Only the crowing of the roosters and Isabel’s stealthy footsteps are heard in her small wooden house. She doesn’t want to wake up her children. The clock shows 3:00 am, it is time to take the corn to the mill, to start the process of making the tortillas.
When 4:30 a.m. arrives, the corn and flour tortillas, the gallopinto and the coffee should be ready, soon people will start to go to work and the sale should be taken advantage of.
Isabel Alemán is the owner of a tortilla stand, she and a friend, Haydée Alemán, looked for work all over the city, unfortunately the crisis made itself felt and her children could not wait. She had to guarantee food, drink, and clothing for her children, ages 12, 6, and 5.
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Isabel and her friend thought about different options, however, what they did best was making tortillas, so opening a job was the best way to get out of unemployment.
However, there was an impediment with the initial capital. Within a few days, they found someone who was confident in their ability to efficiently manage a loan.
“It was not and is not easy, we arrived tired, getting up at dawn, but this is what we are, this is what we learned, to clap tortillas”, says Isabel as she continues clapping.
Her tortilla stand is located half a block from her home, which allows her to keep an eye on her children.
The alternative of women in Bluefields
Like Isabel, many women search for jobs daily in Bluefields, some with academic degrees, others not. The goal is to be employed and support the needs of her family.
Karla Mejía, mother of two girls, graduated from Business Administration, mentions that studying was of no use to her, if she now works as a waitress, a reality that is palpable, “unemployment is increasing and we are the ones who suffer the most, we raise children , we maintain the home, we work, blessed are those who have a man to help them, I am a single mother,” she said.
In both stories, the common factor is the courage of these women, who in the midst of their environment obstructed by the lack of opportunities, duty to their children prevails.
“I grew up making tortillas, I’m not ashamed, it’s the best I know how to do, plus, they are very tasty”, says Isabel excitedly; She who at her young age is known by her clients who refer to her kindness and her good hand.
After a month of having set up the tortilla stand, Isabel and her friend have been able to comply with the loan granted and feel proud to bring food to their home every day.
“We started making 30 pounds of flour and corn, and now we have increased, because the population seeks us out because we offer them a complete combo, so to speak, tortillas, gallopinto, and hot coffee,” she says proudly.
Isabel and her tortilla stand is part of the hundreds of establishments in Bluefields that survive day by day, in a battered economy, in which the lack of employment is reflected.
