Mother and Daughter Perspectives
A full transcript follows
by Acela and Mia
My name is Acela. I am from Juarez, Mexico and I live in Cimarron, Kansas. She is my daughter.
Hi, my name is Mia. I am 12 years old and I’m in 7th grade and I’m from Cimarron, Kansas. The title of the book is Barefoot Dreams and the author is Alda P Dobbs.
Acela: This book was so touching for us because it talked about immigration and in our family, we know what that word means. We think it is very important for the kids to know the history of their family because they can relate it with them. They can know why they have this skin color, this eye color, why they talk in certain form or why they eat this food. It is a way that they fall in love with their roots.
Acela: So, what do you think about the importance of the kids to know the history of their family?
Mia: I think it’s important because when someone learns about their past it helps them connect with it and will create a stronger bond with their family. When they were immigrating it must have been very hard because – especially when they had challenges like when the sandstorm came, and Petra had to carry her little brother and sometimes her little sister too whenever she couldn’t walk anymore.
Acela: That was interesting for us because she can’t imagine what that looks like and I can imagine every single detail in the book that made me cry because I can imagine everything. I hear stories about the travesties. I am so blessed because I don’t have any testimony like crossing the river or by somebody else, but I hear very, very hard histories about people who lost part of their bodies they take the train in the south. In Mexico they take a train to make to the north and they jump in the train when the train is working. When I hear her history, I can put in my mind how that looks like.
Acela: Yeah, so we are thinking about this experience. Today, it is still happening and still being like we have a long time ago. There are Venezuela people from the south trying to make it to the border. There are still people who want to come to this amazing country to get better lives for them and their kids. So, what do you think about this?
Mia: Stories like Petra’s aren’t talked about much. I’m sure there are people going through something similar to what Petra had to go through.
Acela: Yeah, so when I came here that was 17 years ago, I don’t have any English, so I need to translate. At that time, we didn’t have smart phones, so we had just a flip phone, so you don’t have a translator in your phone like now. You just talk and that makes all the words for you. At that time, I just have a dictionary and it’s how I communicated with my kids and their teachers because here where we live, 17 years ago there were just a couple places where people speak Spanish. Now, if you need something from the bank, anybody speaks Spanish. In the school – anybody speaks Spanish. Now it is kind of easier because of new generations like Mia and people older than her still live in town and they are working, and it is easier for the parents. The only thing that I knew was that I didn’t want my kids to translate. So, I am trying to learn, but I can’t imagine how important for Petra was to learn how to read. Because I felt the same. I felt desperately what she was saying to me.
Acela: I remember one time the teacher told me to order the tote bag. I’m like, “I can understand bag, but what is a tote?” What does that mean? What are you talking about? I was crying in desperation because I didn’t know what. My kid won’t have that bag because I don’t know what that bag is. So, I go back to the library and put on the Internet “tote bag” and so it put 40 matches in there and I’m like, “Oh! Okay. Now I know what my kid needs to bring to school.”
Mia: I think it’s very important for Petra to learn how to read because it will help her to help other who only speak Spanish learn English like her grandma and siblings.
Interviewer: How did she learn how to read?
Mia: Well, she had a friend called Adeline and she helped her learn how to spell her name, but that’s all she taught her before they had to leave. The federals were coming so they had to start moving from the church where they were at so that was the only thing she was able to learn.
Acela: Yeah, and you will be surprised now in those days we still have people here from South America that don’t know how to read and speak Spanish. They have their own language from the South part and they came over here and they have only Spanish and they don’t know how to read and how to write. My husband needs to do that work for them at times with the people who came to them for jobs. He needs to fill in all the paperwork because they don’t know how to do it. And it’s 2023. So . . .
Acela: Can you imagine you in her place?
Mia: No. It must be very hard for her.
Acela: What do you think you’d feel if you had her place? That you need to close your siblings like Bella?
Mia: I don’t think I could have been as strong as her. She was very strong, especially helping her grandmother and her siblings. I think I would have cried most of the time. I think my grandma would have been pulling me!
Acela: Because my mother she doesn’t speak English! When she is her and Mia use some words in English, she says, “Don’t speak English!! Speak Spanish so I can understand you!”
Acela: You can’t imagine the chance you’ll have to help others. I imagine 17 years ago when I go in a place and somebody says to me, “Ola! . . . .” and I think, “Oh my God! Somebody speaks Spanish!” I felt like somebody will understand me and know what I need help with.
Interviewer: Was this book mostly about problems or was it hopeful?
Mia: I think at first it was kind of sad and about the problems, but once they made it to the border, it just got better from there. It inspired me to want to read more of her books. I think she has another one about what happened after.
Interviewer: Would you recommend that people read this book for summer reading?
Mia: For sure. It’s a really good book.
Acela: Yes, I recommend this because that gave you a little chance for your kids to know more to understand the history. Even after generations they need to feed proud how the first generation need to pass through so they have a better life. I always try to remind them that you need to be humble because you are living a better life because others sacrificed for you. [Repeated in Spanish.]
I am Acela and I am Mia for the HPPR Radio Readers Book Club.
Acela and her husband immigrated to Kansas from Juarez, Mexico. Their oldest son is pursuing a degree while serving in the Marines; their second son, a high school senior, dreams of becoming a physician and is currently working part-time in a clinic. Mia, heard here, is a seventh grader in Cimarron and their youngest is in elementary school.
