Marianna Moreno
Marianna with her son, Ryan. Photo by Phil Mello
FROM
SAN ANDRÉS SAJCABAJÁ
EL QUICHÉ, GUATEMALA
ARRIVED 2009(Gabe)
“Here it doesn’t matter your age, nor the color of your skin, nor your race, basically if the person works and is a good worker, they are able to get ahead.”
“When I was living at home, my father was a very difficult person. He didn’t like that I went to school. Because I am a girl. And for that reason, I didn’t study and I stayed home. He doesn’t accept the idea of girls going to school.”
“We were told that [the United States] is very beautiful, people get ahead very easily, that the work is not difficult. But the reality is another thing. I saw many films, and in the films, they always showed cities like New York and Florida and San Francisco and others like that. And so, I thought that New Bedford was the same.”
“I have always had the mindset that I don’t want to learn just one thing. I want to learn everything and keep on learning… I have learned all of the jobs at Bergie’s: peeling the fish, cutting the fish, working the machines, also working the machine for the previously frozen cod and the fillet machine.”
Photo by Phil Mello
Work in Guatemala:
“My parents were farmers, growing corn, beans, and vegetables. When the corn plants were ripe, I learned how to harvest the maize. When the crops were ready, I helped my family harvest the crops.”
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