Martha Lopez

Martha Lopez (she/her/ella) | Healthy Workplaces Organizer, FHDC Housing Coordinator | marthalopez@pcun.org

My name is Martha P. Lopez, I was born in a beautiful community called Chiquilistlan in the state of Jalisco. I studied from elementary to high school in the same community. When I was 17 years old I was an educational advisor in a place called El Zarco, Jalisco where I trained children and adults in reading and writing through an institution called CONAFE.

When I was 19 years old, I emigrated to the United States where six months later I gave birth to my first daughter. I worked for more than 7 years in Oregon’s agricultural fields: it was the most difficult time of my stay in this country so far, as I had never been an agricultural worker before.

My whole life before 19 years old I had it easy, working all the time but on things that were easy or that didn’t require physical work the way fields do. In these years I learned the great effort of being an immigrant. Above all, how hard it is to fit into a country in which you feel that you do not belong or where you are convinced that they do not love you. After a while I started in the Promotoras program, with FHDC.  Here I started to develop skills that I didn’t think I had. I became interested in community prosperity, in law, and most importantly, I discovered that I can serve others by being informed myself. 

I’m part of the PCUN team, and what I love most about being part of this team is that I don’t see it as another job, but I see it as a great opportunity to mark someone else’s life in a positive way.  Field workers see that there’s always someone who’s there to help them, to teach them and for them to take control of their lives and let themselves overcome the obstacles of being an immigrant. Today I raise my voice on behalf of all those who dare not to and say that I am important in this country; that the work of every immigrant, every agriculture worker and every undocumented individual makes this country grow and achieve its maximum level. TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

”We cannot go back to the past and change things, but if we can start doing things that mark change for our future generations.”