I have never been the type to take a moment and think about where I come from and think about my culture. I would consider myself being part of that generation when our families arrived to the United States we lost some of our cultural roots and just let it happen. Working at Community to Community Development has been such an experience both challenging and rewarding. Being part of an amazing group of women at Community to Community has made me open my eyes and look at my life in a new perspective. Whether it may be me thinking about the foods I eat every day and where they come from, my rights as a human being and how I can help my community; Community to Community teaches me something new every day.  Not only has my time with the organization changed my perspective on life but has also helped me bond with my mother. Something my mother and I rarely do. My job at Community to Community is working on their Cocinas Sanas (Healthy Kitchens) project. The program is about empowering the Latina women in our community to make healthier eating choices for them and their family. My co-worker and I host collective meals with a group of women that we have met through our outreach. We cook together with the women and they share their stories about the foods and different methods of cooking they may have from where they come from. Personally I do not cook and I have a hard time understanding the cooking scene so I go to my mother a lot for help. She helps me put the recipes together then I come back and use that as a guide when working with the women. I’ve never really asked my mother about cooking or how to make something and, my mother is a great cook; she feeds our family well.

The first time I asked my mother for help on a recipe she was so surprised that I was asking. I was honest with her and told her it was for work, she might have been a little upset that it was not for my own interest but she was still happy to help.  I then went on and used that recipe to cook with the group of women. After that day, experiencing the hard work, dedication and the time that it takes to cook a meal I have looked at my mother so differently. I still continue to ask for her help but this time when I ask I am more interested in what she has to say. Our project recently got the opportunity to team up with Community to Community’s youth empowerment program, Raices Culturales (Cultural Roots). When the youth group meets my co-worker and I prepare the children’s lunches and then have a small group discussion on food. One day we planned on making chilaquiles for the children, ripped up tortilla pieces in enchilada sauce, sounds simple right; well not so simple for someone who does not cook. Once I again I asked my mother for help on putting the recipe together. Not only did I get the recipe but I also received a little story about this food. You see I have had chilaquiles with egg so when I asked my mother about when do I need to add the egg she looked at me and said chilaquiles don’t have egg. Now I was confused, were we talking about the same thing here? She then told me adding egg to the chilaquiles was something people started doing to “modernize” this food. She said “chilaquiles was something people made in the ranchos” (back in Mexico) when they did not have a lot to eat. They friend their tortillas lightly, blended some chilies, put them together and ate. If there was any at home they would also top them off with some chopped onion and queso fesco (Mexican cheese).
Here I am thinking the egg was the whole foundation for chilaquiles and wondering if I ever would have found that out if it weren’t for this opportunity Community to Community had given me of working with them. The story may be small for some people but and mean nothing but to me this story was a big deal. That moment with my mother will be a memory; she shared a little piece of our culture with me which I then had the opportunity to share with others. Coming into Community to Community I was not completely certain of what I was getting into. All I knew was I wanted to help people and help make a difference somewhere, little did I know they were going to be helping me and making a difference in me.