Maria Teresa Gallego Ergueta, Spain

Eight-year-old Miriam MinJun hovers her paintbrush over the vibrant tones before choosing the paint for her mother’s portrait. Bright colours, thickly applied. A lovely, happy face. Her mother, Maria Teresa, Mayte to her friends, looks on and smiles. Her eyes sparkle with love and happiness. Miriam MinJun ignores her, engrossed in her art.

The scene is played out in a suburb of Spain’s capital, Madrid. It is a perfect snapshot of mother and daughter. Content, happy and calm – a reflection of their lives together.

“Our lives are quite normal” says Mayte. “I’m just like any other working mother. I help Miriam MinJun get ready in the morning before her Dad takes her to school. I then get ready for work. At the end of the day, I usually collect Miriam from school or from her clubs. She plays piano and enjoys dancing and playing padel, a game like outdoor squash that is popular in Spain and South America.”

Miriam MinJun’s life could have been very different. Mayte and Pepo adopted her from a Chinese orphanage when she was 14 months old. It was an emotional time. “I had a two-year bureaucratic pregnancy”, recalls Mayte. “I cried when I got the call. China had given the okay. We did it!”

The big day finally arrived and the couple flew to China, in readiness to return as a family. They met their daughter for the first time in Nanchang, in the province of Jiangxi. They spent one week with her there and one week in Beijing completing the paperwork, visiting the Spanish Embassy and fitting in some sightseeing: Tiananmen Square, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven.

“It was wonderful getting to know Miriam MinJun – we fell in love with her immediately”, says Mayte. “She was so special for us, but of course, she didn’t know why we were special for her yet. Little by little she adopted us too. At first she woke up a lot in the night. When we cuddled her to settle her, she used to give a lovely contented sigh and go back to sleep again.”

“She is wonderful in so many ways and lives up to the MinJun in her name, which means ‘sovereign’ and ‘intelligent.’ She is the reason I get out of bed in the mornings. Even if I am in pain or don’t feel so good, I still need to get up and help my daughter get dressed, have breakfast and get ready for school. But this doesn’t feel like a chore. I love being a mother. Miriam MinJun is fun and makes me laugh every day.

“She is always running ahead when we are out and about to look for accessibility – ramps, dropped curbs, accessible bathrooms. She will help push when it is harder for me, such as up ramps or over bumps. If someone blocks the pavement or road, Miriam MinJun will ask them to move. ‘My mother can’t get her wheelchair through there!’ she tells them.”

Like mother, like daughter. Mayte’s work also sees her helping others. A volunteer, she is the Vice President of Aspaym Madrid (Association of Spinal Cord Injured People in the Community of Madrid), a charity that campaigns to make Madrid more accessible for people with spinal cord injuries. She also represents the board "Vocalia de la Mujer" at Aspaym. In this role, she seeks to enforce the principle of equal treatment and opportunities – specifically, the elimination of discrimination against women with spinal cord injuries or severe physical disabilities.

Although her work has a strategic focus, some of the projects she enjoys most are those that find her helping individuals adjust to their day-to-day lives with a spinal cord injury. As she explains: “I go into their homes and show them what they can do to make their lives easier. I teach them how to go to the cinema, get in and out of cars, go shopping and adapt their homes to make them more accessible.

“I didn't receive any help when I had to start using a wheelchair myself. I know what a big adjustment it is, and it feels good to be able to help someone else. The mentoring scheme pairs tutors and students who are similar in age, interests and gender. It’s usually a good match as I always find a new friend.”

Mayte’s manner is charmingly matter-of-fact. When talking about her day-to-day life, she shrugs and admits she hates housework. “I have a cleaner called Mariana. She comes once or twice a week, and I love her. I call her Saint Mariana because she is so good and has such a positive impact on my life”, she laughs.

Miriam MinJun also displays much of her mother’s straightforward approach to life. Once, at school, one of her teachers asked if it was hard to have a mother who was different. Miriam MinJun, confused by the question, answered: “But my mother isn’t different. My mother is my mother.”