Spring, 2009
These are my students’ writings after studying the iconic photos of the “Migrant Mother” taken by Dorthea Lange during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl era. Some of these works were published in Easy English Times.
There are more photos at this site: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/128_migm.html.
Dear lady of a picture in a Pea-Pickers’ Camp,
I saw your picture at a class of U.S. history, government, and the news. Where has your dependable husband gone? Where has your graceful smile gone? Did getting stronger make wrinkles in between your eyebrows deeper? What can you see with a vacant stare? Did you forget the words, “dream,” “hope,” and “happiness?”
Now we are living in a troubled economy, so it’s not another person’s affair, but I can’t imagine trading places with you, either. Still, I’m wondering about being fashionable or planning to get a new purse.
You have no more tears to shed. Now I’m crying for you. I respect your courage to live. I credit your devotion to your children. I admire your endurance in great hardship. One picture has taught me that I’m fortunate with what I have now. This is a grateful letter to you from me.
Sincerely,
Izumi Enoki (Japan)
P.S. I hope that you had a pleasant time with you beautiful children after this moment.
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When I see the first picture, it makes me feel sad because I remember when I was a little girl. In that time I saw my brothers and sisters hungry like the children in the picture.
Sometimes I saw my mother desperate and worried because there was not any food to feed my brothers and sisters. The clothes we re wearing were ripped; the people who knew us gave clothes and food to my mom for us.
That’s why when I see the picture it makes me feel sad, nostalgic and sentimental.
Elvira Hernandez (El Salvador)
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I’m very surprised about the Migrant Mother pictures because I feel she is very concerned about the Great Depression.
She had four children and all of them are with her. I think that her husband went to another city or state because he needed a job to support his family.
Maybe she’s thinking, “Where is my husband? I’m alone with the kids; I don’t have any food for them. What will I do if he doesn’t come back to us?”
“My kids are hungry but I can’t give them any food. We are dirty; we haven’t taken a shower for three weeks. I pray my kids don’t get sick.”
“Only my little baby can eat; I still can nurse him, but I don’t know how long I can do it.”
“I’m waiting for my husband; I know he will come back with food and hope.”
Claudia B. Lee (Mexico)
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The picture and the condition of this lady make me think about the people who came to America looking for a batter life. In the beginning it’s very hard because of the language and different culture. To people from another country everything is different; that is the reason people feel sad, frustrated, and afraid, but at last everything becomes very good because we are hard-working people and we like to keep the family together no matter what.
Aurora Ramirez (Guatemala)
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The picture caught my attention; I got so emotional I couldn’t hold myself.
I feel so sad for them; especially the kids; they are so shy and don’t want to show their faces. They hide their faces in their mom’s back. But their mother doesn’t care anymore.
I started to think, “How can a mother go through all that with hungry children around her in a cold and rainy day, hungry and with no clothes and no house?”
She thinks, “What could happen worse than this? No food, no house...” It seems she has given up and doesn’t care anymore. But all that she cares about is her kids.
If I saw them I would help then as much as I could and I think everybody should help too.
Ghaydaa Alfrihat (Egypt)
There are more photos at this site: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/128_migm.html.
Dear lady of a picture in a Pea-Pickers’ Camp,
I saw your picture at a class of U.S. history, government, and the news. Where has your dependable husband gone? Where has your graceful smile gone? Did getting stronger make wrinkles in between your eyebrows deeper? What can you see with a vacant stare? Did you forget the words, “dream,” “hope,” and “happiness?”
Now we are living in a troubled economy, so it’s not another person’s affair, but I can’t imagine trading places with you, either. Still, I’m wondering about being fashionable or planning to get a new purse.
You have no more tears to shed. Now I’m crying for you. I respect your courage to live. I credit your devotion to your children. I admire your endurance in great hardship. One picture has taught me that I’m fortunate with what I have now. This is a grateful letter to you from me.
Sincerely,
Izumi Enoki (Japan)
P.S. I hope that you had a pleasant time with you beautiful children after this moment.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I see the first picture, it makes me feel sad because I remember when I was a little girl. In that time I saw my brothers and sisters hungry like the children in the picture.
Sometimes I saw my mother desperate and worried because there was not any food to feed my brothers and sisters. The clothes we re wearing were ripped; the people who knew us gave clothes and food to my mom for us.
That’s why when I see the picture it makes me feel sad, nostalgic and sentimental.
Elvira Hernandez (El Salvador)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I’m very surprised about the Migrant Mother pictures because I feel she is very concerned about the Great Depression.
She had four children and all of them are with her. I think that her husband went to another city or state because he needed a job to support his family.
Maybe she’s thinking, “Where is my husband? I’m alone with the kids; I don’t have any food for them. What will I do if he doesn’t come back to us?”
“My kids are hungry but I can’t give them any food. We are dirty; we haven’t taken a shower for three weeks. I pray my kids don’t get sick.”
“Only my little baby can eat; I still can nurse him, but I don’t know how long I can do it.”
“I’m waiting for my husband; I know he will come back with food and hope.”
Claudia B. Lee (Mexico)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The picture and the condition of this lady make me think about the people who came to America looking for a batter life. In the beginning it’s very hard because of the language and different culture. To people from another country everything is different; that is the reason people feel sad, frustrated, and afraid, but at last everything becomes very good because we are hard-working people and we like to keep the family together no matter what.
Aurora Ramirez (Guatemala)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The picture caught my attention; I got so emotional I couldn’t hold myself.
I feel so sad for them; especially the kids; they are so shy and don’t want to show their faces. They hide their faces in their mom’s back. But their mother doesn’t care anymore.
I started to think, “How can a mother go through all that with hungry children around her in a cold and rainy day, hungry and with no clothes and no house?”
She thinks, “What could happen worse than this? No food, no house...” It seems she has given up and doesn’t care anymore. But all that she cares about is her kids.
If I saw them I would help then as much as I could and I think everybody should help too.
Ghaydaa Alfrihat (Egypt)