People of the Mercado

Gloria Tomás was born in Guatemala City, but at age 10, her family returned to her parent’s rural hometown of El Ciprés, in the Pachalum municipality of the Quiché department in Guatemala. Gloria enjoyed the vast forest, herding goats and harvesting her family’s many crops, including coffee and corn. Gloria’s father moved between the United States and their hometown in search of a stable subsistence for the family while her mother sold fruit and traditional K’iche’ Maya clothing at the local market. Despite their hard work, when Gloria completed the equivalent of a High School education, her family could no longer afford her schooling; thus, she could not pursue a professional career. At age sixteen, with diminished opportunities, Gloria convinced her father to let her migrate to the United States. Not having the means to support her, Gloria’s father had no other option but to borrow money against their land to pay for her passage.

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Gloria’s journey would prove to be perilous; traveling alone with a group of nine men, what should have been a three-day trek through the Arizona desert, took double that time when their guide made a wrong turn. The extreme August temperatures took a toll on the travelers; the sun beat down on them during the day, depleting their water, and by night they laboriously walked in frigid rain. The worst of it was passing the lifeless bodies of other migrants whose dreams were cut short. When Gloria finally arrived at her destination in Los Angeles, she considered herself blessed, given that as arduous as her journey was, others had suffered a worse fate.

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This experience strengthened Gloria’s resolve to stay on course and pay off the debt that her family incurred to give her this opportunity. Today, Gloria enjoys spending time with her partner and daughters, ages two and four, when she is not working as a cook at Mercado la Paloma.  Eleven years later, Gloria misses her small town, the aromas of family mealtimes, the vibrant colors of her huipil, and the many K’iche’ Maya traditions. However, her priority is to ensure that her daughters have a prosperous future and never suffer what she suffered; for Gloria, this means remaining in the United States.