(Above: Alicia Benito sits her family home in Mecca, Calif. Benito works 50-60 hours a week in the fields of the eastern Coachella Valley to help provide for her children. Image: Paulina Rojas/Coachella Unincorporated)
By Paulina Rojas
Editor’s Note: Stories about female farmworkers often examine issues experienced by these women in their work environments, in the fields. There has been extensive reporting on the abuse and harsh working conditions these women face daily. But we rarely get to see what life is like for these hardworking women at home, off the fields. This story uplifts the voices of women who find themselves stuck in cycles of poverty, unable to find any moment for rest, and it looks at how traditional gender roles in farmworker communities only perpetuate that cycle.
MECCA, Calif. — Alicia Benito’s shift picking limes in the fields in and around Mecca, a rural community about three hours east of Los Angeles, starts at 8 a.m. But like a lot of female farmworkers, her day gets going long before first light.
“First I have to make lunch for the children, my husband and myself,” said Benito, a wife and mother of three, ages 9, 7 and 1. The family shares a rented one story house in a neighborhood surrounded by farm fields. “At 6:30 a.m. I wake up the kids and get them ready. At 7 a.m. I drop off the oldest ones at the school bus stop and then I take my youngest one to daycare.”
Benito is short and soft spoken, her hands are small but strong. She appears shy and serious at first but just a few minutes into our conversation she smiles and cracks a joke. Her laughter immediately brightens the mood of an unusually cold and dark winter evening.
After her whirlwind morning routine, Benito, 27, heads to the fields where she spends 8 or more hours a day crouched under trees and exposed to the harsh desert sun. She does this six days a week, often working 50-60 hour work weeks.
Benito says the back-breaking labor takes a physical toll on her, leaving her exhausted at the end of each work day. But when she gets home, there’s still no time to rest. Benito’s nighttime routine starts by preparing food and taking care of her children.
“When I get home, I make dinner … and then it’s time to get [my children] ready for bed,” she said. “I would like to spend more time with my children but I just can’t, not with my schedule.”
Working in the fields is not a career path she would have chosen, had there been other options. But for many women in the eastern Coachella Valley, career opportunities are limited, especially for those without a high school degree.
For Benito, the surrounding fields presented the only option for employment.
Since I didn’t finish school, my only option was to go work in the fields.” – Benito
Accurate data on farmworkers living in the eastern Coachella Valley is difficult to find. However, the United States Department of Labor conducted a National Agricultural Workers (NAWS) survey throughout fiscal year 2013-14 and found that only 17 percent of survey respondents reported that they had completed high school. Only 5 percent reported that they had college degrees.
Benito dropped out of school in the 8th grade to help her parents, who are also farmworkers, care for her five siblings because they could not afford childcare. She started working in the fields five years ago after she and her husband, who works in construction, began struggling with mounting bills. It’s the only work she’s ever done.
“We had a lot needs, there were a lot bills that needed to be paid,” she said. “Since I didn’t finish school, my only option was to go work in the fields.”
It is a relentless schedule, but by making $400 a week, Benito and her husband are able to make ends meet for their family of five. It’s times when she can’t work, like when she was pregnant, that things become difficult. Female farmworkers do not receive maternity leave, so during those months during and after the pregnancy Benito’s family was forced to rely on her husband’s paycheck.
“It was very difficult during those times with just my husband bringing in money, we had to find ways to really reduce our spending,” she said.
Nancy Gonzalez, community leader and volunteer with Lideres Campesinas, a non-profit that aims to educate and empower female farmworkers, says it’s common for female farmworkers to carry both financial responsibilities and the responsibility of caring for the family at home.
“Women dedicate themselves only to working and forget about things like academics and learning English,” Gonzalez said.
She added this cycle affects the whole family. If mothers are not able to pursue an education or develop their language skills, it makes it difficult for them to become involved in their children’s education.
“They can’t help their children succeed because they don’t know the language,” Gonzalez said. “It is frustrating for both the mother and the child. Field work does not leave women with good options.”
Sandra Ramirez, 40, spent more than 10 years working in the agricultural industry, harvesting everything from dates to table grapes and mangoes. Three years ago she stopped working in the fields to spend more time with her four sons and to pursue a college degree.
“I decided to stop working in the fields, mostly for my sons,” she said in Spanish. “Sometimes they tell me that they want to go work there too and I tell them no.”
Like Benito, Ramirez’s work on and off the field left her with very little time for her children and herself.
“When I worked picking grapes, I would wake up at 4 a.m., make my lunch and head out to work at 5 a.m,” she said. “Then I would come home, make dinner, clean and just make sure that everything was in order.”
Ramirez said she has more time to be involved in her children’s education, now that she has stopped working in the fields. She has become a leader in her community, encouraging other parents in the eastern Coachella Valley to become involved in advocating for their children’s education.
Ramirez said leaving the fields was one of the most valuable lessons she was able to teach her sons.
“I want to show them that they have more options, that they can do more,” she said.
Though she no longer works in the fields, Ramirez said she sees how traditional gender roles that are prevalent in the eastern Coachella Valley add to the burden that female farmworkers face on and off of the fields.
“For women, it is harder. We can’t just come home, drink a beer, watch TV and relax,” she said. “We still have to make sure everything is done around the house.”
For women, it is harder. We can’t just come home, drink a beer, watch TV and relax” – Ramirez
Gonzalez said these traditional gender roles make it difficult for women in farmworker communities to see themselves as agents of change. But Lideres Campesinas is working to change things. The grassroots organization regularly holds meetings throughout the eastern Coachella Valley to educate women on their rights at work and at home.
“We teach women about physical and emotional abuse but also about equality in the home,” Gonzalez said, adding reaching the men is a tougher challenge. “[But] many of the men in our community are ‘machista’ and they don’t feel the need to come to our meetings.”
Gonzalez said they want to bring men into their meetings to show that equality in the home is important for the well-being of the whole family.
For now, working in the fields is a necessary sacrifice Benito makes so that her children can have a better future and hopefully become the first in their family to graduate from college.
Benito, who is originally from Mexico, recently gained citizenship and said she would someday like to go back to school.
“I don’t know exactly what I want to study but I would like to enroll in a program that I could finish in a few years,” she said. “With the kids I won’t have too much time to finish a long program.”
In the meantime, she plans to continue working the fields to support her family and hopefully ensure that her kids have other options.
“I have to work so we can have a better life, everything I do is for my kids,” she said. “I want them to study, I don’t want them to struggle as much as I have. I want them to achieve all the things that I haven’t.”
View this extended video interview with Sandra Ramirez to learn more about the lives of female farmworkers on and off the fields:
*This story was produced as part of the Marguerite Casey Foundation Equal Voice Journalism Fellowship.*
About the author:
Paulina Rojas joined Coachella Uninc. as a beat reporter in February 2016 after working as a city reporter in the eastern Coachella Valley for more than a year. Although born and raised in New York City, Paulina feels right at home in the eastern Coachella Valley. She loves the warmth of the people and buying fresh bread from her favorite bakery in downtown Coachella. Paulina is a graduate of the University of Houston, and her work has appeared in The Las Vegas Review – Journal, The Houston Chronicle, HelloGiggles and Vivala. View her author page here.
By Paulina Rojas
Editor’s Note: Olga Montes is the Community Engagement Coordinator at Planned Parenthood. A sexual health educator for over 18 years, she says with the internet and social media there is more openness about things like LGBT issues, but also more pressure. She sat down with Coachella Unincorporated to share her thoughts on where young people in the Valley are at when it comes to sex and how parents can help guide them.
What are some of the most common misconceptions that youth have about sex?
I think a lot of it is that they need to know that they are normal. Cause no one really talks to them about these feelings. We also tell youth that being sexually healthy does not mean being sexual. They can be sexually healthy and not be sexual, it is about the way that they feel about themselves and that they are totally normal. Starting off with that is really important.
Over the years, what is the biggest change you’ve noticed in young people’s attitudes towards sex?
They do seem to be more open about things, especially about LGBTQ issues, which is really great. It shows that these kids are a lot more open and accepting.
In what ways do you think the internet and social media have changed the way young people think about sex?
It’s interesting because on the one hand the internet gives young people more access to information but on the other hand they get exposed to this warped view of how they are supposed to be and how they are supposed to look. There seems to be a lot more pressure and the way [young people] are communicating with each other seems to be a lot less personal.
What are some of the reasons that make parents afraid to talk to their kids about sex?
They’re embarrassed to think about their kids being sexually active. While they understand that they need to be protected, a lot of it is just that they don’t know how to approach the topic. During our presentations we usually tell parents, “It’s okay if you don’t know everything, the important thing is that your children see you as a source to go talk to.”
What is a good starting point for parents when talking to their kids about sex for the first time?
We go over values and beliefs first and then we ask them what they grew up with. Did their parents talk to them about sex? A lot of times they haven’t. A good place to start is by saying, “hey we’re in this together, I might not know everything but we’ll figure it out.”
Part Two: Youth Get Real About Sex
About the author:
Paulina Rojas joined Coachella Uninc. as a beat reporter in February 2016 after working as a city reporter in the eastern Coachella Valley for more than a year. Although born and raised in New York City, Paulina feels right at home in the eastern Coachella Valley. She loves the warmth of the people and buying fresh bread from her favorite bakery in downtown Coachella. Paulina is a graduate of the University of Houston, and her work has appeared in The Las Vegas Review – Journal, The Houston Chronicle, HelloGiggles and Vivala. View her author page here.
]]>
Coachella Unincorporated welcomes and publishes comments from our readers. We recently received the commentary below in response to Rogelio Montano’s article about growing up in poverty, “In Mecca, Dreams of Utopia” (See link below for article). Although now living in Mexico City, Rogelio’s article took the reader back to his childhood in the nearby rural community of Oasis. Like Rogelio, he used to spin a globe and wonder if anything existed beyond the Eastern Coachella Valley.
http://coachellaunincorporated.org/2012/01/10/in-mecca-dreams-of-utopia/
* Do you have a similar experience to share about growing up in the Eastern Coachella Valley? See below for more information on how you can be published on www.coachellaunincorporated.org.
Dear Rogelio and Community,
Your article touches on certain issues that I grew up with as a child in Oasis, just a few miles from Mecca. I too grew up into a hard working class family immigrated from Mexico. It was hard at times to not understand certain circumstances such as the financial aspect of life or why my parents did not know English. However, I do cherish the special kind of life that I had away from the hustle and bustle of what we see today in a globalized world…
It was then as a kid when I was able to walk out and play in the dirt, feel it through my toes – make figures out of mud, climb trees, make an army out of sticks and even create fantasies out of an innocent imagination. Going out with friends from the other trailers without a care in the world. Running around playing tag, discovering distance little by little where our only boundaries were limited to where the last trailer was parked.
Life had a routine, went to school, struggled with the English, had an amazing sloppy joe in the school cafeteria and dumped the disgusting celery, but wait, not if there was peanut butter! Then of course, the great bus ride home where only the unimaginable could happen. As I got home, parents were either there… or not. There were times of solitude because they would work until later hours and then came home to sleep on the floor because of back pains, cramps, oh, and start cooking ‘lonche’ for the next day’s meal at work. There was always a way into the trailer though. It could have been easy to drift away from trying to do homework or have a small sense of responsibility without their guidance.
However, all I heard was ‘estudia hijo, no quieres esta vida!’ That stuck with me. I too had a globe and associated Chad in Africa with the Chad that was in my class, or Mexico and what it meant to actually drive further south than my hometown of Irapuato. I too spun that globe and stopped it with my finger; but only to say to myself that none of those places could actually exist.
Today I remember and reminisce just like you do. I am currently living in Mexico City but travel extensively home – to Coachella where my family just managed to buy a house in a community. Yet, it doesn’t feel right. I always go back to Oasis/Thermal where we still have our trailer. I always take my shoes off, walk, look at those mountains that kept innocence near my life. I drive by those iconic palm trees that represent our valley and give me a sense of home. My parents continue to work in the fields; to a certain point it’s a sense of belonging and strangely enough I couldn’t picture them in any other capacity – neither my dad in a tie or my mom in a women’s suit. I embrace my life in that time. I embrace what Oasis School gave me. I cherish my CV high school education. I value the life I had.
We might be evolving as people, succeeding in different capacities, but you and I agree that we would never change what we had then and can only assure that we can help our community by giving them a better future and the options to mature into a successful career yet embrace their roots to strengthen pride, that sense of belonging and appreciation. Struggle never has to be a bad thing, our parents struggled and go figure, the product is you and I, and many other proud immigrants – first, second and now third generation… Some of us went ahead and got an education, were able to visit those countries; the same ones we were placing our fingers on the globe. But, lets face it, we are a particular group of people. It’s always hard, confusing or frustrating not knowing when to call yourself Mexican, American or even Chicano. Hispanic, Latino? Sometimes I just feel like saying that I’m from the Coachella Valley – a special place that back then knew no racial difference (we were too far away from all the affluent communities northwest of the valley). We are a special kind.
Thank you for writing this article, for taking me back in my imagination, thoughts and heart. For a moment, I felt that dirt in between my toes.
Diego Zaragoza Tejas
Oasis ’93
CV ’97
We invite reader commentary on all of our pieces. Let us know what you think and how you feel about the topics on our site. You can comment directly on an article, or you can submit your thoughts, comments, story ideas or articles to [email protected].
]]>Video by Raymond Bondad
For East Valley Youth, Sugary Drinks Easier to Come By Than Water
Dirty Fountains Main Reason East Valley Youth Don’t Drink Water at School
From Soda to Water: One Thermal Family’s Change to a Healthier Lifestyle
]]>
What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?
Click on the links below to see what our Coachella Unincorporated East Valley student reporters are thankful for this Thanksgiving.
Gratitude for the Identity of Community
Thankful for Charity in the East Valley
]]>“The Long Trek to School on Public Transportation” is an account from COD student Tony Aguilar, who rode the Sun Bus for one day to see the obstacles he faced getting from his home in rural Thermal to college in Palm Desert. It is complete with video.
“Private School = Public Transportation Headache for Thermal Student” is a first-hand account from Aurora Saldivar, who faced transportation issues getting from her home in rural Thermal daily to private school in Palm Desert.
The Long Trek to School on Public Transportation
Private School = Public Transportation Headache for Thermal Student
]]>Video by Raymond Bondad
]]>
* For more of Coachella Unincorporated’s Coverage of Dr. Oz’s Time in Coachella, visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/coachellauninc/
Video–HealthCorps Launched at Coachella Valley High School
]]>