Care Cartographies is a multimedia journalism project where we are dedicated to mapping the care work carried out by women in all areas of life. I work on this project hand in hand with my colleague Anaiz Zamora, an investigative journalist. Click here to learn more stories.
CARING FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES
The story of Ana and Elia is one of many women in the world who carry the impacts of caring for children with disabilities on their bodies. Being a primary caregiver is a non-paid and full-time job that at least in Mexico is not recognized by the state. Taking care of their mental and physical health is unthinkable for these women. their answer is always the same: but who is going to take care of my children? In Mexico, 9 out of 10 caregivers are women and the challenges they face, the poverty of time and the difficulties in accessing their children's health needs to be a matter of public interest.
WIND AND TERRITORY KEEPER
Guadalupe Ramírez known as "Na Lupita" is a 70-year-old indigenous woman. She belongs to a Zapotec community that call themselves Binni’zaa (people who come from the clouds). With the arrival of the wind farms in her community Unión Hidalgo in Oaxaca, Mexico she became a defender of the land and territory. There are currently 28 wind farms in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Despite the fact that wind companies sell and image of "green" energy providers, some of the impacts reported by the people who live in Unión Hidalgo is the contamination of their lands by the oil that runs off the blades of the wind turbines and the dispossession of ancestrally inhabited territories by indigenous communities in the region.
Until a few years ago, Mrs. Guadalupe was the only woman who constantly attended the Assemblies of community members in Unión Hidalgo, with the time many more have joined.
DAY OF THE DEAD: AN ANCESTRAL TRADITION SUSTAINED BY GRANDMOTHERS, MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS
In Mexico, November 1 and 2 are usually holidays. Every Day of the Dead the pantheons are filled with people and entire families come to visit the graves of their loved ones. In addition to visits to the pantheon, Mexican tradition dictates that altars or offerings be placed in homes with photographs of loved ones who have died, their favorite food and drink, marigold flowers, and candles.
Mexican women dedicate an average of 22 hours a week to housework and 28 hours to caring for other people. The Day of the Dead is a clear example of this sexual division of labor. The harvest of flowers, the purchase of candles and incense and the preparation of food hide a burden of domestic work and care work for women that is rarely recognized. Inside the houses in towns like Zaachila and Teotitlán del Valle; Grandmothers, mothers and daughters are heirs to family recipes and ancestral knowledge that make this a unique celebration that allows those who visit them to be welcomed.