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Roof Tiles and Soy Tacos: Los Niños Classes in La Ladrillera, Part I Brigida's Story Brigida is an attractive, upbeat woman in her mid-thirties. When meeting her now, it is hard to believe that only eight years ago she was timid, doubtful of herself, and hardly looked anyone in the eye. Due to her incredible perseverence, natural intelligence, and the support of Los Ninos, however, she has carved out a new and dynamic path for her life. Instead of focusing only on her children and abusive husband as she had before, the now single Brigida, or "Tita," teaches Nutri-Ecology classes, works in the Los Ninos Mexicali office, and is a member of a successful bee-keeping cooperative. She is a living example of how personal empowerment through education and self-esteem building can transform lives and living conditions. As the other Los Ninos promotoras in Tijuana and Mexicali, Tita dedicates a few hours of her life per week to teach in her city's surrounding communities. The adult women and children in these Nutri-Ecology classes learn of the four food groups, economical and healthy meat substitutions, and how to grow their own organic produce, amongst many other invaluable topics. For the past few months, however, Tita has undertaken a class very different from those of the other Los Ninos promotoras. Instead of the usual 5 -- 30 minute commute promotora's take to their classes, Tita's newest class takes place near the small town of Los Algodones which requires her to travel up to 2.5 hours each way. Los Algodones is a steamy border town hugging the desert mountains of Yuma, Arizona. The town center is full of pharmacies and dentist offices which cater to elderly Americans coming in from the US side of the border, yet the principal work of those in the town outskirts is roof tile making. When leaving the town's center, one walks straight into the harsh reality of the neglected outskirts: no drainage systems, little pavement on the roads, and visually consuming poverty. Though this outskirt town is formally called "Francisco Santana Peralta," locals know it as "La Ladrillera," or, "The brick making area." Even its name is eerily ominous. The popular "south-western" style roof tiles made of sleek red clay are made en masse in La Ladrillera by whole families and whole neighborhoods. Because of the unrelenting spring and summer heat in this region (temperatures sometimes hitting 120 degrees or higher), families usually begin work at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning and continue until the heat becomes unbearable (usually around 11 am). Once the temperature begins to fall (around 5 or 6pm), work is again resumed until around 8 o'clock pm.. Standing at a small outdoor table, a tile maker can shape the wet, red clay into a perfectly symmetrical roof tile within less than 45 seconds. Though physically taxing, the price for which these tiles have been commonly bought is less than 25 cents each. An intermediary businessman buys the tiles in bulk, has them baked and glazed, and goes on to sell them to U.S. companies. People in La Ladrillera are not told to which companies their tiles are sold, nor how much the intermediary is paid for these tiles. Kept in a cloud of demanding work and unanswered questions as to where the products of their labor go, these tile makers are easily exploited and are forced to accept the terms of payment given to them. Within the past few months, many changes have taken place within La Ladrillera concerning business transactions. Up until June of 2006, the majority of the families received 2,500 pesos (roughly $250 dollars) for each 1,000 roof tiles produced. Most families could produce these tiles within 2-3 days and divide the $250 between tile making materials ($60 dollars) and food and clothes for themselves. Now, because of a deal made between the two most prominant intermediary businessmen, this payment option no longer exists. Instead, families can select one of two options, both of which drastically cut their profits and require them to work much harder regardless of the dangerous heat. One choice is to accept 600 pesos (roughly $60 dollars) for every 1,000 tiles made: a $190 dollar cut from the previous deal. When earning the measly 600 pesos, most all of this is needed to buy new roof tile materials, leaving the family with little to absolutely no profit to use on food, clothing, school fees, or medicine. The second option is to accept 500 pesos (roughly $50 dollars) per week with the "patron" or boss providing the tile materials. With this in mind, a family who used to be able to make $380 - $570 dollars in profit per week now can make a maximum of $50 dollars per week. Though the quantity of tiles required per week is unspecified in the second option, competition from neighbors and seasonal workers from southern states makes it absolutely necessary that families work hard to make the maximum amount of tiles possible. If they fail in doing this and are viewed as unworthy, they can be cut out of their contract. With the support of Los Ninos, Brigida began teaching a Nutri-Ecology class to 12 women in La Ladrillera in May 2006 with the goal of easing their poverty through food security. She recognizes the hardships encountered by these families and uses that as fuel to fire her volunteerism. When asked to describe the area of La Ladrillera, Tita responds, "It's a place where they've kept many old customs -- ones they should change. Men don't let their wives leave the house and don't let them do what they'd like to do. Parents will often times keep their kids out of secondary school; they think that since their children will 'just end up' making roof tiles for a living, an education is useless. Why send them to school when they could be helping the family make roof tiles?" In asking how this particular community is different from the others in which she has worked, she replies, "Children have to work in order to help their families. Also, as a result of their meager incomes, these peoples' basic needs aren't covered." She states, "I hope to give these women [food] security. I hope to help them improve their economic situation by eating better and growing their own produce." Ranging from 21 to 69 years old, most of Tita's students have only an elementary school education, many never even finished. These women come walking or driving in dilapitated cars to a participant's home -- the only home in view with a shaded outdoor area. Some come to the class with bare feet, carrying their small bags of ingredients for the healthy meal they will make that day. Despite the scorching sun, buzzing of abundant flies, and blanketing poverty, these women are no strangers to laughter, jokes, or chatting with their neighbors. Brigida uses this to her advantage as she incorporates short exercises on self-esteem, reflection, and communication into her class. After one reflection where the participants are asked to close their eyes and picture themselves in a forest, each is given a folded piece of paper. Asked to open the paper to reveal the "treasure," each unfolds the sheet to find her own face reflected in a small mirror.
Because of the summer heat, Los Ninos post-poned the class until September 2006. As of now, they have just begun the new lessons and will continue learning the low cost advantages of soy, the danger of junk food and artery-clogging ingredients common in the modern Mexican diet, as well as learn how to save money and eat more produce by growing an organic vegetable garden. Though they may not have much control over their roof-tile earnings or work schedules, Tita is giving them the tools to fight povery from their own gardens, educated food choices, and growing self-appreciation. Bringing them together as a community also plants the seeds for community communication, and, hopefully someday, a strong and unified band of healthy people demanding respect for their work and families. |
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