Gabriela Elizabeth Moncada Amador sat quietly behind the counter in her mother’s business, Pulpería El Mirador. Whenever a customer arrived, she’d get up from her seat, smiling politely with perfectly winged eyes.

“Working here in this pulpería is an arduous job — we open at 6 a.m. and close at 9 at night,” Amador said. “In addition to food products, we also sell what’s called papelería (notebooks and other school supplies), for children who go to school.”

Amador, 21, said she studies business administration during the morning and then, at night, helps her mother with the store located in Colonia Lomas de Toncontin. She hopes to one day be her own boss.

“There’s four of us (children), but I’m the only one who helps because I’m the eldest,” she said. “The others are too young.”

(LISTEN: Amador shares what it’s like to work in her mother’s pulpería in the below audio clip)

To be the eldest means to carry the weight, Amador said, but she juggles shifts with her mother and father-in-law so it’s not too bad. She also gets homework assignments done sooner thanks to the store’s Wi-Fi.

“Creo que aquí en Honduras, somos muchas las mujeres luchadoras (There are many hard-working women here in Honduras),” she said. “We dream that, in the future, we can open up our own businesses and no longer have to be salaried workers.”

Soon after, Amador stood up from her seat for another customer. She circled around the store, picking up all the items he requested — casting her winged eyes down as she calculated the total.

The International Women’s Media Foundation supported Amaris Castillo’s reporting from Honduras as part of the Adelante Latin America Reporting Initiative.