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Gringolandia and Poor Nicaraguans
Submitted by fyl on Wed, 2008/01/30 - 05:17.
The offer was for an empleada (a domestic worker) with their own live-in apartment "in San Juan del Sur". It sounded quite nice until we got into the details of where it is and who Aracely/an Aracely-like person is. Let's look at "what's wrong" with each side.
Aracely is a girl from the campo that has been in her "slave" position since she was about 16. Her employer is a low-income family where at least Maru is from the campo as well. Her husband drives one of the local buses (urbanos). Maru has been working for a few months in a cigar factory (I assume the $3/day kind, not what Felix describes) but is pregnant so that employment will soon stop. The house they live in belongs to her mother (who is in the US). There are something like 10 people living there.
Thus, Aracely's skills are sweeping the floor—some cement and some dirt—, hand-washing clothes and putting them on the zinc roof to dry and cooking beans and rice and sometimes some sort of meat. She also knows how to walk to the public market and buy beans, rice, ... These are the skills she currently has because these are the skills she needs. If she has ever eaten seafood it is because I cooked some and shared it with her. So, if you are looking for a "chef", she is certainly not that person. She cooks typical food of the Nicaraguan poor because, well, that's who she is.
Now, the potential job is not really in San Juan del Sur. To quote from the person who extended the offer (leaving the development name out)
The house is located in gringo gaited subdivision called ... This is oceanfront villa on a cliff.
This is in response to asking if it is really in San Juan del Sur or out in the middle of nowhere. They went on to say
She should not be afraid of safety there.
Again, I am not trying to pick on this person—I believe they are making a very sincere offer— but this is the most telling statement about missing who this person is (and millions of Nicaraguans are). Safety was never an issue. She walks home through a less than desirable neighborhood at 2AM after working in a bar each night. She (we) live where there are 3-10 drunks regularly hanging out all day. ...
The issue was "will she be living in Nicaragua or Gringolandia". While there are a lot of Gringos in the town of SJdS, there are a reasonable number of "regular" Nicaraguans and lots more living just east of town. People she could talk to and share her culture with. As much as she might love to live in an oceanfront villa, there is zero chance that she could survive moving to a gringo subdivision.
This may surprise some Gringos but I couldn't live in this described area either. The location sounds nice and if I wanted to, I could be living in such a place. But, I want to live "in Nicaragua". I love seeing kids with a rock and a stick having fun, having my dog introduce me to people from age 1 to 100, walking through town reading what it says in English on second-hand t-shirts that the owner certainly doesn't understand and so forth. It makes me feel like I am actually alive.
Nicaraguans are all about family. While they may want "things", they can be happy as long as they have family. If you don't believe this (and you are in Gringolandia) take a short trip to the beach in San Jorge. The last time I was there I was the only Gringo in sight but there were thousands of mostly poor Nicaraguans there having fun.
Now, maybe someday, there will be Nicaraguan gated subdivisions meaning a place where there are Nicaraguans and Nicaraguan culture. Or maybe there are. Aracely could probably work there. But, moving her to Gringolandia would be about as successful as what the US 14th Amendment did for the average ex-slave.
Self Determination
Should we not encourage people to make their own decisions about these potentially life changing matters? I know you are trying to do what is right but it seems paternalistic to dissuade her from trying, as it could be a positive experience. Maybe she really wants the job in San Juan Del Sur but does not want to displease you. Simply because the offer is from gringolandia, as you describe it should not be reason from denying her a job away from a third rate cantina.
Of course
I always encourage people to make their own decisions but like dealing with a child, you need to also know their capabilities. In this particular case, I know she is not capable of doing what would be expected of her (remember, I am the person making the possible recomendation) so there is no reason to go to the "would you like to do this" phase.
What she needs is something she can succeed at which also gets her away from Maru. The bar job she has is actually a very good thing but, because it is nearby continuing to live in "slave house" is her only option or, more specifically, the only option she sees. I know because both I and Karina have had this discussion with her.
My discussion in this forum is not for her benefit. It is to help potential employers understand how different from previous reality what they may be offering is. I only care because I would like to see less "dissatisfied customers" on each side.
That is what makes Nicaragua frustrating
You are damned if you do and damned if you dont. We have been here eight years and I am continually amazed at the genius of the Nicaraguan work force. In our business we work with electronic parts, and the repairs the technicians make from junk parts we would trash in the states is almost scary. I am also surprised at how fast people can mature and learn if given half of a chance. That is what prompted my comment, not an effort to belittle your good deed but a caution about how hungry people are to make their lives better.
There are plenty of
There are plenty of "non-gringo" in America. If you know them, lived close with them, then probably you'll get along okay with Nicas, understand Nicas, and be happy living close by them.
If you spent your whole life in America, and you never have a black or Hispanic family inside your house, you don't sit down at your kitchen table with an African-American or Puerto Rican- American like a friend, then it might be too late to start life outside a gated community.