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Borderlinks
Journey To Nogales When comparing my life while I am here living in the U.S to the life of those who are living in Mexico, all I can think of is how much I actually take things for granted. Our class trip to Nogales really opened my eyes to a lot of things that I was not aware of that actually goes on in other countries that are not as fortunate as the United States. What caught my eye about the whole thing was the amount of money that the maquiladora factory workers actually make.
During out visit to one of the
factories, one of the human resource workers stated that if they are
lucky, an employee will leave a ten hour day making a total of only
$7.00, and this is with the bonuses. This left me in shock because
I realized that the workers worked about five days a week for ten
hours making a total of $35.00 at most! In an article by Maria
Guadalupe Torres titled We Are Not Machines: Corporations that
bring jobs must bring justice too, she explains how most of the
maquiladora factory workers barely made enough money in a forty hour
work week to barely survive. She explains how
During out trip we also went to the house of a
resident of Nogales. We sat and heard her basic story about work,
life, family, etc. She expressed how her job at the food bank and
her husband’s job in construction barely gave her enough money to
live comfortable. Although she was happy living out of her home
made of cardboard boxes, you could see in her eyes that she was
hoping for more. We also did a class exercise which showed the wages of workers in the US and the cost of recourses, compared to the wages of those living in Mexico. It was ridiculous to see that A Hispanic worker would have to work for 10 hours to buy a package of diapers that an American could basically buy in about two. I am really sad about all this that is going on. In fact I left the trip depressed, but I am glad I went through that experience. I am glad I was educated on all that really goes on in a country that is familiar with poverty. I really hope something happens soon to where those workers have an opportunity to make more money to survive. I believe if most people were educated, like we were, then they would be willing to support movements and ideas that would help these overworked individuals. |
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many
of the workers had to spend their money cautiously on food,
transportation to work, shelter, etc. and unfortunately never have
an opportunity to slack because if they do, they can’t eat. In
order to afford many of the houses, these people live in houses made
of cheap construction material, some without water, electricity, or
have an outdoor toilet. These living conditions also link to the
poor health statistics that are ongoing in Mexico. In an article
titles Two Countries, One Population, Shared Problems, Community
Health in the Borderlands: An overview the author expresses how
the poor living conditions which result in inadequate treatment of
human waste, air and water pollution, unsafe working conditions at
work etc., are causing a majority of the ongoing health issues.
She said her main focus in life was to make it better for her
children, and to one day get a bigger house. This is the reason why
I said I take my life for granted. As American’s who live in a land
of opportunity and rights, we complain day to day about what we
want, as Mexicans, they strive day by day for what they need, and
unfortunately they rarely make enough money to support these needs.
Living off of $35.00 a week would basically buy beans and potatoes,
and maybe if lucky, a $4.00 gallon of milk could be added.