In pictures: El Gusano, a living ghost town

[Aurovon]

It is a remittance town, dependent on those who left to work in the US, many of them illegally.

Mexicans working abroad sent home around $20bn last year.

Many in El Gusano do not want to leave their land, customs and memories but faced with a lack of opportunities at home and the lure of the US, there is often no choice.


Today there are only 70 families left in El Gusano, which lacks basic infrastructure and many services.

Those left behind are mainly women, the very young and the elderly

There are hardly any men aged 18-35 and most of those want to get out.

Migration has divided families and left El Gusano with the air of a ghost town.


A ghost house – one of the most expensive homes in the village but with no one living there.

It was built using money sent back by a migrant who intended to return.

The story of remittances in El Gusano is paradoxical. Increasing numbers leave to earn more money but there are fewer people left to receive it.


Cipriano Paris is one of the few men his age left. Most of the others are in the US.

It is a route Cipriano himself has taken. He worked for 18 months in Texas as a roofer, earning enough money to modernise his home.

Because wages are so low and the prices so poor for the corn he produces, Cipriano knows that he might one day have to try to return to Texas.


But Cipriano would not leave El Gusano and his family willingly. He has three children, who he wants to see grow, as well as his wife, parents and a sister who he loves and wants to support.

He has a field of corn and cattle he needs to take care of.

El Gusano is his home.


Cipriano’s mother, Maria Luisa, 71, stands at her kitchen door. She says that materially she never been so well off.

Her house now has cement floors and a bathroom with a shower.

But she doubts she will ever be able to share these improvements with all her children.

Her other six sons all work in Dallas, Texas. They are unlikely to return because the journey back across the border would be costly and dangerous.


When it is dry, the ride into El Gusano is uneventful, if bumpy. Halfway down the track, you have to cross a river.

During the rainy season, the river swells, blocking travel in and out. Two years ago, people were cut off for a fortnight.

There were proposals to build a bridge but nothing happened.

The Mexican government has failed to invest in the infrastructure that would keep people in El Gusano and make it a viable community.


Migration has determined the course of 94-year-old Natalia Ramirez’s life. She had 12 children in 11 years of marriage. When she was 39, her husband decided to leave for the US and she followed him to the border.

He made it across, she didn’t. They never saw each other again.

She returned to her home to spend her life picking crops destined for sale in the US – cotton, potatoes, strawberries, corn.

Eight of her children died of malnutrition.


Natalia Ramirez’s outhouse is decorated by US licence plates – a record of the many US states her son-in-law has worked in to raise money for his family back in Mexico.

His remittances helped pay for Mrs Ramirez’s outhouse.

Most men heading to the US vow to return once they have made some money.

But many stay for years, if not for ever, unable or unwilling to risk crossing back across the border, a perilous and often costly undertaking.


Gavino Paris, 79, Cipriano’s father, stirs pork in a pot next to their house.

Such meals are rare. It was being prepared for a celebration to honour the village's patron saint, Santa Ana.

Despite his age, Gavino still helps Cipriano to tend their land.

Unless the Mexican government invests money in El Gusano, it is very likely that Cipriano will be the last in his family to work on the land.


Cipriano Paris's wife, Victoria, holds their youngest son, seven-month-old Ricardo, outside their house before putting the child to sleep.

Ricardo's future will be a difficult one. El Gusano has only one telephone, no paved roads and a rudimentary school.

Ricardo will likely have to make the trip across the border where he will find more family members in Texas than he has in El Gusano.


Most journeys, it seems, will continue to be out of El Gusano.

Source

[jihadthisfilth]

k....

[Aurovon]

Originally Posted by jihadthisfilth

k....

Cool....

[jus_me]

i love your "in pictures" threads

[SharpenedMango]

You're like the Time Magazine Photojournalist of RD

muchos kudos,
good shit.


on a more serious note, shows u how much bullshit remittances can be sometimes, those people just want to escape poverty themselves sometimes, the area of hyderabad im from, its full of fancy grand houses now, full of remittance money........ but hardly any of the houses are fully occupied...... my aunt who's inherited the *family* home lives in a mansion with just 2 other people........
but yeah good stuff

[NinjaPanther]

I tripped on an apple today.

[Aurovon]

Originally Posted by SharpenedMango

You're like the Time Magazine Photojournalist of RD

muchos kudos,
good shit.


on a more serious note, shows u how much bullshit remittances can be sometimes, those people just want to escape poverty themselves sometimes, the area of hyderabad im from, its full of fancy grand houses now, full of remittance money........ but hardly any of the houses are fully occupied...... my aunt who's inherited the *family* home lives in a mansion with just 2 other people........
but yeah good stuff

Ah, yeah I've heard Hyderabad is pretty decked out with fancy houses, not shocked since people send money back. I from from the state of Orissa, and I can't say the same. It will take much longer, since most desis abroad are from up north.

[AnGel_PyAr]

bullshit