Season of Sacrifice: Workers struggle to fill the time

The walls are bare, without decorations or clocks to track the time that produced no money for Martin Alvarez Avalos today.

Early September rains have given the seasonal worker from Central Mexico the day off from the construction job he left home and family for six months ago.

As late afternoon rolls around, he sits back to watch TV with several other seasonal workers in their apartment.

The men depend on weekly paychecks from a Bedford County construction company to send money back to their families. Off-hours can prove just as challenging mentally as the construction work is physically.

“It’s difficult when you have all that time with nothing to do,” said Ramon Alvarez Avalos, Martin’s brother. “We feel a little anxious.”

In past years, the men would work 60 to 70 hours each week. But the slumping economy has affected construction and reduced those numbers to 40 hours a week, said David St. John, president of May Bros. Inc., which has used a federal program to hire the workers for the past four years.

Less time working has meant more time sitting around bare apartments thinking about home roughly 2,000 miles away.

The workers’ living arrangements include a house on Hooper Road in Forest next to St. John’s shop and several two-bedroom apartments near Timberlake Road in Campbell County that each accommodate four workers.

Their typical work schedule consists of four 10-hour shifts and a three-day weekend from Friday to Sunday.

They have no cars but St. John arranges for transportation to work, to the bank to cash their weekly paychecks and to the grocery store to fill cabinets and refrigerators with food.

The men usually go to Wal-Mart each Friday after receiving their checks. When the cashier rings up their cart, those rooming together split the bill.

They also like to stop by Los Amigos, a Hispanic store on Lakeside Drive in Lynchburg, where some send mail orders home and buy drinks and snacks.

“We try to eat all the foods we have in Mexico,” said Ramon. “So we can feel at home.”

On off days, they often walk to nearby convenience stores, watch television and use their calling cards to talk to family members back home.

While the apartments are sparse, they do have access to Spanish programs on television, which allows them to keep up with regional news and events in Mexico. The workers said the feature — which St. John pays for, along with the rent — makes them feel closer to home.

Soccer is also the sport of choice and a comfort away from home for Martin and some of the other workers. He has played at parks in the Lynchburg area with other enthusiasts since they arrived in April.

In the apartment, they take turns cooking meals and packing lunches for the workday.

The conversations, activities and embraces of loved ones are never far from their thoughts. Work makes time go by more quickly; when it’s not a part of the day, homesickness sinks in.

“You feel alone but at the same time you support each other and help each other out,” said Ramon.

“You feel alone together.”

The brothers also have friends outside of work who they said occasionally take them to a Spanish-speaking church in Lynchburg. As Catholics, they attend Mass regularly in Mexico with their families.

St. John said he and regular employees at the firm understand the hardships the men endure while separated from loved ones. The Americans take them out to eat occasionally and St. John has driven them to amusement parks like Busch Gardens.

The workers have found that not everyone is as welcoming as their American co-workers.

Martin said he was walking to the store once when a person called out ethnic slurs that hinted he should go back to Mexico.

He kept walking.

“It’s wrong because I have an objective — to work,” Martin said. “That’s why I’m here.”

The good memories are what they talk most about with their families when they return home, they said. Stories of the work and friendships built with American co-workers are what they bring back on top of the money they’ve earned.

They can’t wait to get home.

The first thing Ramon said he wants to do is throw his arms around the loved ones waiting to greet him.

“You don’t have enough arms to hug everyone.”

Part 3 of 4 in a series. Click here for more stories in this series.