Daughter, wife and mother of four manage to support their family in East LA
For Gaby Rico, a mother, avoiding the health and economic crisis due to the pandemic has not been easy, but neither has it been impossible.
For this East Los Angeles resident, being positive, having strength, and her cooking skills have been the keys to survival.
He says that when the order was given to stay at home, he was like everyone else: “in shock.”
“There was talk of an unknown virus, deadly and easy to transmit. No one knew what situation we were facing. From that, five months have already passed, which seem like years, and we still do not know when and how we will get out of this without getting infected, “he said.
At first, panic spread overnight and millions of people dumped empty supermarket shelves.
“It was said that food was going to be scarce and the first thing I thought was that in my patio I had a nopalera, three chickens, a rooster, tomato plants, and chili, and I said to myself: ‘With that we eat for several months!'” Gaby said.
“As a native of a ranch in Mexico, I began to remember the type of food that my brothers and I were given as children. It was a very precarious time, so I mentally went back to some dishes and others I am inventing them, always with a main ingredient: the cactus.
“I do not deny that at the beginning of all this I was very concerned. It affected me personally, socially, health, culturally and economically, but at the same time I knew that I had to show myself strong for my four children, my husband and my father, who lives with us, “he said.
“I said, ‘At least we’re not going to worry about food for a while.'”
She added that within a few days she and her husband were out of work.
The fear she felt was no longer so much because of the threat of the coronavirus, but because they are committed to making the payments on the house they acquired seven years ago and in which practically all the salary of her husband Víctor Perales, who works as mechanic.
“We make so many efforts [por cubrir el alquiler]… All I want is to raise money to make the payment and save the house, above all, I do not want to leave my children homeless. So at this point nobody complains about the food anymore because they know that the house comes first ”.
The green ‘steaks’
Gaby prepares nopales with egg and potatoes, tacos of nopales with beans and even steaks from this grilled plant.
“As the weeks went by, the children started to say to me: ‘Again the same? Again nopales?’ They were already screwed up. I said, ‘If you want to eat, that’s fine, if not, too.’ ”
“Then I started preparing drowned eggs with nopales, they started to like them because they were made differently,” he added.
“Or nopales or nopales, there is no option,” he said.
“I don’t know what happens to my nopalera, every day there are more nopales. [Estoy] I’m happy with that but I don’t know how long it lasts because it’s seasonal ”.
He said he also surprised his family when he announced that he was going to prepare green “steaks”.
“My children asked me strangely what that was, then I showed them what it was. I turned on the grill, made nopales and put oil and a little salt on them and roasted them like meat. My children loved it ”, he assured.
Eggs are another option for Gaby’s family, but it’s a delicacy they only enjoy on Saturdays and Sundays.
“Thanks to my chickens, every weekend we have about 18 eggs and we cook and eat them as if it were the best delicacy,” he assured.
Gaby also has tomato and chili plants in her garden.
“We prepare very good sauces and the tomatoes serve me for many recipes or to improve the meals that they give my children at school.”
He added that he also supplies the pantry a bit thanks to the distribution of food bank pantries.
“COVID-19 has left us many lessons. For me, to manage the money a little more, to be positive and it gave me a lot of confidence personally, now I know that I can achieve many things ”.
“And my children to be optimistic and savers. They already know that it is not just about asking, they are already more aware of what things are worth and not to waste, “he said.
“Now, before asking for something, my children first ask if there is money.”
The envelope is getting thinner
In addition to working 15 hours for the Griffith Steam Magnet Middle School’s After School All Stars program, Gaby does a little bit of everything, like cutting dogs’ hair and cleaning houses, among other activities to acquire more money.
She said that her husband currently resumed work two days a week.
“It is nice to say that I am buying my house, but the payments are high,” he added.
He says that refinancing would be the last option because it would be returning to 30 years of debt. “I have been paying for seven years now and we have taken it there now.”
She confessed that, without telling her husband, long ago she started saving with the intention of celebrating the 15 years of her daughter Aimee, who turned 14 on July 14.
She also wanted to help her 18-year-old daughter Natalie a little, who goes to college but lacks financial aid.
Why do you say, ‘there we go’?
“What happens is that I had a little guard, an envelope with some savings because I was thinking of giving my girl a celebration [de 15 años], but from there I have taken what is missing to complete the payment of the house, to pay the ‘bills’… It all started one day when I saw my husband very worried, he did not sleep, I asked him if anything hurt. He didn’t want to tell me. “
“Until I asked him: ‘Can’t you afford to pay the house? How much more do you need ‘”, he narrated.
“He said he was missing $ 600. The next month he asked me if I had $ 200, and yes, I took them out of my envelope, and there I began to see my skinniest poor thing. It was my savings from several years to celebrate and help my daughters, “says Gaby.
And at this moment, how is the envelope?
“Skinny, but this month my husband no longer asked me, we hope that our situation improves,” she said with an optimistic smile.
How have your children reacted to the situation?
“At the beginning everything was confusing for them because they left school [presencial] and they started a new normality of taking classes online. Sometimes they despaired and I was always there, trying to give them a good face to motivate them. I wanted, and still want, for them to see everything in a positive light. ”
“Sometimes they get bored, but I keep saying that we are going to get ahead.”
What is Aimee’s opinion that her 15-year-old party was canceled?
“She shows that she is calm. She does not complain. It says nothing. I said, ‘Sorry, but nothing is going to be done.’ She replied that we should not worry, that all she wants is a pair of pants.
Hollister, I didn’t tell you when, but I promised you. “
And Natalie, what are you doing to try to go to college?
“It is also making him want. Unfortunately he did not get financial aid. First he did get sad because he opened a [cuenta de] GoFundeMe and has only raised $ 100. I said to him: ‘Before you had nothing, now you need less for your goal. Echale m’ija ‘, ”she explained, very excited.
She is currently doing an internship at the SAMO Youth organization to earn some money because she needs $ 5,000 for the first school year.
For Natalie to do the internship, Gaby takes her from East Los Angeles, where they live, to the Santa Monica Mountains, which is 56 miles away.
“For your dreams, it doesn’t matter that I have to drive 56 miles one way and as many back to the house from Monday to Friday to transport it. I also wait for her outside the venue from 7:00 in the morning to 3:30 in the afternoon, ”said Gaby.
To help Natalie, you can visit GoFundMe at the link: bit.ly/2BckBxI
