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Due to her engaging smile, Matilda has been on various postcards and books. She is also very adept at selling her wares to tourists and now has a shop of her own - unusual for a young, unmarried Mayan woman in a small village. She dropped out of school at the age of 8 to sell weavings to tourists full time. With the help of an American couple who took her under their wing, she recently completed her high school equivalent education in her mid- twenties. My groups always visit her family's house, as her niece is my God-daughter.