Marisela
ANNOTATIONS
Transcript: "H—You said when we walked the other day you said you had kids M—Yes, I am a mother of 8 children"
Learn More [1]: “Policy Basics: The Child Tax Credit.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, December 11, 2019.
Learn More [2]: “New 50-State Analysis: State Child Tax Credits Would Lift 2.1 to 4.5 Million Children out of Poverty.” ITEP.
Learn More [3]: “What Is the Child Tax Credit?” Tax Policy Center.
Transcript: "T—How do you think she would be able to go, with financial aid, government help right?"
Transcript: "M—Well, here in New Brunswick rent is very expensive T—Yeah here in New Brunswick the rent is so expensive"
Learn More [1]: “Out Of Reach.” National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Learn More [3]: Jan, Tracy. “A Minimum-Wage Worker Can't Afford a 2-Bedroom Apartment Anywhere in the U.S.” The Washington Post. WP Company, August 16, 2019.
TRANSCRIPT
Interview conducted by Hank Kalet
Interview conducted in 2018
Transcription by Kether Tomkins
[Note: Where the translator repeats interviewer’s question or subject’s answer, the text has been edited. Where the translator is clarifying or adding to the conversation, the speech has been kept, and is in italics.]
00:00:00
Just, give me your name.
Hi, my name is Marisela Mendoza.
Okay, and uh, where you’re from, now and where you’re from--
--I'm from Mexico, from the city of Oaxaca from a very small town.
Okay, and uh, let’s start by kind of recounting your story of how you came here, how you came to be in New Brunswick and New Jersey. Understand?
About when I got here.
Mm-hmm, your story of when I get here, little by little.
Si, uh, I came here, in the year ninety-nine. I was sixteen. I came when I was married, from Mexico. I had not planned to come here but suddenly they told me we're going and I came.
You married young--
Yes.
Choice or how did that work? Did you choose it, to marry young, or what happened?
Difficult situations that happen when you’re young and have problems at home, sometimes the only out is to get married.
So there was-- Talk about that a little bit, talk about, uh, him as much as you are comfortable.
So when we got to New Brunswick, here in New Jersey, I thought that my life was going to be much better. I got to know alcoholism and drugs closely-- He was an alcoholic and he also used drugs.
And you didn't know that before you came?
No, my town was so small that, I don’t know, at the time, you didn’t hear about those things.
So it became a problem for him here--
Yes, he had been here before, he already knew everything here.
So describe your, the town that you came from.
It's a very small town where we all know each other. For one to be able to go anywhere, the dad had to give permission or else we couldn’t leave.
Very, very strict--
Yeah.
Very religious?
No, he was very, uh, like very strict with--
Macho?
Exactly, us women could not go out as we pleased.
So, very kind of old fashioned.
Yes, but I'm the first of four brothers. I'm the biggest--
I am the oldest of four.
Then more than a woman, I grew up like a man.
00:04:30
How?
Because I helped him work in the field.
But what kind of work did they do?
Like, cut cornfield, large trees, plant the corn.
Wow. She used to go cut trees, wow, strong, hard work.
Yes, that's why I said like a man.
Cut the trees down, maybe trim them?
Yes, there’s more trees then. My dad the biggest, and I the smallest.
My father used to cut the big ones and for her, the little ones.
Family business?
Yeah.
Did he work for somebody or was it his?
No, it was for, planting corn was for us to have corn to eat.
It was his business?
Mm-hmm.
So economically, what was it like? Some people have no money, some money, some people had a lot of money?
No. We ate meat only once a month.
00:06:00
And was that normal? Was that common in the community? Was it common in the entire community?
Yes.
So, not a well off community, obviously.
No, that's why most people got up and came here.
That’s why many people come to the US, the people from there.
She said it’s in, what state was it in?
It’s in Oaxaca, a town that belongs to Oaxaca.
Where is that? My geography is terrible Mine too, in what, as geographically, where is that? Near where, Texas or something?
No, that's very far.
It’s not close to Texas?
No, it’s like...
Near what?
Oaxaca is near... between Chiapas and Guerrero.
Near what other country?
Almost more to the south.
You got married when you were there?
Mm-hmm.
Then he came up? You got married when you were there and then he came.
Yes, we both came.
How long were…
They came here together.
Huh?
They came together.
Oh, you came with him?
Mm-hmm.
But he had already been here before?
Before, yes.
So, he came and then went back and got you?
Yes.
And how long was your trip? How was your trip here?
A bit difficult. It took us five days through the hills.
00:08:00
It was hard, it took us five days from the mountains
Mm-hmm.
So, you traveled-- you didn’t fly in, you came in across the Southern border? Crossing the border?
Mm-hmm, yes. The border and then we slept in the bushes.
We used to sleep in the dirt.
Until we arrived here.
With a group of people?
Yeah, with ten people for the group.
Was it uh, you know, we hear the word is coyotes, that they use here. Did you pay somebody to come and lead you across?
Yeah, pay.
Did you pay a coyote?
Yeah, at the time we paid fifteen hundred dollars. For him and for me.
And you had that available I guess, at that time? Or did you have to pay it when you got here?
No.
You paid when you came?
He had his boss, the man for whom he worked for then, he put the money.
His boss loaned him the money and then he paid him back by working for him.
Okay, now when you-- so you came in through Texas? Or Arizona? Through where did you enter?
Through, what’s it called, there is a place called Tecate, but I do not know where it is. Tijuana, because we had to go through Tijuana and around there, Arizona, going through all that.
So you came here through Tijuana, you said?
Sí.
00:10:00
In California, and then you crossed?
Mm-hmm.
Now how did you get here? That’s cross-country.
From California, there is a place called Madera. And from there, they sent us to Los Angeles, and from Los Angeles we caught a flight here to Newark.
So then you’re here and you came straight to New Brunswick?
Yes.
Talk a little bit about the change for you. This isn’t a big city, but it’s a busy area.
Yes, it’s different because I was alone in a place where I did not know anyone.
Wasn’t it much bigger, I guess, too?
Yes, I did not know how to use the money.
So, you would go to the store...
Yes, I pay with the big twenty dollars.
So, were you taken advantage of?
I paid with twenty dollar bills, to get the change back.
So it was hard to navigate that. how did you make money at the beginning?
I did not work, he was the one who worked.
And he earned enough to pay?
Mm-hmm. Yes, he paid a little of what we owed for getting here, and he paid the rent.
What else?
What we owed.
And then of course, all of the other expenses, all of the other things you had to spend money on?
Yes.
Now that was you said, 1999, 2000?
Mm-hmm, yes.
You said, when we walked the other day, you said you had kids.
Yes, I am a mother of eight children.
All here?
One is in Mexico.
The first one?
No, he's the third one because when I found out I was pregnant with him, I went to Mexico.
So, how old were you when you had your first child?
Sixteen years.
So, was that child born here?
Yes, the first girl was born here.
So, only one was born in Mexico?
Mm-hmm.
00:14:00
All others are citizens?
Yes, but the two older ones grew up in Mexico, because I went back planning to stay, but...
Okay, now let’s talk about your husband again, how long were you married?
We were married eleven years.
So, eight children in eleven years?
No, five are his.
Okay, and three from somebody else, so what happened, so you were… So, after eleven years you realized what? That he was abusive, alcohol, drugs?
So no, after eleven years, one gets used to the person.
Get used to the people?
Yeah, my first husband, you see it as normal, the violence.
Oh, how long before you realized that it wasn’t?
When he tried to hurt me while I was pregnant.
Oh.
There were several occasions that he did then, this.
Yeah, he did it many times, he hurt me many times
Was it, it’s okay if you don’t want to answer this, was it frequent? How often did he harm you?
He was fine during the week, but Saturday came… He would leave and did not return until Sunday afternoon or Monday morning.
He went out and wouldn’t come until, until when?
Until Monday morning.
Wow.
He didn’t give me any money
Did you feel trapped?
Yes.
So how, at that point, how did you survive? How did you pay for food, etc.?
Sometimes it was a bit, with what, if at the most I had fifty dollars, with fifty dollars I had to wash, I had to buy diapers and with twenty dollars, I had to buy food for the week, buy diapers.
Was this every week?
Sometimes, different.
Okay, is that why you went back to Mexico initially?
Yeah. Yes, because I was tired and I said, I got it better there.
So, you left here to go to Mexico because of him, to get away from him?
Mm-hmm.
So why did you end up coming back?
Because later he went back, and the violence in Mexico was worse. Because his family also, kind of like, helped him to treat me like that.
So then you came back here to get back with him again?
Then you came back again to escape again?
Mm-hmm, he came first, and from there I waited for him to come, because he always threatened that he was going to do something to my family.
He was with you there?
He decided to come. My dad was here but in Ohio.
Let’s see, I want to make sure we get the timeline down. You came twice. The first time you came with him when you were sixteen?
Mm-hmm.
And then how old were you when you went back to Mexico?
Eighteen.
00:20:00
Eighteen, and then you went by yourself first?
Yes, mm-hmm.
And then he followed?
Mm-hmm.
And he came back again here?
Mm-hmm.
And then did you go back again?
No, I went to my dad.
Oh, okay.
In Ohio.
What age were you at the time?
Eighteen.
Okay, so you didn’t go back to Mexico for a long time, just for a short period of time.
Yes mm-hmm, but when I came, I had to come alone, because that way my daughter had papers and I had to come for him.
And you stayed in the States at that point, have you gone back to Mexico at all?
No, after that my daughter had to stay there, but she stayed with his parents. And then the lady suffered a car accident and got hurt.
Your mother-in-law.
Mm-hmm. Then she told me to go take care of my daughter because she could not take care of her.
So you-- Okay, so you’ve been back to Mexico twice since she first came.
Mm-hmm. And I already had the second child, and I was pregnant with my son. Sometimes people ask me why I had so many children. My children are my strength. I do not use drugs, I do not smoke, I do not drink for my children.
How old are they? The biggest to the smallest, let's say?
The oldest is eighteen years old, Lisbeth is fifteen years old. The one in Mexico is called Sergio, he is fourteen. Julieta is going to turn ten years old, Elidio is eight years old, Bertin is seven years old, Jefferson will be turning five this month, and my baby will be turning one year.
When?
The twenty-third.
Of this month?
Yes, Jefferson is [the] twenty-first, and Jair [the] twenty-second.
So, they kind of keep you going.
Yes.
Purpose, would [you] use that word?
Yes. I looked for a lot of help in that stuff about domestic violence but sometimes don’t provide what they say they do, sometimes.
Really, so who did you reach out to, organizations, did you call the police?
There were sometimes I asked for help from Women Aware. There was a time when I did not have a place to stay, and they didn’t help me, Women Aware.
Did they say why they couldn’t help you?
They have an emergency line. But sometimes, well that time I called, they don’t take the case seriously. And so, I didn’t go to therapy, I didn’t have therapy, I survived just like that. That’s why sometimes it’s hard for me to talk about this.
That’s okay, it’s not an easy thing to talk about.
00:27:00
We separated because he had problems and they put him in jail. But somehow I took him back.
That’s common, actually.
Mm-hmm. Then I think I told him I was tired of everything, and that’s when he hit a car.
He had a car accident, was it his fault?
Mm-hmm. So because of that accident they discovered some prior charges, and they deported him. Elidio was 9 days born.
And he didn’t make it, when was that?
She said her son was born.
Oh, I misunderstood.
When they already, with him deported, that gave you an opportunity to…
Change my life. My life changed, in one day it changed. I wasn’t working. With two kids, with two hundred dollars, because that was from the days he had already worked.
So how did you go from that, how did you survive at that point?
Yeah.
Did you find a job quickly, how did you do it?
I called a childhood friend that I had here-- now my children’s godmother, I called her and I told her I'm alone. She told me not to worry and to come. There was only one week left to pay the rent.
So, you moved in with her?
She told me, uh, I have an empty room. She told me to come here this month, I will not charge you, once you work, then I will.
Was she married, did she have kids, too?
Yes, she had her husband and three children.
And then you moved in with, how many kids did you have at that time?
Two.
So it was a full house?
Yes uh, the day that I went to my appointment at forty days, they called me to work.
What, how’s that?
Like, you go to the last appointment, after you have the baby.
And then what happened?
They called me from work, that I could start the next day
So where, what kind of work was that?
Packing shoes, uh, it was for an agency but we worked for a company packing aerosol shoes.
Warehouse?
Mm-hmm.
Okay and that wasn’t in the city, right? They gave you transportation, explain how that all worked?
No it was in Edison, and so, the problem was finding who would take care of Elidio and Julieta. Then, I lived around here, close to George Street. I used to walk, close to Hamilton Street.
Where on George [Street] did you live?
I lived, uh, in Welton, between [unclear] and [unclear].
And you walked to Hamilton, that’s a long walk.
Mm-hmm, everyday. Because my friend's husband dropped us off before he left for work, he used to drive us to work.
Okay.
So I used to get up very early to take my kids to the babysitter, and then walk back to the house so he can take us to work.
Okay, so the babysitter was the friend on Hamilton.
Mm-hmm.
And how much were they paying you? How much did you pay them?
Well, it was their cousin, my children's, so, she charged me fifty dollars.
You asking how much the babysitter was, or how much the job paid?
No, no, no how much did the job pay?
They paid me eight dollars an hour.
So that was, let me remember the year in my head, was that minimum wage?
Mm-hmm.
And then how much was the babysitter?
I paid the babysitter one hundred dollars a week, fifty for each one of the kids. Because she was their cousin, from their father’s family.
So that kept the price down a little bit.
Mm-hmm.
You were making $300 a week, not even. How much were you making?
Like $250.
So they were taking out taxes, and other stuff then right?
I was left with $220. One hundred for my babysitter and one hundred for Mexico, for my other kids.
That left you with twenty dollars to eat, for food.
Yeah, for food, food stamps.
Oh, so you had food stamps, okay. What else are we looking at so, medical?
Mm-hmm.
And other kinds of transportation, how did you get to the grocery store?
Walking.
Walking. Did you go to a C-Town or would you try to go to one of the others?
Mm-hmm, to the C-Town, because it was the one that was closest to me. Because before it was Bravo.
Okay, I don’t know about it’s reputation, about how good the food is there.
They sometimes offer delivery.
Oh okay, so that was, when was this? Because you’re not working in the shoe place now, right?
That was in 2010.
Okay, and how long did you do that?
For a year.
Then when did you start with, was there other jobs in between, before you started with the daycare, or did you come straight here? What did you do after that?
After that, I kept working at that job, but it was a bit difficult because my baby cried a lot, and they didn’t want to take care of him.
But what did you do next?
After, uh...
After the shoes.
So I continued working there for a long time until Elidio and Julieta, they told me about the daycare, Elidio and Julieta managed to get into the daycare.
00:39:00
I met the father of my other two children, Bertin and Jefferson. After that, uh, after some time of knowing each other, we decided to live together. So now he helps me.
You’re still with him?
Mm-hmm.
And so the kids are here, when did you start working here?
Bertin was born. And then, I was pregnant with Jefferson. One month before Jefferson was born, I talked to Mr. Harris. [I told him] I'm not going to work because Jefferson is going to be born, and my job is heavy. And Mr. Harris told me, I have a job for you.
After that, uh, I thought, but I want to rest, it's the last week. And, uh, since he was laughing, I thought it was a joke. Then the Monday that I came to leave the children-- he told me, it’s okay, keep bringing the children. And when I came on Monday with the children, he said, “Uh, are you ready to work?” I said, “Oh, it's real!”
What year was that?
That was in 2013.
00:42:00
And I stayed working there, and I worked for about two weeks. And then came the most difficult test of my life. Julieta got sick and I had to take her to the emergency room. She was throwing up, I thought maybe the food made her sick because that day we have a trip with Mr. Harris from here. I got to the hospital in the morning, around eleven am. They did two X-rays, they couldn’t find anything. Julieta was still feeling the same. Around nine o’ clock that night, they perform a CAT scan. It was like a few minutes, when the surgeon comes. And I thought, why is he here, if he’s here, it’s going to be an operation. Julieta had a big stomach and it was flipped-- a very rare case. She had an emergency operation, immediately. That was on August twelfth. And Jefferson was supposed to be born on August thirteenth.
00:45:00
So, you were there with you daughter, and you were going to be there the next day anyway with your uh... Wow, that’s uh, difficult. And so, what happened?
They operated on her and it was a very big operation. The doctor had to cut the stomach according to her age. The operation was from her belly button until up here. Thank God, everything went well. I was suffering for eight hours, waiting to see what happens. I didn’t even have time to tell anyone, because when they took me down to the place she got operated on, my phone had no signal.
So, you were by yourself with her?
Yes, I was alone.
Wow, but everything did work out. How-- but then, did you go into labor right away after that?
Thank God, Jefferson was not born in those days.
He waited--
Yes. Julieta, if the doctor had waited an hour, Julieta would have died. One hour. We left the hospital on Friday, and on Saturday, Jefferson was born. Mr. Harris helped me a lot.
How did you pay for the operation?
Julieta had medical insurance. The doctor didn’t give us an exact diagnosis. He just told me that it was a very strange case, that he had heard of it, but only in older people. Not in kids.
Wow
So.
So um let’s… how are things now, everybody’s healthy now?
Thank God yes, except yesterday Elidio broke his foot, but everything is fine.
How old is he?
Eight, he’s playing sports in summer program. But yeah.
So how did you, we didn’t talk about status, immigration status. But we should, so you came in ninety-nine, and you were undocumented, I guess, right?
Mm-hmm, yes. In 2015, I filed a petition for domestic violence.
Okay
But the cases are very backed up. Hopefully next year, I’ll know something.
So, while the case is moving ahead you’re protected I guess
Yes, because it's already…
Yeah, she’s protected.
Are you worried for the current climate regarding this?
Because of the current government?
Do you feel worried or not?
No, because if I have to go to my country, thank God I have a little house there. My mom, my dad are there and I want to see them. It’s more than ten or fifteen years that I don’t see them.
What would your choice be, would you prefer to stay here?
For my children, yes. For my children, yes, because I already know how it’s like over there, but they don’t. They are used to, well, here they eat very well.
They go to school here in New Brunswick, I guess.
Yes.
H—And how much Spanish do they speak
How much Spanish do they speak?
Half and half.
Is their Spanish good enough that if they came back with you, they would be okay?
Mm-hmm. And if they want to translate for someone, they know what they are translating
00:54:00
Before the domestic violence application was filed, you would have been just undocumented. Did that, what kind of issues would that have posed, just economically in terms of working, what might’ve been available? What do you think?
Then I would be really worried about what the current president is doing.
But how about knowing even under the previous president, knowing that if you were at work, if there’s a problem, were you ever worried about that? Does your status ever affect decisions you were making at school or at work?
Can you say that again? It was long, sorry.
Did your status ever affect you decisions?
Yes, sometimes we couldn’t, uh, like support the children one hundred percent, always because of that fear that we’re undocumented. Sometimes things can happen in schools, and because you’re not being well informed or have that fear, you don’t stand up for the children.
Like um, give me an example.
Lisbeth, the second one, who is fifteen years old, had an incident five months ago at school. She fought with other girls. The, what’s it called, vice principle and detective, they’re brothers. They always looked at Lisbeth, like, Lisbeth is, uh, has a different preference. She dressed like [a] man. We are supposed to be in a country where everyone is educated, where everyone sees things differently. But there's always that, like that little bit of racism. So, uh, it was bothering Lisbeth until I couldn’t take it anymore, and I went to the board of education meeting, and I talked about it.
Would you have felt comfortable doing that three, four, five years ago?
No.
That’s the status thing, right? You think it's because of your status, that you feel more comfortable.
More than anything, I am no longer afraid. I’m not afraid to defend my kids anymore. And, uh, since that moment, Lisbeth had no more problems at school.
Good, that’s good.
And the vice president see her differently, and the policeman as well. Sometimes, I don’t know, sometimes people think that because it’s a policeman, or because it’s someone, you have to be afraid of them. Mm-hmm, but as residents, who live here in New Brunswick, I think, I pay my taxes, I work for my kids. So I have the right to defend my children. Mm-hmm, so I showed them that my daughter has me, even though she does not have papers or whatever. I will always defend her, no matter who it is.
01:01:30
Let’s talk about money, about today. Are you married or not married?
No.
But you live together?
Yes. Sometimes it's a little complicated but thank God, since we got together. He has never differentiated between those who are his children, and those who are not. Uh, we do not make much money, but we always have enough for the $900 in rent. We don’t have a car, but the kids never lack food, clothes, anything.
So let’s see if we can break it down, where does he work?
He works in, uh, landscaping.
Landscaping.
Yeah.
And how much does that bring in?
Thirteen dollars an hour.
Thirteen dollars an hour, but it’s seasonal?
Yes.
So it’s six months, and what does he do the other six months?
Factory.
Factory, okay, where?
Different factories.
Different factories okay, and he makes how much?
There they pay him less, ten dollars, twelve dollars.
And how does he get there?
Always through an agency.
But how does he get there?
Sometimes they give him transportation. They take forty dollars from his paycheck per week.
For?
Transportation.
A lot of people I think do that around here
Yeah.
And then you’re making ten dollars an hour here, I think.
Eleven dollars.
And how many hours do you think you work?
Only thirty-five a week.
So between the two of you, how much do you make a week? Does it vary sometimes?
Mm-hmm, yes, it varies. My husband is, if the day is good, working. Raining, no working.
So the last week for instance--
Yeah, only $200.
So then this week, it’s been clear so far, so in a good week, how much do you think comes in?
Like $500, 600.
Okay, but that’s, how is it you manage when you’re not sure? When you’re not sure if it’s going to be $200 a week or $500 a week.
I always try not to spend, like saving a little, especially when the rent comes
01:06:00
Is there anything left at the end of the month?
Right now, I have $100.
So what kind of expenses do you have, given that so, I’m just trying to think. Between the two of you, it could be $600 to like $900 a week, right? What kind of expenses do you have? Rent, electricity bill?
Phone, taxi, the laundry, I have to send money to Mexico for my child who’s there. I always send some every two weeks. I always have to have for emergencies, like yesterday, I had to take Elidio to the hospital.
But you don’t have that much set aside for emergencies, I guess.
Mm-hmm, but for the taxi at least, yes.
So, do you find sometimes that you have to choose between two things that you would normally spend on? Like, do you buy new clothes versus medicine, or food, or other times, that you have to make a tough choice like that?
Uh, okay, for food I never say, I’m not going to buy this.
Because of the kids.
Yes, for the children. So, but yes, for other things, no, like, if my shoes are still good, I’m not going to buy more. First for the children, and me and him can wait. For Lisbeth, I don’t worry so much because Lisbeth works a few hours here, too.
That is the fifteen year old?
So she already buys her own things and doesn’t ask me for money. Lisbeth also, when she get here, she went through a lot of difficult things.
Where was she born, where was Elizabeth born?
She was born here in Mexico, thirteen years she was there.
Okay she was born here, then went back with you, and then came back.
Depression, oh my god, everything.
How long is she back here?
Two years.
And why did she come back?
Because she used to say she was born here, and she wanted to know how life was like here. Since Jair was born, Lisbeth’s life changed. Jair is Lisbeth’s life.
Who’s that, your son?
My son.
Your youngest son. So, she kind of like, keeps an eye on him?
Yeah, no more depression. Because before, she used to cut herself. Lisbeth is learning how to be strong, to be responsible. Yesterday I had to go to the hospital. She gets out at six, because she cleans, so when she went home, she took the baby with her. She went home, she made food. When I got home, he was already asleep, because she had bathed him and everything. And maybe some people see it as a bit of like, abuse.
Taking care of others?
Yeah, because she’s only fifteen years old. But it's a way to prevent her from having bad friends. She occupies her mind with her brother.
Very strong family feeling.
My daughters are a little weak. So I tell them that life is very difficult, and so we have to be stronger. Because we're not going to be killing ourselves, because of any little thing, the way many people do. Some people are not as strong and they see an easy way out, drugs or other things.
Are there a lot of those other things around here?
Yes. In my house, we live in the second floor, in the first floor the peoples is black, no working, smoking marijuana, only drinking.
So there are always bad things around.
Yes, so I try to make sure she doesn’t pick up those things.
And you try to set a good example, I assume
Yes, like I say to her, she got a tattoo without asking permission. I told her, tattoos are worn on your heart.
01:16:00
I saw drugs up close, everything, because of her father. One time-- that’s why they put him in jail, because I was pregnant with Julieta, and he tried to drug me, and I didn’t let him so he made my nose bleed. So I said yes, thank God, I have been very strong to be able to live through all that
What, describe kind of an average day, if you can?
Now a normal day in my life, I get up at about six in the morning, to warm up something up for my partner. Mm-hmm, I have to make daily, we’re used to eating tortillas.
Fresh.
Yes, and I put it in a hot thermos.
You’re making me hungry.
I put them in a thermos to keep them warm until the time he is going to eat, then I continue preparing breakfast for the children, while they’re sleeping. They eat breakfast. At nine, we walk, right now we walk to the summer program. And from there, I walk with Jair to work.
Okay.
I have an hour of break. During break, if I have an appointment, I have to go pay the electricity, I have to do other things, that’s when I do them. In the afternoon, I leave work and I go pick them up from the program.
And what time is, what time do you get out?
At five thirty.
What time do you start?
Nine thirty.
Okay, and you went to the summer program you said, where are they in the summer program location?
On Commercial and [unclear], Catholic Charities.
Unity Square.
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
I get home, I don’t even take my shoes off, I go to the kitchen to cook fresh food. Everyone eats and I shower the baby.
You eat all together?
Yes, we all wait for dad. Every day I make fresh tortillas. There’s a little machine, I finish like at nine or ten.
Do you get your own free time? No, watch tv, read a book?
Maybe Saturdays, when uh, when the children, on Saturdays. Because I don’t work Saturday and Sundays.
When do you do laundry?
Lisbeth helpsme, Lisbeth goes on Tuesdays, today, to the laundromat.
Okay and then grocery shopping.
Always on the first of the month, I do my shopping at BJ's. Mm-hmm, everything that’s oil, sugar. And then in small stores, I buy meat, chicken.
How long does the food from BJ’s last, does it make it to the end of the month?
No, maybe one week, two big packets of yogurt.
Do you have other help, are you still getting food stamps?
Yes, still.
How much, probably less than you did before?
No, because I have eight kids and it’s according to the salary, five hundred dollars.
For the month.
Mm-hmm for the month.
And how long does that last? Is that what you use for BJ’s?
Yes.
So it doesn’t last very long.
Just that day that I go to BJ's, I spend $200 or $250.
Me too. And when they were at the summer program, do they get fed at the summer program, like lunch, is that part of it?
es, I still think they do. But next week, I think they won’t anymore.
Wow.
Yeah, that week, I’ll have to send them food everyday
Why is that changing?
I don’t know, there are always two weeks that they stop giving them food.
Okay, so that’s not unexpected.
Mm-hmm.
Okay, and then school starts shortly after that, right? How many of them are in school?
All of them. Only the baby is not.
Is it easier for you when they’re in school?
Yes, because they still go to the same place, where they are going right now for the summer program. So they pick them up from school when they’re dismissed.
Who, the bus?
Mm-hmm, the program has a bus, and they pick them up from school.
For the program?
After-school.
So they’re taken care of either way?
Yes.
They have meals at school.
Yes.
That has to help.
Yes, yes a lot
And what are your hopes for them, in terms of where they will be, or how they will, what kind of lives they will have going forward?
Not like mine. Lisbeth wants to be a policeman, Julieta wants to be a teacher.
Nice.
Elidio says he wants to be in the US Army. Bertin doesn’t know what he wants to be yet. Jefferson wants to be a cop too.
So that might mean for many of them, college?
Lisbeth--
She wants to be a police officer, a lot of departments now require college.
Mm-hmm.
So what, how financial aid, do you require, how do you foresee her going to school?
I'm waiting for my work permit to come out, God giving. We want to buy a car, to start with a small landscaping company. Because my partner knows how to do all that.
So do you.
Well yeah, we’ll have to support our children, if they want to continue studying that way.
01:29:00
Where is he usually doing landscaping, in New Brunswick, in like towns around?
Towns around, he works in New Brunswick too.
Does he work for one person or different people everyday?
Different people.
So how does he do that? They come looking for him or what?
Yes, they get him at home.
But he knows when the day starts who he’s going to work for?
They give you a list of the houses that you are going to work.
01:30:00
Oh okay, but he works for the same landscaping company?
Mm-hmm. But if we decided to do it for ourselves, it would be our job, that’ll be our own business.
Okay, anything else that you want to add?
Well, I don’t know
Maybe something that you would change to help the children more, something that you’re missing.
Well, here in New Brunswick, rent is very expensive, But, yes, there are more things. Well, the next step would be to move alone to an apartment, just with the children.
So you share a house right now?
Mm-hmm.
So when you say maybe in an apartment complex, like in a building?
No, maybe in an apartment, one house, now is a one more family.
Right, so then you would rent for one.
Only my family, yes.
Yes, that’s not cheap, right? We mentioned before, how much do you think you have set aside if an emergency came up?
Right now, nothing.
Nothing, you spent it yesterday so that’s, your son has health insurance.
Yes.
Is that from the state?
Mm-hmm.
But then you had to spend money to get to the hospital right?
Yes, yesterday, they were telling me that they were going to call the ambulance. The ambulance would charge us, so I told them that I would call a taxi instead.
Much cheaper, right?
Yeah, I paid five dollars.
Whereas you would’ve paid several hundred dollars in an ambulance.
One lady working in the summer program said the bill is $900, I felt pain in the chest, so I quickly call the ambulance.
Oh, because she felt a pain in her chest, her friend, so they called the ambulance.
Wow.
That’s why I say, I’d rather pay five dollars.
And you have to think that way, right because money is tight?
Yes.
01:34:00
So every decision you have to balance that right, taxi or walking?
Yes.
When you were at the grocery store, when you’re faced with different things, what kind of choices do you have to make?
Like a food that is good for the body. Like, for example, they sometimes want very sweet things like cookies and that stuff, well it’s more important that they eat a meal.
Do you look at two different loaves of bread and you have to decide, oh I’m going to buy the brand name or the store brand?
Yes
So aside from fresh food, you have to again, there’s balance right, is it the same with medication?
No.
Medication is just whatever it is, so it’s prescribed.
Yeah.
And where do you go to the doctor, is it local?
Yes, it’s the clinic. The one in front of Bravo.
So that’s helpful.
Yes.
You don’t have to use the emergency room, you go to.
Yes, it's easier to pay there, fifty dollars, or thirty dollars.
01:37:00
So right now, you’re waiting on work authorization you said, right? That’s through the domestic violence papers, right?
Yes.
How about your husband [partner], does he have work authorization?
No, he doesn’t.
Has he filed for those or?
No, the only option that he has, is that we get married and when I get them, I can also put in his request.
Okay, how much does it cost to file all this paperwork?
It was cheap. The person, who is a lawyer, is a very good person, charged me $4500 with my son's request too.
So two petitions.
I paid little by little, $500 per month.
So you paid what you have to, and now you’re just waiting.
Yes.
Okay, um, I don't have anything more to ask you so can I get a picture, can’t say no, what do you think, yes?
Yes, I didn’t do my hair but.
Your story is very good, thanks for sharing, of all the ones I heard, the best.
Thank you, it hasn’t been easy.
I congratulate you, you are an exemplary woman.
Gracias.
And we all go through difficulties. I'm also in school, sometimes I have one dollar in my bank account, sometimes I have to ask someone to take me because of gas, oh my god, but that's how you fight, you have to fight.
Yes. The first time Mr. Harris told me, one day he says to me, “You never have problems,” and I was like, “What, why?” “You’re smiling all the time.”
Oh, Mr. Harris told her, “You never have problems, because you smile all day.” He’s funny, I like him.
“I like that you take everything, that your problems do not affect you.”
It's good, because it's not good to be sad.
Okay, we are done.