“The Girl Who Could,” Written by Author and DREAMer Gaby Pacheco

Today’s contribution is from America’s Voice writer Maribel Hastings.

“This is the story of a girl who always knew that whatever she set her mind to do, she could.”

That’s how Gaby Pacheco begins telling the story in “The Girl Who Could,” the second children’s book that this young undocumented woman has written. She has become the face of the national movement advocating for the DREAM Act and, just like the girl in the book, she has (and continues to) overcome obstacles to achieve her goals.

She’s looking for a publisher for both books and knowing Gaby, I have no doubt that she will find one.

Those of us who have the privilege of knowing her know about her dedication and the persistence and poise with which she calls for the legalization of young undocumented men and women like her. We also know about her passion for early childhood education.

Gaby was brought from Ecuador to Miami by her parents when she was seven years old. From that moment, she began an academic journey that she has followed to awe-inspiring heights. She has excelled academically, in sports, in music, and community service.

This young woman already has two associate’s degrees and a bachelor’s in education. Without papers, she can’t practice her profession—but that hasn’t stopped her from serving as a tutor for children. Gaby wants to provide musical therapy for autistic kids.

Last year, her dreams pushed her to walk 1,500 miles from Miami to Washington, DC, alongside 3 other young people, to bring attention to the fight for the DREAM Act.

Last year, she became a constant presence in the Capitol, lobbying for support for the DREAM Act (which, unfortunately, didn’t pass).  This year she is still standing her ground, fighting for the bill and advocating for President Barack Obama to grant deferred action and protect young people from deportation.

And through all her struggles, Gaby found time to write two beautiful children’s books. The first, written in Spanish, is titled “En el ir y venir” and the other, written in English, is called “The Girl Who Could”.

“I wrote the first one four years ago and it’s about two brothers, who are wolves, and their tradition is to emigrate each year, but after one of those migrations they run into a shadow that is unlike any of the tree’s shadows where they used to rest. They don’t realize that the shadow is a wall”, Gaby explains to America’s Voice.

“The other book has a lot of me in it. The message I’m trying to get across is that even if society tells you that you can’t do something, you have to try until you achieve it,” Gaby continues.

“When she was getting ready to graduate from high school, her counselor told her because she had no papers, she could never go to college. She knew she could, and that fall she started at Miami Dade College,” says one of the parts of Gaby’s second book.

“For me children are very important. We have to open their eyes and give them information from an early age so they can be agents of change,” Gaby says.

“That second book talks about how children are often told that they can’t do something, but it is possible to achieve what you set your mind to.”

To Gaby—educator, activist and writer—and to thousands of young people like her, Congress keeps saying “no” by not approving the bill that would give them legal status.

But I am convinced that “the girl that could” and her fellow DREAMers will eventually come out of this fight triumphant.