2007, The Buffett Project: Children of the Borderlands

Chi dren of the Border ands A photodocumentary project funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation

Walter Cronkite school of Journalism and Mass Communication Arizona State University 2006

Overview

Children of the Borderlands

2006

Children of the Borderlands

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his spring, four Arizona State University students in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication spent the semester documenting the lives of children who live just across the Arizona-Mexico border.

The students, all of whom studied photojournalism at ASU, each chose a place and subject that interested them. Over the course of the semester, they made numerous trips across the border to photograph the children whose lives emerge so convincingly from these pages.

Jeremiah Armenta went to the poorest sections of San Luis, Mexico, just south of Yuma, Ariz., where he found children who live in cardboard shacks on the edge of a dump and others, almost equally impoverished, who help support their families by getting up at 4:30 each morning to work the fields before going to school.

Brandon Quester explored the lives of 10-year-old twin girls from a poor family in Agua Prieta, Mexico. One stays home, so handicapped that she spends much of her life in bed; the other is sent to a girls’ orphanage where she attends school, eats regular meals and has a bed she can call her own.

Kelley Karnes was welcomed into the home of a mother and her four daughters who live in Nogales, Mexico. For this family, education is so important that the mother spends hours each day driving two of her children back and forth across the border into the United States so that they can attend a private school.

Finally, Danielle Peterson set out to tell the story of how Mexican culture endures in the lives of its children. She focused on a 15-year-old girl from the town of Magdalena, Mexico, on one of the most important days of her life – a quinceanera, the day she became a woman.

On the cover: Kelley Karnes, Untitled, Nogales, Sonora, 2006.

Sara Menez-Lopez, 12, plays on a trampoline at the La Davina Orphanage in Agua Prieta, Sonora.

She has lived at the orphanage since she was 5.

The students, their instructors and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication thank the Howard G. Buffett Foundation for the generous support that made this project possible. In granting scholarships to the students, Buffett, an international photojournalist, author and philanthropist, said he hoped they would experience the “human condition.”

Be assured that they did.

Kristin Gilger Christine Keith

Kristin Gilger, a former deputy managing editor of The Arizona Republic, is director of Student Media at ASU and has taught Depth Journalism for the past four years.

Christine Keith, is an award-winning photographer at The Arizona Republic and has taught photojournalism at ASU.

The Photographers

Kelley Nichole Karnes Karnes, 23, was born in Sacramento, Calif., but raised in Phoenix, where she attended North Canyon High School and discovered a love for journalism.

Karnes worked for two years as a photographer at The State Press, ASU’s student newspaper. In 2003 she won first place for general news photography in the regional contest of the Society of Professional Journalists. She also served as a photo intern at The Arizona Republic, where she now works in the paper’s photo imaging department. Her goal is to work as a professional photographer for a major daily newspaper.

Danielle Peterson Peterson, 24, is a native of Molalla, Ore. As an undergraduate at ASU, she worked as a photographer for The State Press Magazine and as photo editor for The State Press. She also interned as a photographer at the East Valley Tribune newspaper.

Danielle was part of the Cronkite School’s “Crossing Borders” student reporting project in Mexico during the fall of 2004. She is now working as a photographer and reporter at the Canby Herald in Canby, Ore. Brandon Quester Brandon Quester, 24, is from Medina, Ohio, and attended Ohio State University before transferring to ASU in 2003. While an undergraduate at ASU, he served as photo editor of The State Press, was a photographer for The State Press Magazine, and was a photo intern at the East Valley Tribune newspaper. He also interned for the book division of Arizona Highways magazines and has done freelance photography for SWEAT magazine as well as several other national publications.

He was part of the Cronkite School’s “Crossing Borders” student reporting project in Mexico during the fall of 2004 and won several awards for a web site he helped developed for the project. He spent this past summer working as a back country ranger in Olympic National Park. He hopes to one day combine his passion for photography with his interest in the outdoors and adventure sports.

Children of the Borderlands

Jeremiah Armenta Armenta, 26, is a senior in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and a staff photographer for The State Press Magazine. A native of Phoenix, Ariz., he has worked as a photographer for The State Press, ASU’s student newspaper, and has interned as a photographer at The Arizona Republic newspaper. Armenta is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, in which he served for four years. He was stationed in RAF Mildenhall, England, where he first developed an interest in photography, watching photojournalists in action. He hopes to work as a staff photographer for a newspaper or magazine after graduation.

2006

2006

Jeremiah Armenta

Children of the dump

Brian, San Luis, Sonora, 2006 Brian Lopez, 5, rides a toy plastic horse outside of his house, which is one of hundreds that have sprung up in this makeshift community near a dump.

Untitled, San Luis, Sonora, 2006 Five-year-old Miguel Perez climbs a wire fence outside of his house just before sunset.

Children of the dump

E

very day, it seems, a new family arrives. They drag cardboard and pallets and scraps of wood to a patch of desert ground and in a few hours, they’re ready to move in. This community of thousands has sprung up less than a mile from the main dump in San Luis, Mexico.

The dump is a source of both trash and treasure. The garbage piles up everywhere – in the roads and around houses and residents sort through garbage for whatever they can use or recycle. There is no electricity, no suitable drinking water, no health care, very few cars.

Most children – and there are many of them – don’t go to school because their families can’t afford the uniforms and fees. Many young girls become mothers when they are barely into their teens; drug and alcohol abuse is rampant. Still, the children are just like children everywhere. They’re curious and resourceful, funny and irritating.

They play with their toys, argue about the rules of games and cherish their pets.

Opposite page: Mira, San Luis, Sonora, 2006.

Miguel Perez, 5, peers out of the one-bedroom home where he lives with four other siblings and his mother.

Children of the dump

Jeremiah Armenta

Yessica, San Luis, Sonora, 2006 Yessica Perez , 3, plays on a broken bicycle in front of her house. She is the youngest of five children, the eldest of whom is 14 and had her first child this summer.

Maria, San Luis, Sonora, 2006 Maria Velazquez makes her living by working in the main trash dump, collecting aluminum cans and other types of metal. She earns 50 to 100 pesos a day.

Hermanos, San Luis, Sonora, 2006 From left to right – Brothers Martin Perez , 7, Alfredo, 12, and Miguel, 5, head home after walking two miles to the nearest store to buy some eggs and milk for breakfast.

2006

2006

Jeremiah Armenta

Children of the dump

Above: Brian, San Luis, Sonora, 2006 Brian Lopez, 5, wraps himself in a blanket just before sunset near his home.

Left: Adrian, San Luis, Sonora, 2006 Adrian Cervantes, 7, plays on a drumset that he made out of five-gallon buckets.

Children of the dump

Clockwise from top: Denise, San Luis, Sonora, 2006 Denise Lopez, 3, sits on a stone and watches as her mother prepares to hang clean clothes along a fence.

Alfredo, San Luis, Sonora, 2006 Alfredo Perez, 12, leans against a pole that supports a fence made of mattress springs. He is the only one of his four siblings who his mother can afford to send to school.

Martin, San Luis, Sonora, 2006 Martin Perez, 7, tries to remove a break lever from a broken bicycle in his front yard.

Yessica, San Luis, Sonora, 2006 Yessica Perez, 3, plays on a swing in her front yard. Yessica was born with one leg shorter than the other, but her mother said the family can’t afford to take her to a doctor.

Brian, San Luis, Sonora, 2006 Brian Lopez, 5, leans back on his skateboard in the doorway of his makeshift house.

Jeremiah Armenta

2006

2006

Kelley Karnes

School in another country

School in another country

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ulia Zepeda is a determined woman. A single mother of four daughters, she sends two of her girls across the U.S. border every day to go to school in Nogales, Ariz. The distance isn’t long – just a couple of miles – but the drive often takes an hour and a half each way. There are long waits at the border crossing, endless paperwork and a hefty bill – Julia pays about $400 a month for her girls to attend Sacred Heart Catholic School, where most of the children are U.S.-born but live in Mexico. The children are taught exclusively in English except on Fridays when they are taught formal Spanish. At home, Julia’s daughters teach her English while doing their homework.

Top: The Mexican American Dream, Nogales, Sonora, 2006 Stephanie (center) wrestles with her carpool buddies on their way back to Mexico after school.

Right: The Mexican American Dream, Nogales, Sonora, 2006 Stephanie Zepeda prays the “Our Father” with her classmates before they are dismissed for school lunch.

School in another country

From top to bottom: The Mexican American Dream, Nogales, Sonora, 2006 Julia Zepeda gets up early to get her daughters ready for school. They have to leave at 6:45 a.m. to reach school by 8:30.

The Mexican American Dream, Nogales, Sonora, 2006 Julia shows a custom’s agent passports for her daughters, all of whom were born in the United States.

The Mexican American Dream, Nogales, Sonora, 2006 Nicole Zepeda, 7, is helped into her car by one of her teachers after school.

Kelley Karnes

2006

2006

Kelley Karnes

School in another country

Top: The Mexican American Dream, Nogales, Sonora, 2006 Stephanie Zepeda, 10, does her homework while her sister, Nicole, tries to stay awake in the back seat.

The drive back into Mexico is a long one.

Left: The Mexican American Dream, Nogales, Sonora, 2006 At Sacred Heart Catholic School in Nogales, Ariz., children play during physical education class. Most of the students are from Mexico and are only allowed to speak English except on Fridays when classes are taught in Spanish.

School in another country

Kelley Karnes

Clockwise from top to right: The Mexican American Dream, Nogales, Sonora, 2006 After the long drive home from school, Julia provides a snack of menudo for her daughters and their carpool buddies.

The Mexican American Dream, Nogales, Sonora, 2006 Julia goes over her daughters’ homework after school.

She has been trying to learn English along with her children.

The Mexican American Dream, Nogales, Sonora, 2006 Julia takes time out of her busy schedule to laugh and play with her daughters.

The Mexican American Dream, Nogales, Sonora, 2006 At “la fronterra,” or the port of entry, peddlers make a living selling candy and Mexican knickknacks to people waiting in their cars.

2006

2006

Danielle Peterson

Keeping traditions alive

Keeping traditions alive

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erhaps because they live so close to the United States, children along the U.S.-Mexico border are quick to adopt everything American, from music and clothes to sports and food. But that doesn’t mean they have abandoned their own culture. In one of the most enduring of Mexican traditions, the quinceañera, Mexican girls at about the age of 15 say goodbye to their childhoods. The family of 15-year-old Cecilia Iovanna of Magdalena, Mexico, spent months preparing for her ceremony this spring. On the big day, Cecilia dressed in an elaborate pink gown, got her hair done and rode to the church in a car topped with a giant pink bow. Her family and friends watched as the parish priest read from the Bible and reminded her of her duties as a woman. At the fiesta afterward, the boys of the town surrounded Cecilia for a traditional dance.

Top: Quinceañera, Magdalena, Sonora, 2006 Cecilia Iovanna is surrounded by the boys of the town for a traditional dance after her quinceañera.

Above: Quinceañera, Magdalena, Sonora, 2006 Cecilia listens along with her family and friends to a priest’s counsel on becoming a woman.

Keeping traditions alive

Clockwise from top: Quinceañera, Magdalena, Sonora, 2006 Hairdresser Dina Nubes (left) styles Cecilia Iovanna’s hair before her quinceañera March 25.

Quinceañera, Magdalena, Sonora, 2006 Father Hoyos, who is in his 90s, reads from the Bible. He has celebrated many quinceañeras during his years as a Catholic priest.

Quinceañera, Magdalena, Sonora, 2006 Cecilia, 15, spends a quiet moment outside the church before the ceremony begins.

Quinceañera, Magdalena, Sonora, 2006 A giant pink bow is placed on the hood of the car that will carry Cecilia to church.

Quinceañera, Magdalena, Sonora, 2006 Dressed in pink and wearing a tiara, Cecilia has only her jewelry to put on. Her mother helps her prepare for her big day.

Danielle Peterson

2006

2006

Brandon Quester

Two sisters, two lives

Two sisters, two lives

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espite being born to the same mother on the same day, 10-year-old twins Lupita and Fatima Garay lead drastically different lives. Lupita has been severely disabled since birth and lives with her mother, father and two younger brothers in a shanty down a dirt road in Agua Prieta, Mexico.

Lupita cannot walk, speak or eat without assistance.

Fatima lives in a girls’ orphanage across town, where she attends a private Catholic school and sleeps in a bed she can call her own. The orphanage, La Divina Providencia, serves both children who have lost their parents and those whose parents cannot afford to take care of their children at home. The orphanage is supported by charitable contributions, mostly from the United States. Although they lead very different lives, Lupita and Fatima remain bound by family and a hope for a better life.

Top: Untitled, Agua Prieta, Sonora, 2006 Twin sisters Lupita and Fatima Garay share a bed while watching television, the sole luxury the family can afford.

Above: Untitled, Agua Prieta, Sonora, 2006 Due to her disabilities, Lupita must be hand fed by her mother, Flor. Most of her diet consists of Ramen noodles and food liquidated in a blender.

Two sisters, two lives

Brandon Quester

Left: Untitled, Agua Prieta, Sonora, 2006 Fatima walks home from a small market just down the road from her family’s home. On the rare occasion when the family has enough money left over from groceries and bills, the children are allowed to buy Coca-Cola and a small bag of Cheetos.

Below: Untitled, Agua Prieta, Sonora, 2006 Fatima and Lupita spend time together outside their family’s home in the barrios of Agua Prieta.

While they are separated during the week, the sisters reunited on weekends and school holidays.

2006

2006

Brandon Quester

Two sisters, two lives

Untitled, Agua Prieta, Sonora, 2006 Lupita, 10, watches as her twin sister applies lipstick in a mirror. Severely disabled since she was born, Lupita can do little for herself.

Lupita spends much of her time in front of the television or watching what is happening around her at home. Her mother says Lupita lost oxygen to her brain when she was born and, as a result, she cannot talk, walk or eat on her own. Because they cannot afford treatment or health care, family members take care of her themselves.

Two sisters, two lives

Clockwise from top: Untitled, Agua Prieta, Sonora, 2006 At home for a two-week vacation from school, Fatima tries out some lipstick while Lupita watches.

At La Divina Providencia, Fatima often keeps to herself. The staff at La Divina say that her quietness may be due to concerns about her sister and family.

(Bottom right) Fatima and Fernanda Leon, 10, share a piece of candy in their dorm room.

(Below) Fatima watches as her schoolmates play a game.

Brandon Quester

2006

2006

Jeremiah Armenta

Children of the fields

The Sharpening, San Luis, Sonora, 2006 Oscar Aicellano, 17, sharpens his knife before heading to the cilantro fields to remove weeds.

Children of the fields

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ix days a week, these workers get up at 4:30 a.m., pile into a pickup truck filled to overflowing and head to the onion, lettuce and cilantro fields south of San Luis, Mexico. They work for 10 hours, with exactly one 30-minute break, and earn around $9 a day. All of this might seem harsh –but not extraordinary – except that these workers are still children. Most are between the ages of 14 and 18, but they are already instrumental to their families’ survival.

The average income for families in San Luis is only about $150 a month. After a day of hard labor, many of the boys attend school at night. School lasts from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., then it’s a few hours of sleep and up again at 4:30 a.m. for another day in the fields.

Trenches, San Luis, Sonora, 2006 Carlos Rodriguez, 14, walks down an irrigation ditch in search of weeds that might be choking the cilantro.

Children of the fields

Jeremiah Armenta

Los ninos del Campo, San Luis, Sonora, 2006.

(Left to right) For hours each day, Amanda Cervantes, 20, Cristina Bustamante, 16, and Carlos Rodriguez, 14, search the cilantro fields for weeds.

Carlos, San Luis, Sonora, 2006.

Carlos Rodriguez, 14, sits on a dirt bank during his 30-minute lunch break.

(Left and below) Carlos, San Luis, Sonora, 2006.

Carlos spends his days in a cilantro field just south of San Luis, Sonora, Mexico.

He picks weeds for around $9.25 a day; the money goes to help support his family. After working a full day in the field, he also attends night school.

2006

2006

Jeremiah Armenta

Children of the fields

Top: Amor, San Luis, Sonora, 2006 Hilaria Jimenes, 18, and Edgar Gebara, 18, exchange a kiss during their lunch break.

Hilaria is pregnant with Edgar’s baby.

Right: La Truckita, San Luis, Sonora, 2006 The work truck that takes the workers to the fields fills up with gas at 5:30 a.m.

2006

Special moments on the border As ASU’s photojournalism students traveled back and forth across the border this Spring, they encountered children and communities other than those on which they were focusing for their photodocumentaries. They captured those moments in these photos.

Brandon Quester, Untitled, Agua Prieta, Sonora, 2006 Marleni Lopes Osorio, 5, plays near her home in the barrios of Agua Prieta.

2006

Danielle Peterson, Untitled, Magdalena, Sonora, 2006 Priscilla Preciado, 6, takes water from a cantina on a ranch outside of Magdalena.

Danielle Peterson, Untitled, Magdalena, Sonora, 2006 Children lounge in front of a convenience store near Magdalena’s main plaza.

Danielle Peterson, Untitled, Nogales, Sonora, 2006 Francisco Lopez, 4, watches a local parade honoring the children of Mexico.

2006

Kelley Karnes, Untitled, Nogales, Sonora, 2006 Andres Gomez gives his grandson, Isaac De la Huerta-Gomez, 6, a playful pat. Isaac lives with his parents in the United States, but was visiting his grandfather in Nogales.

Kelley Karnes, Untitled, Nogales, Sonora, 2006 Nathan Riviera takes his best shot at a Cinderella pinata during a birthday party.

Danielle Peterson, Untitled, Nogales, Sonora, 2006 Brianna Grijalua, 2, plays with her brother Arian, 5, outside their Magdalena home.

Chi dren of the Border ands A photodocumentary project funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation