Elvire & YAYA Organizer Nico Gumbs during break in DC trip. Photo courtesy of Emily Helm
From the 2013 Summer edition of NFWM’s News and Views Newsletter:
Elvire Francois, who works in the citrus groves near Fellsmere, FL, was among those who traveled to Washington, DC with fellow farm workers last April. Elvire has 3 children of her own and took in 4 children of her brother’s, who was killed in Haiti’s earthquake.
“I wake up at 5 AM to be picked up by 6; then we travel to the groves and begin working at 8AM. I have to carry a bag, that can fill to about 40lbs, up a ladder while picking oranges; but since I am smaller and older I cannot fill the bag all the way up. I try to though. For every bin I fill, I make 7 or 8 dollars. The bins fill up anywhere between 80-120 lbs. In a day, I make 40 dollars for about 7 hours of work.
I am working everyday to give the children the best life they can have. It is important for my wages not to be decreased in immigration reform bills. It is hard enough for me to get by now.”