Elisangela Couto
2024 WOMAN OF GOLD
I lost my parents when I was 11 years old, and my middle sister went to live with my grand mother. My grand mother was muslim, and a great mentor, however she belived that womans role was to get married and bring up a large family, she taught me how to take care of the house, today, I am grateful for that.
Considering my grandmothers cultural beliefs, it was hard for me to study and to convince her to let me get a degree. But after a lot of discussions, I managed to convince her to let me pursue a university degree.
At 19 years old I started a degree in International Relationship, which for my traditional grand mother wasn’t too bad, considering that I would became a diplomate and travel the world. However, a year later I cancelled my course and I applied for a scholarship in Tourism Planning, which I got!
My grandmother didn’t agree with my second choice because she thought that I would spend my time “In beaches and wearing swimming suits”. But I managed, once again, to convince her, and eventually she came to agree that Tourism was as good as Diplomacy.
“I believe that access to education and information, is power! Power that gives people agency to decide to life, the life they opt to live."
- Elisangela Couto
OUR 2024 WOMEN OF GOLD ARTISTS
Women of Gold is a multimedia project celebrating the stories and contributions of women in the City of Greater Bendigo. Increasing the representation of women across different sectors and inspiring industry to innovate and meet the needs of our community as a whole.
