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For those of lesser means, getting ahead in the world presents a unique set of challenges. For immigrants and the children of immigrants, those challenges are often amplified. Yet, here in the Imperial Valley many have used those same obstacles as stepping stones on the path to success. The following are some of their stories.
Jaime Silva, Heber School District superintendent
A native of Mexicali, Jaime Silva first came to the United States in 1966 when he was 8 years old. By the time he was 12, he was working in the fields alongside his parents, travelling to Merced during the summer to harvest crops there.
“We were truly a migrant family,” Silva said.
Waking at 4 a.m. and having to work 12-hour shifts was hardly to his liking, but he stuck with the work until he was 18 years old.
“I knew that wasn’t the lifestyle I wanted for myself,” he said.
Instead, he poured his energies into school. An English-language learner, Silva wasn’t exactly a straight-A student either. But the dedication he showed got the attention, and encouragement, of some of his teachers at Heber Elementary School.
It was such encouragement that partly persuaded Silva to pursue a career in education. Not having the financial means to pursue an education outside the Valley played a part in his decision, too, the 54-year-old El Centro resident said.
Years later, as a teacher at various school districts in the Valley, he would again encounter encouragement from peers who thought he had what it took to be an administrator.
“I kind of had all the parts come together in what I wanted to do,” he said.
As the current Heber School District superintendent, Silva said he now finds himself offering words of encouragement to colleagues who he thinks have the potential to move up the ladder as well.
“Not just Latinos, for anyone,” Silva said.
When he reflects on the past and his current position, Silva credits the values and work ethic his parents instilled in him and his siblings.
In a similar effort, Silva had taken his two daughters to the Merced farm labor camp where he had stayed and worked as a teen.
“They couldn’t relate to it,” he said. “They didn’t live the lifestyle I did.”
Having come full circle by returning to Heber, Silva often shares his past with students and staff in the hopes they are able to relate to his experiences.
“I don’t want to say that I’m a role model,” he said. “I just took one of the many pathways to make it where I want to be.”
Juan Cruz, Imperial County Office of Education assistant superintendent of student services
A native of Merced, Juan Cruz came to the Valley as an 8-year-old shortly after his father had passed away. While living with his grandparents in Brawley, Cruz would become acquainted with having the water and electricity shut off at times, as well as being evicted.
“Did I know we were different?” he asked rhetorically. “Sure.”
Absent were the summer trips to Disneyland that other classmates enjoyed. In their place was a houseful of extended family that sometimes numbered more than a dozen.
During that time his mother used to clean the homes of prominent Brawley families. Cruz himself used to work alongside his grandfather in the fields as well as tending sheep.
The experience taught Cruz to take pride in the fact that his sweat was contributing to the well-being of his family. And in the absence of his father, it became apparent that he was going to have to be the provider, Cruz said.
But it didn’t take long for Cruz to rule out a future doing farm work. Further persuading him was the fact that his grandparents liked to boast of young Juan’s academic exploits.
“They had this belief that I had the smarts,” Cruz said.
Nor were they the only ones.
Cruz also had his share of inspirational teachers who made him believe “that I had something to offer, that there was something in me.”
As the current assistant superintendent of student services for the Imperial County Office of Education, Cruz finds himself in the position of being responsible for the academic well-being of thousands of students. He said he relishes the responsibility and chose such a career because it allows him to serve the wider public.
“I want to give back what was given to me,” the 43-year-old El Centro resident said.
Although his initial idea of success had included him leaving the Valley, having a fancy car and a fancy title, that is no longer the case.
“If you ask me, my grandparents were very successful in life,” Cruz said. “To be able to provide the basic necessities for loved ones, to me that’s success.”
Amador Fernandez, Farm Aviation co-owner
When he was 10 years old, Amador Fernandez came to the Valley from Mexicali. His parents had brought Fernandez and his nine siblings stateside so that they could learn English. The transition was hard and he struggled in school.
Eventually he would drop out, choosing to work instead.
“I’m self-educated,” the 57-year-old Calipatria resident jokingly said.
Part of that education took place in the fields. There he worked alongside seasoned adults and his father, who also imparted his experience and knowledge as a signalman who from the ground guided airborne planes loaded with pesticides that fumigated crops.
As a 16-year-old, Fernandez learned how to mix and fill the plane’s tanks with the right combination of chemicals.
“It was an adult’s job,” he said.
By paying close attention to his surroundings he was able to earn the trust and confidence of colleagues in the field and the sky above it.
“They see your potential better than you do,” Fernandez said.
With his broken English and the pilots’ limited Spanish, Fernandez would learn the ins and outs of airplane fumigation, better known as crop-dusting.
Unfortunately his father thought his pursuit of becoming a pilot was a “waste of time,” Fernandez said. But it only served to strengthen his resolve.
“One day he will see me flying a plane,” he remembers thinking to himself.
Soon he would be practicing touch-and-go landings. When he was about 20 years old he flew solo for the first time.
It took him five years to get his commercial pilot’s license. During that time he also failed the pilot’s test three times.
“I had my vision and stuck to it,” he said.
No matter how daunting, whatever task or skill he felt he had to master, he did so. Nor did he appreciate being told he wouldn’t succeed, more so if people’s doubts stemmed from the fact that Fernandez was Latino.
His current situation is fairly removed from the circumstances of his youth, when he had to shower by using a pail of water.
“We’re not bathing in money,” he said, “but we’re comfortable.”
Luis Zendejas, former owner of Zendejas True Value Hardware
A native of Yerbabuena, Michoacan, Mexico, Luis Zendejas clearly remembers the looks he got from his kindergarten classmates when he first enrolled in school after immigrating to the Valley.
Not only did he not speak any English, Zendejas was also 16 years old at the time.
Although technically an upperclassman, the principal at that time had decided to place Zendejas and his fellow English-language learners in kindergarten for three hours a day so they could learn the basics.
“The little kids would make fun of us,” Zendejas said. “We were the first wave of immigrants.”
As much as he may not have enjoyed school, Zendejas’ father made it clear that he and his siblings had no choice but to attend. His father would repeatedly tell his children that many people held the expectation — wrongly — that immigrants could only amount to farm work.
His father was also fond of pointing out the anatomical and intellectual similarities between Mexicans and Americans.
“There’s no difference between them and you,” Zendejas remembers his father saying.
Another fatherly lesson Zendejas took to heart was love of country, which compelled Zendejas to join the Army at the height of the Vietnam War. Ultimately he would be injured in combat and years later develop cancer, which doctors believed stemmed from his exposure to Agent Orange.
His love of country undiminished, Zendejas would over time become something of a Valley gadfly. Whether it was letters to editors of local papers, attending city council, Imperial Irrigation District or other public meetings, Zendejas freely spoke his mind about the current state of Valley affairs.
“Calipatria used to be a nice little town,” Zendejas said. “That’s why I put all my marbles here.”
By marbles he refers to the 180 acres he farms or leases, the homes and properties he rents out as well as the hardware store he formerly owned, which is now run by his three sons.
He was initially able to buy the store in 1992 by raising money from friends and family and even had to sell his wife’s car to pay for workers’ compensation.
“We worked 10- to 12-hour days at first,” Zendejas said. “Within two months we were turning a profit.”
Staff Writer, Copy Editor Julio Morales can be reached at 760-337-3415 or at jmorales@ivpressonline.com
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