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 Eduardo
SOL Lead Precinct Walker,
San Jose, California
"We can defend ourselves against attacks."
Today Eduardo is a husband, a father and grandfather. He lives in the Bay Area. He works as a janitor for a cleaning contractor. He is also a precinct team leader working for SOL. "In the old country the government was corrupt. That is not the case here in the United States."
Eduardo had worked 20 years for a mining company in Peru. It was a stable job. The money was not bad. But Eduardo wanted more. He wanted something that was, in his words, "my own". He left his secure job, to open his own pharmacy.
He was not yet satisfied. Not yet convinced he had found his calling. An old friend, a doctor in Peru, now making his home in San Francisco invited Eduardo and his wife to visit. For years Eduardo had imagined the city by the bay he had seen on television and in movies. His old friend beckoned when they talked, "come see it".
Eduardo and his wife came to California on a brief vacation. "We wanted to experience California for ourselves." For them, San Francisco was a beautiful, magical city. They ended up staying.
They worked in their friends store, selling momentous to other visitors. "My family had been merchants". Eduardo worked from 6 a.m. till past 10 at night. "We didn't miss the old country, we were too busy." Year by year, his three adult daughters followed their parents to the Bay Area.
In a few years, Eduardo and his wife started their own tourist shop. Their hard work paid off. They saved enough to buy a home in the working class suburbs. "In the old country, I had a staff of 20. I worked with people from all over the world." He concluded, "it was hard starting over, but it was good." He had now felt satisfied.
Life, however, had it's setbacks. Their tourist shop was demolished in the 1996 earthquake. He could not afford to begin his business again. He took what work he could to provide for his family. "It was not easy doing manual work after all those years.'
Eduardo soon took a job as a janitor. He now cleans the offices of the bio-tech giant Genentech. He soon became active in his union. "We were electing a new worksite representative, I said to myself "I can do that." Despite setbacks, he was no less determined.
Being a part of the union inspired Eduardo to do more. "I gained confidence". In the fall 2006 election, he accepted a position as a lead for SOL. "To emerge from the shadows, immigrants need information." As a SOL lead, he works as hard has he ever has. "Through SOL, we immigrants can defend ourselves against those who attack us, and we can better the lives of our families."
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