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THIS STORY IS PART OF ILRF'S MOTHERS' STORIES SERIES. To read other stories, click here.

Maria was interviewed by ILRF's partner, Asociacion Aurora Vivar in Peru.

 

My name is María, and I work on an asparagus farm in Peru. I am a single mother, and I live in one room that I share with my five year old son. It is difficult to raise him by myself. I earn $7.80 per day, and am not paid extra for working overtime.

I start work at 5:00am in the morning. While I am at work, I leave my son at home alone. In the morning, he eats the breakfast I leave prepared for him, and at lunch, I pay for a family friend to bring him food. In the morning, my son prepares all the necessary things he needs to go to school at noon. I feel awful when I know he is home alone. When I leave work at 5:00pm, after a twelve hour work day, I go to pick up my son from school. Then we need to work on his homework and the other domestic chores around the house.

During the work day, the majority of the time we work bent over the fields to collect the asparagus in the soil. We generally have to carry our own water to drink. The water provided by the company does not look safe and I am not confident that it is actually drinkable. Anyway, it isn’t a good idea to drink a lot of water on the job because it would mean having to go to the bathroom more often, which brings problems with the supervisor.

Working twelve hour days on the asparagus farm is a lot for any person, but it is worse when you are pregnant. There is always the risk to be fired, maybe because they think you are “less productive.” But it is very important to work when pregnant in order to cover the costs of pre-natal care and pay money into social security – so continuing to work while pregnant is ideal for someone like me. But it is difficult because we aren’t guaranteed a safe work environment to guarantee our health and the health of our developing babies.

I have learned from the Asociación Aurora Vivar, through their outreach as a labor rights organization, that as women workers, we experience the same oppression. The organization has launched a national campaign entitled “Agro-exportation without Exploitation,” where women workers learn about the agricultural industry, organizing and unions. Peru’s agricultural exports has over 200,000 workers, and over 60% of the workers are women that plant, irrigate, cultivate, wash, cut, and pack food to be sent to the United States and other countries. As women workers and mothers, young and old, we have the right to make goals and work toward them. We deserve a better world for all women. 

Maria is not alone. Unskilled women workers have entered export-processing industries throughout the developing world at an alarming rate. Women overwhelmingly occupy the lowest paying, most unstable jobs, producing our clothes, agricultural products and other luxuries for export to the US.