In the Provincial Justice Department, among files and offices, you can find Mailín Acevedo Sánchez, a woman whose life has been marked by overcoming adversity.

This story begins in 2000, when she started working as a cleaning assistant at the Land Registry. She was just 22 years old, had a four-year-old daughter, and earned a salary of 120 pesos. What seemed like a temporary job became the gateway to a career that, two decades later, defines her completely.

"I would arrive at 6:00 a.m., do the cleaning, shower there, and by 8:00 a.m. I was at the reception desk. At that time, my shift ended at 3:00 p.m., but I stayed a little longer to learn other skills; I didn't want to spend my whole life working as a cleaning assistant."
That gesture of staying without anyone asking her to was the first step toward what is now her profession.

Little by little, Mailín moved on to become a secretary in the Associations Department, where fraternal institutions, associations, and religious organizations are registered.

While working, she studied at the Workers' and Peasants' College to complete her twelfth grade, because her technical degree in housing did not allow her to enter university. It was a double effort, fulfilling her job and at the same time preparing for a different future. When she finally obtained her high school diploma, she enrolled in a law degree program for workers.

Her personal life did not stop. “I had my little girl to take care of. I would get up at dawn, leave the girl with a friend, and go to work.” That friend was key to Mailín not giving up her job.

“My husband is my main support. He took care of our daughter when I had to take exams and was there for me during the most difficult times, including when I was pregnant with my second daughter. When I was admitted to the maternity home and the professors came there to examine me, he was with me.”

Her professional project ran parallel to her personal one. Her eldest daughter is now 30 years old and grew up surrounded by files. “Here at the Justice Department, they called her a ‘basic half,’ because she was with me during all the vacations and school breaks,” she says with a smile.

Mailín is a woman who not only excels but is also fortunate to have the support of her family, who walked alongside her.

"I studied until 1:00 in the morning, with my little girl asleep in my arms. I didn't have any vacations, nor did I take any time off to prepare for my state exam. I devoted the 20 days of rest I was entitled to entirely to studying. I would leave work, cook, and go to class, and if my husband couldn't take care of the baby, I would take her with me.

"My classmates would accompany me home because I would return late, carrying the baby. And so, between sleepless nights and a lot of sacrifice, I managed to graduate in 2012.

“My thesis, dedicated to real estate law, was recognized as relevant by the National Union of Jurists of Cuba and validated in the state exam.”

For a time, she worked in legal consulting and at a law firm. There she worked as a legal technician, although she never wanted to practice as a lawyer. “I don't like criminal law, it's something that doesn't appeal to me,” she confesses.

At the specialized law firm, she was in charge of legalizing documents, a job that took her from one place to another, the Provincial Directorate of Justice, the Faculty of Medical Sciences, and the University of Las Tunas. However, her heart was always in the Property Registry.

“It's a lifetime's work. My training was in the registry, and it's what I'm really passionate about.”

Today, at 47, Mailín holds positions of responsibility at the Provincial Directorate of Justice as a specialist and department head, having worked in almost every possible position, always with the same passion.