Maritza

Maritza is a single mother of two sons who were 10 and 19 at the time of the study. She relies on social assistance and the small amount of money her oldest son makes at a part–time job. Maritza had completed nine years of education before leaving El Salvador in 1988 and coming to Canada. When she arrived in Ottawa she went to work immediately and never attended ESL classes. Maritza said she learned to speak English in the community and at work. Her sister–in–law also helped her with more practical matters, such as taking the bus, opening a bank account, writing cheques, and paying bills.

Maritza spoke in a rapid–fire, almost frenetic manner, and didn't appear to be listening to others during the group interview. She waited for opportunities to speak only to tell a story about her situation, but she never commented or added to the words of another student. Near the end of the group interview, a couple of students began to show their impatience with her lengthy, self–focused comments.

Maritza vividly recalled her past education experiences in El Salvador. She talked about the pride her mother felt when she received an award for Spanish dictation. Maritza said her mother was so proud of her accomplishment at school that she cried. Her memory of this occasion is pierced by the poverty her family endured.

My mother, she was crying. She was very, very poor, my mother. This day I no have a pencil and I say to my friend, 'Can I borrow your pencil?' And then my mother was crying. She said, 'Oh, you got a certificate.' Oh I loved to stay in the school when I was young.

Maritza had to leave school soon after she received the certificate in order to work and help support her family. School was an added expense that her family simply couldn't bare. Although Maritza never said she complained about leaving school early, she wished circumstances could have allowed her to continue. She is now working to ensure that her youngest son, Juan, learns to recognize the value of education. To do this, she is directly involved in his school. In addition, Maritza and her 10–year–old son visit the library regularly.

Maritza, unlike Hannah and Marion, has been working since she left school at the age of 14 and continued to work full–time as soon as she came to Canada. She has held a variety of jobs that have included work as sewer in a factory, an attendant in a dry cleaner's, and a hotel housekeeper. Her work history has also included periods of unemployment. She was laid off from her job as a sewer when the lingerie company that she worked for shut down; she had to leave her job at the dry cleaner's when she experienced an allergic reaction to the chemicals; and she left her most recent job as a hotel housekeeper when her social assistance benefits were threatened. While on assistance, she was able to top up her income with her wages but then ran into problems if she earned too much money. She explained the predicament she was in while working at the hotel.