• The Hotel Oro Verde is a recurring venue for events like this — it's worth knowing. Located in the Gringolandia corridor near Parque de la Madre, it's easy to reach and frequently hosts community programming.

It's also a reminder, if you needed one, that the "Cuenca community" is not just the expat community. It's a much wider web — and the work being recognized here is the kind of work that makes a place feel like a place.

Source: El Mercurio