from Obstacle to Goal

By Eunice Rios

When you think of COVID, what pops up in your head? Would it be a virus, people wearing masks, or something tragic?

Maybe you think of no school, no work, or having a break and relaxing. Probably watching a show or movie while eating snacks in bed and not having to get up and get ready the next day. Who knows? It doesn't really matter right? Wrong!

According to CNBC, nearly 9 in 10 people are struggling with economic problems. More than 5,000 people have filed for the unemployment claims. A lot of people are starting to worry about their jobs and money. For my parents, money is a struggle right now.

My 51-year-old mother, Blanca Olivia Ramos, is a stay at home mom who babysits children to earn money. Due to COVID-19, she hasn’t been able to get enough kids to babysit: “It’s difficult because there aren't a lot of jobs right now and the parents of the kids I used to take care of still don’t work.”

Even though it’s not a job where she gets paid a lot, my mom does her part to make an effort for her family here and to send to her family in Mexico. My mom is the middle child of 5. Sadly, her sister got sick and passed away because medication in Mexico is very expensive.

“If I had enough to send her then maybe she would have been cured and would maybe still be alive. With what she had, it wasn’t enough and was hard because her husband passed away, so she had to get money on her own,” my mom said.

In a 2020 Gale article from The Washington Post, economists say that Mexico’s government isn’t really doing anything to help the people. Valeria Moy, an economist at the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico, said, “Mexico is like someone who was about to fall down the stairs, and then coronavirus came and pushed him. He was going to fall anyway. But now he's going to fall farther and faster."

A lot of jobs are closing, which means that people don’t have work and don’t have enough money for rent or the necessities they need to live. “Since I don’t take care of a lot of kids right now it’s not enough money and my husband doesn't make much either for the rent or to send to our families in Mexico,” she said.

My mom saves money for food and for her family, but sometimes it still isn’t enough. “I try not to stress as much but I get desperate because sometimes there’s nothing I could do.” Her biggest goal is to help her family. “I want to be happy knowing that they have enough for food because the food over there is expensive.”

Miguel Rios, my 50 year old father, is an only child who works day and night 5-6 days a week to support his family here and in Mexico. Before COVID, he had one job and with the help of my mom, it was easy to earn money for their families.

When the pandemic was spreading across the world, my dad was struggling a lot with his job because he wouldn’t get paid enough. Luckly, he found another job on time, but the problem was that he would sleep for only a few hours. “Due to COVID, a lot of companies are closing. If it wasn’t for COVID, it’d still be hard because I have two hernias and I can’t carry anything heavy, which most jobs have,” he said.

With both jobs my dad has, it still isn’t enough for us. He tries his best to work and work, but even then, money sometimes isn’t enough for food or rent. “I have two jobs so that I can have enough and I only get $1800 a month. The rent is around $1450-ish around there. It isn’t enough.”

When my dad gets his paycheck, he saves it and doesn't spend much until he gets enough money to send it to his parents in Mexico. He sends money, but only sometimes. “It depends, but not much. Probably at least once a month or sometimes not at all. I would send more, but it’s different here from Mexico. We need to buy groceries and pay rent, but in Mexico it’s just food, water, and whatever else is necessary, but not rent."

Since my dad is an only child, he’s the only one that my grandparents can depend on. I don’t know how it is to be an only child, but everytime I see my dad, I see how stressed he gets.

“When someone loves their family, you don’t feel a certain weight to send money. It wouldn’t hurt to send money if you love them,” he said.