Maria Eugenia Gobbato, known as Mariu, was born and raised in Guatemala and has made San Marcos La Laguna, Lake Atitlán, her home since 2010. She is a dedicated mother to three, a well-regarded midwife, a renowned massage therapist, and an experienced teacher.

Mariu's path began when she lived in Spain for four years, where she birthed her first two children in a beautiful birthing home in the mountains of Catalunya. This experience marked the trajectory of her life. Through birthing and becoming a mother, she discovered a deep calling to support other women and create safe, respectful, and dignified spaces for birth.

She has been apprenticing and working with local Maya midwives, herbalists, healers, and ajq'ij for over 13 years passionately learning and integrating ancestral Maya medicine as it was meant to be lived: as an integral part of community life.