![]() ![]() “Some people don’t have a place to live or can’t pay their rent.” Many of us need help right now,” says Ramirez. “There is not much support for immigrants and campesinos. That’s because more than two months after the first major storms hit in late December 2022, agricultural fields are still flooded, leaving farmworkers across the county without income for the foreseeable future. ![]() At this time last year, she was at least working about 15 hours a week weeding the strawberry fields, but the storms have drastically cut down working hours for farmworkers. Ramirez has worked in the fields since she was 18 and speaks Mixteco primarily. “It’s hard for us campesinos because it’s taking a long time, and we have to wait and see if there is work. We are used to working the fields, but there is nothing,” she says in Spanish. “We’re looking for work, but there is nothing out there. The destruction has created a dire situation for families like hers, whose livelihoods depend on the local land. Storms have raged intermittently since January, with the most recent one causing the Pajaro River levee to suffer a catastrophic failure, flooding the town of Pajaro and creating a nightmare scenario for the already-devastated region. Now, like countless other workers in the Pajaro area, she is in limbo after the devastating impact of the recent winter storms. Originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, the mother of seven has been a local farmworker for 14 years. ![]() Tranquilina Ramirez sits at a table outside a Freedom, California grocery store on a brisk March evening. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |