THE DESERT SUN

January 2, 2006

Speaking up on behalf of community

By Richard Guzman

With strong roots embedded deep in the farming soil of her beloved Mecca, 27-year-old Maria Machuca has become a trusted voice for those who toil in the fields.

As community program specialist for the Mecca Family & Farmworker Service Center, Machuca listens to the needs of farmworkers and helps bring them the essential services they need.

"She's someone who speaks for us, and she's one of us," said 71-year-old Rafael Zarate, a Mecca resident who spent 15 years working the farm fields.

The services she helps bring include medical care, unemployment benefits and educational tools such as GED programs, which are provided by the Service Center through partnerships with other private and county organizations.

Machuca sometimes goes door-to-door to talk to people about the needs in Mecca. Other times she meets with groups to find out what is missing in her community.

Diverse work

Besides her official job, Machuca also serves as chair of the Mecca Community Council, is among the founding members of Raices, an east valley community activist group, and recently narrated a documentary about Mecca that aired on PBS this year.

"She's very active here, and she knows how to get things done and we trust her," Zarate said.

Born in Indio to farmworker parents, Machuca earned that trust through years of contact with her community, where those who have known her since she was young still refer to her by her childhood nickname, "Lupita."

"Sometimes I run into people outside of work or at the store and they say 'Hey, Lupita,' and they start talking to me about things we need," she said.

Machuca became aware of all the needs in Mecca at a very young age, when her parents worked the fields.

"It wasn't fun being woken up practically at night at 4 a.m., bundled up and taken to a neighbor's house because your parents had to go to work," she said.

Machuca also remembers the toll the hard hours of back-breaking labor took on her parents.

"I didn't like seeing (her mother's) hands so filled with dirt and dirty. I hated seeing her like that because she was so pretty," Machuca recalled.

At that time, there wasn't much in the way of services for farmworkers, she said.

Maybe it was because she was a girl, or maybe because they saw her potential at an early age, Machuca is not sure why, but her parents never let her work alongside them in the fields.

"Even if I wanted to earn extra money during the summer, they wouldn't let me. They would just give it to me," she said.

With the example of her hard-working parents, Machuca focused on school, attended California State University, San Bernardino and became the first member of her family to graduate from college.

But her heart remained in Mecca, where she returned after earning a degree in social science to help her extended family of farmworkers.

"She's always been a leader," said Joe Mota, regional director for Southern California United Farm Workers of America.

"She's a strong advocate and she knows the community because she came from the community."

Machuca knows there are bigger cities with more to offer a young college graduate, but she can't ever see herself leaving her hometown.

"I want to be here and continue to be here to help my community. That gratifies me. That's my paycheck," she said.