The Estelí Women's School at Superemos has always integrated workshops on issues like reproductive health, employment rights, self esteem and domestic violence into its educational programmes for women on low incomes in Estelí and adjoining areas. When the ISIS programme specifically addressing domestic violence began in 2012, the foundation was able to help this new programme develop its outrreach work in local communities because foundation president Gladis Ruiz Gonzalez and vice-president Hilda Duarte Solorzano had already built up over the years a wide network of contacts in rural areas around Estelí. In its turn, the ISIS programme has been able to reinforce the work of the Esteli Women's School with its students by providing consistent counseling support coordinated closely with the local authorities like the local police Women and Children's Unit and the Ministry of the Family.
Students in the Esteli Women's School almost all work in local cigar factories. They all
earn low incomes, usually between US$120-US$200 a month and many are single mothers
Gladis Ruiz, Superemos president leads a workshop on gender issues