Lopez Omaña, Marvelys

Marvelys Lopez-Omaña is a Venezuelan immigrant. Marvelys first arrived in Las Vegas in 1993 as a 17-year-old high school exchange student at Western High School. Her host family, who were Mormons, warmly welcomed the Catholic teenager and became fast friends.

Marvelys grew up in Caracas in an educated family, her father owned a toy business and mother was the business administrator. They also experienced the long and consequential presidency of Hugo Chavez. By 2003, Marvelys and her husband Moiseo Gomez decided to take the giant leap to relocate to the U.S. with their eldest child. They later had a second child and have become U.S. citizens.

Before emigrating, Marvelys attended medical school in Venezuela, which had been her childhood dream. Both she and her future husband connected as first responders to a major earthquake in Cumaná; he was a firefighter and nursing student.

In Nevada, she has become a respected mid-wife and has assisted with an ever-increasing number of births. Her husband is a registered nurse and works for the Health Department.