Rebeca was born in Santiago Atitlan in 1987 and is the third of 5 siblings. Since she was a young child she accompanied her parents to their fields to help with the cultivation and harvest of coffee.

Her mother has been a weaver her whole life and passed this tradition to Rebeca who loves to embroider traditional juipiles (Maya blouses). Embroidery made her a quick learner, and she was able to successfully receive special request orders. Through a special request, Rebeca was introduced to the world of birding – embroidering a bird design.

Through the income she made as an embroiderer, she financed her education from primary thru basic level school, and later she was able to successfully gain scholarships for university level where she completed Tourism and Tourism Enterprises studies.

She has a special memory of the first time she was able to closely observe an Oriole. She was somewhat familiar from embroidery examples which she has studied since a young child. However, she was extremely impressed and appreciative to observe this species in the wild with multiple perspectives and many different details of the different members of the Oriole family.

Currently Rebeca lives in Panajachel and is working for Pro Atitlan, promoting environmental awareness through educating local communities about the importance of conserving natural resources and avoiding pollution.