A woman holds a cup of tea while speaking

San Bernardino Community College District women connected with each other and heard from a member of the Freedom Writers at a women’s event March 23. 

The event in the historic SBVC Auditorium celebrated International Women’s Month and was held to honor women who inspire, lead, and uplift the community. 

Sonia Rezkalah, one of the original Freedom Writers who works for the Riverside County Office of Education, spoke about growing up as a child of hardworking parents who escaped the communist regime in Nicaragua. 

She said she was abused by a family her parents left her with while they looked for work in the Los Angeles area. 

“That little girl grew up with many insecurities ... and entered high school,” she said. 

She was one of Erin Gruwell’s at-risk ESL students at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach. Gruwell connected with her student before teaching them, and eventually “we weren’t just learning -- it would feel like we were home,” Rezkalah said. “Now I was feeling like I belonged, like I mattered.” 

After Gruwell gave students composition books to write their stories in, Rezkalah asked her parents questions.  

“It was beautiful to be able to put my words to paper, because now I'm leaving a legacy,” said Rezkalah, who encouraged attendees to write. 

Her story also honored her mother, Sonia Varela, who took time from her busy life to have tea with her daughter. 

“Little did I know that that tea time was our time,” she said. 

Rezkalah’s and her fellow students’ writings, “The Freedom Writers Diary,” became a bestseller and was made into a film starring Hilary Swank.