Stories of migration from some of the best young journalists in Mexico, Central America and the United States
Mely Arellano and Monica Ortiz reporting from Mexico
Two Mayan communities thrive 2200 miles apart. One in Ozkutzcab, Mexico, the other in San Francisco. Migrants from the town of Ozkutzcab, Yucatan, have established a small outpost in this west coast city, earning greater salaries than they could get back home, and sometimes staying for many years. But ties to home are strong, cemented in the remittances that migrants send to familiy members. Now, with digital technology such as facebook, those ties are kept alive in a different way.
July 13, 2015
Social media has become a critical lifeline between immigrants and their faraway relatives. They can share pictures and videos instantly and interact electronically.
In Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, immigrant husbands in the U.S. make up for their absence by sending money for smart phones and Wi-Fi connections. Birthdays and weddings are celebrated from a glowing handheld screen. Mexican women meet their newborn grandchildren for the first time on Facebook.
While the new technology helps bridge the distance, families left behind say they’d rather trade their gadgets for the return of their loved ones.
Continue reading original articleJune 30, 2015
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May 2, 2015
Los migrantes de Oxcutzcab son tan espléndidos que sus familiares han podido construir casas y poner negocios. Mientras que los michoacanos envían, en promedio, 377 dólares al año, los yucatecos mandan 683
En el traspatio de su casa, doña Sofía Cocom está limpiando una gallina. Hay un cumpleaños y celebrarán con un almuerzo. Atrás de ella, una buena lumbre aguarda la olla donde se cocinará el caldo. Está sentada en un banquito muy bajo y sobre una mesa, va poniendo la carne ya limpia, desplumada. Lleva el cabello pintado de canas en una larga trenza y un …
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"Mexico is an exporter of migrants, but the issue has ceased to be news. Mostly the media limits itself to repeating statistics without going into depth about how migration has evolved, and what the consequences of migration are in the long term. Living in Puebla, one of the states with highest number of migrants living in the US (we jokingly call New York "Puebla York"), I thought everything had already been said about it."
"My trip was really satisfying. Working with Monica, I got to see how a US radio reporter works. And I got to see migration close up, with different eyes. I really found that there are things that we should still be reporting, that academics and others are already studying, and that should be getting into the media."
