Cheslocks vs. Salazars

I’ve spent lots of time with Filiberto’s family in the last few weeks. As I’ve gotten to know them better, it occurred to me that it would be interesting to compare and contrast their family with mine. As I'm posting, I'm pretty sick, I'll add pictures and links next week.

Cheslocks vs. Salazars

Here’s the cast of characters
Salazars:
Filiberto 57 (on August 22)
Maria Elena 50 something
Oldest sister mid-late twenties, married 3 children
Marta 25, married two children, Herson 3 and Dailey 1 ½, has a business making aprons
Monica 21
Carmen 20, in university for business administration
Carlos 19, electrician’s certificate, in school again
Esvin 17, in high school
Cristobal 15, in school (held back 4 times)
Vicente 14, in school
Maria Benita 13, in school, cosmetics business
Juan Carlos 10, in school
Flor de Maria 8, in school

Cheslocks
David 57 Bachelor’s, Master’s, almost enough credits for PhD
Claire 50, Bachelor’s, almost enough credits for Master’s
Jen 27, in graduate school
Liz 25, engaged, working professional
Aaron 22, going back to school
Sammy 18, in high school

Filiberto’s family lives in an open air property with 4 rooms and a tin front door that does not lock. Filiberto and Maria Elena sleep in a room, with walls made of corn stalks, a dirt floor, and a corrugated tin roof to keep out the rain. I believe that Maria Benita, Juan Carlos, and Flor all sleep in this room as well. There is a new concrete room, built within the last 6 months, where Monica, Carmen, Carlos, Esvin, Cristobal, and Vicente sleep. In this room, the floors are concrete and I believe the roof is also corrugated tin. Marta, her husband, and their two small children have a room in the corner of the property with a dirt floor, walls made of corn stalks, and corrugated tin roof.

Filiberto’s family have one bathroom—which is not a flush toilet, it is more of an outhouse. They have electricity, but little lighting. They have running water. But, I don’t know how they shower. I haven’t seen an area or faucet that looks like it could be a shower. However, I have seen the girls bucket wash their hair before school.

In addition to the people that live in Filiberto’s house, there are lots of animals. There are 4 mules, 3 that work regularly carrying loads up the volcano. The fourth is unable to carry a load, but they are still taking care of her. There are 30 ducks (raised to slaughter), 3 roosters, 10 chickens (raised for eggs and possibly to slaughter), and a dog named Bunny.

The Cheslocks live in a split-level three bedroom, 2 ½ bathroom enclosed house with running water, 3 flush toilets and 2 showers, electricity, internet, cable television, and a secure roof and front door. The Cheslocks have a ¼ acre (possibly less) of land in the front and the backyard. The Cheslocks have 3 previously-abused dogs from a shelter, raised and cared for as family pets.

Both sets of parents run through 3 or 4 names before finding the correct one to address the child in front of them. Both households function because the moms do a lot of behind the scenes work: meeting with teachers, doctors, and helping with school projects. Both moms have talent in the kitchen—and keep their clans well fed. Both households seem to function in a state of chaos, people are always searching for lost items, and tidiness is not on the top of the priority list. Both families have a keen sense of what matters most—they enjoy each others company and are very close.

Filiberto and my Dad have a few things in common. Both men were born in the same year-1951. Both like sports and encourage their kids, boys and girls alike, to play sports. Both have crazy facial hair that periodically needs a female touch to remove—with my Dad, it’s one crazy eyebrow, with Filiberto, it’s a crazy moustache that seems to catch food and save it for later. Both men have some trouble with manual dexterity—my Dad can’t fold paper, Filberto has trouble peeling and placing the little stickers on his coffee bags. Both my Dad and Filiberto were very resistant to cell phone use. Filiberto still makes his kids or Maria answer his cell phone. Both my Dad and Filiberto have had the same job for more than 25 years and both have been married for almost 30 years (my parents 29, Filiberto and Maria Elena 28). Both men come home from a long day and expect their wives to feed them. Both men enjoy telling the stories of their childhoods—my Dad’s stories tend to be nicer than Filiberto’s though. Both men are religious—and neither thinks terribly deeply about religion, they just do what they’ve always done. Both Filiberto and my dad are sole providers for their families and want their kids to have better than they did.

However, those are where the similarities end. My Dad grew up middle class, went to college, and found work after finishing schooling. Filiberto finished the 4th grade in the Guatemalan system (it’s not a good system, so has effective 2nd grade education) and had to start working. Filiberto’s father died when he was young, leaving him the man of the house and taking care of his mom and sisters. When Filiberto and Maria Elena got married in 1980, Filiberto’s mom and sisters lived with them. His sisters eventually married and his mom lived with them until she died in 2000 at age 85.

My Dad’s success at work has been slow and reliable. Filiberto’s always been a farmer, but only in the last few years has he been making enough money to lift his family, slowly, out of poverty. My Dad makes roughly 100 times what Filiberto makes in one year. With that income, Filiberto has to feed, cloth, and provide shelter for 9 more people than my Dad.

Filiberto and my Dad might have a lot to learn from one another. Filiberto, unlike most Guatemalans, knows that there is a better life waiting for him if he works really hard. Given his economic situation, Filiberto is the happiest man I’ve met. For all of his relative success, my Dad could probably stand to be a little happier. On the other hand, my Dad could probably teach Filiberto a thing or two about applying mathematical knowledge to his business.

It’s clear to me that geography and luck has a lot to do with these differences. If Filiberto were born to an American family in 1951, I have no doubt that he’d be just as successful as my Dad. Whatever Filiberto lacks in skills and education he makes up for with more determination than anyone else I’ve ever met.

So, what’s the golden nugget here? American individualism preaches the pick-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps mentality. The notion that all poor people are poor because they aren’t doing enough to help themselves is bullshit. I’m sure there are some people padding welfare rolls for the extra check. But, I’m just as sure that if we give people a hand up—access to specific job training, access to equipment and small business loans with fair terms that people in communities everywhere would be better off.

I’m convinced that people like Filiberto are victims of geography. I plan to fight for people like Filiberto, because everyone needs some back up.