Commentary
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My mother - la mera mera - our family’s head honcha
Jaime Arrendondo is
a former staff mmeber
at the nonprofit
Farmworker Housing
Development
Corporation, and is
now the secretary-
treasurerof PCUN,
Oregon’s farmworkers
union.
BY JAIME ARRENDONDO
C O N T R IB U T IN G C Q L J J M N I5 T
“How did your parents put five kids through
college considering they have a second grade
education and have earned an average of
$18,006 a year over their working lives?”:
That’s the question I was asked by a
legislator this past session while advocating
for paid sick leave that didn’t exclude
farmworkers. The answer was simple. My
mother, “la mera mera” (head honcha).
While calling my mother la mera mera may
seem confusing because of the machismo
influence that’s plagued our Mexican people
- including my family - it’s the truth.
Yes, my dad has been the decision maker
in most important cases, but it’s my mother’s
will,' love and vision that’s led us this far. The
oldest of 11, my mother learned to care and
lead a family early on. When there was little
food in her household she would make sure
everybody ate before she did, even though
she knew she wouldn’t get her piece. If
someone needed to go retrieve drinking
water from the algae-Covered pond outside of
town, she would do i t She was only 10.
When we came into the picture, my mother
was more than ready to lead. With my father
gone most of the year to the norte (north) she
carried the load. I remember a lot of her
sacrifices early on. But the one that sticks out
the most is her giving us her would-be
breakfast (eggs) to exchange for school
supplies. With things getting tighter by the
day she Vouldn’t Btarid seeingus gb hungry,
so she pressed and pressed my dad until we
all headed north.
It was here (Oregon)
where my mother became
a campesina (farmworker).
She was pregnant at the
time with my little brother
Ramon. Not knowing
about the poisons in the
fields she worked late into
her pregnancy.
Consequently, Ramon
turned out to have the
weakest immune system
out of all of us.
When she was not
working, she was out in
the community finding
resources. Food boxes,
clothing, rent and utility
bill discounts, English
classes,.bus passes, Christmas presents^ etc.
You name it, my mom knew where to find it.
At school, despite not Understanding the
system and being unable to interact because
of; language barriers, she would always come
along with us for conferences and events.
During the summers she would work two
shifts; She picked berries in the morning
from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., then went off to the
cannery to work on the beltline from 3 p.m.
to 11 p.m. My dad did the same, but mom
still carried most of the load at home. As we
got older we were able to help out more, but
also gave her a few headaches here and there.
Flknever forget seeing her image in the
window of my car as she stood inside our
o
house giving me her blessing while I rushed
out of the house to go out with friends. She
still does it today though I’m rushing the
other way now to see her.
This year will be my mother’s 26th year as
a campesina. Thai's about half of her life.
Twenty of those have been at a food
processing plant where she currently makes
$9.50 an hour. That should tell you plenty
about where I stand in the debate to raise
wages.
My mother’s labor has produced many,
fruits. But if you ask her the fruit of her labor
she’s. m ostproudpf,it is herfamily.,,Gvacias
mama.
P H O TO CO URTESY OF
J A IM E A R R E N D O N D O
The author, third
from left, stands
with his siblings -
all college
graduates - and
his parents on
either end.
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