Mother Madre: Working in Agriculture in the Eastern Coachella Valley
The Power of Stories is an archive of projects submitted every year to Building Healthy Communities (BHC) Statewide Convening. It showcases work created throughout California highlighting the power of individual and collective efforts to promote health and demonstrates how stories have the power to re-imagine and transform our communities. Produced in partnership with the California Endowment.
Project Submitted by Global Girl Media
Project Summary A daughter interviews her mother about working in the agricultural fields of the Eastern Coachella Valley.
BHC Site Eastern Coachella Valley
The Eastern Coachella Valley, a rural desert community, 99% Latino, with 59.8% of its residents have less than a high school education, and 25.8% live below the poverty level, with a per capita income of less than $7,000. Twelve girls from this community, aged 14-18 years old, came together over the 2013-2014 Winter Break to produce three short web-video documentaries, (3-5 minutes), about their mothers. These "madres" will tell the young girls their own stories about immigration, women's roles in their families/communities and their aspirations and dreams.
Being listened to and acknowledged maybe for the first time, the girls' mothers, tias and abuelas can recall their own experiences as young girls and as immigrants, fostering a deeper understanding of their crucial role as female leaders in their families. Through this process, the young girls will potentially discover the potential for building self-esteem, pride and motivation for becoming a leader or activist in their own communities.
