For LISTÍN DIARIO it is an honor to tell the story of the “fry makers” of Guayacanes today. The voice of a group of women who have been dedicating themselves to this trade for years, was given by Aura García and Yanira Mercedes, who, since the reporters’ team arrived at the scene, stood up to fight.
They gave themselves a “pull” of “turn it off and let’s go.” Nothing to do with the clothes they wear to work. They wanted to be well placed to represent their colleagues, who while they answered questions, continued their work in the remodeled squares that the Ministry of Tourism made for them. Are two. Aura has her position in one and Yanita in another.
“We cannot explain how we feel about this change, especially knowing all the work we have undergone in this profession, in which I have been working for 18 years. Because it’s not easy to fight to support your family, to move forward. I spent a lot of work.” Aura offers this data and her words make it clear how proud she is of her accomplishments. It is not for less. It was by frying fish, cooking and serving her customers that she was able to earn a college degree and help her two daughters graduate. One is a lawyer and the other is a psychologist. Her youngest son has not yet finished her studies.
“I have a degree in Letters, but I continue with my business. I work teaching Spanish Language, and I let my daughter, the psychologist, take care of the position while I go to school. She applied to work in the State, and passed with good grades, I hope they call her so that she can pursue her career ”. She expresses it with emotion. Keeping her happy, she also says that, even though her daughter gets her job, she has other women who help her run ‘El Sazón de Mama’. This name was given by Aura’s mother, the first owner of the frying pan. Sadly, she passed away two weeks ago.
Yanira and the power of the word
Her story is not unlike Aura’s. First he lasted about three years working in his mother’s fry shop, and then he became independent by opening a stand selling juices, smoothies, coffee, soft drinks, mints, sweets… In total, he has already spent 15 years in these tasks. “I came here pregnant, and until today, I am still here seeking well-being for myself and my companions. We are like sisters.” That could be observed.
“If someone comes to buy two fried fish, one sells one and the other the other. If you don’t have chairs, the partner you have lends them to you, and that’s how we manage. We live from this and we have to help each other”. Yanira says it sincerely, who in the ‘Placita de Guayacanes’, or La Playita as they also call it, is in charge of ensuring that everything works well and that the work remains in optimal conditions as President Luis Abinader delivered it to her. and David Collado, on March 26.
Premiering square
They are “that do not fit” with joy. Your reality is different. The booths where they used to work behind a stove burning “even their thoughts” have been replaced by two attractive establishments that invite not only to enjoy their fried foods, juices, coffee and other foods, but also the beautiful beach of the place. .
Now they have a stove, fridge, freezer and other appliances that make their work easier, guarantee hygiene and provide security to their customers. They blame David Collado for this positive transformation, who had the vision of creating a more pleasant environment for tourists, as well as providing better conditions for them to continue earning a decent living.
“A dream come true that has changed our life”
Late in the interview, Aura García and Yanira Mercedes seemed somewhat “accelerated”. They had a very powerful reason for it: “Let’s realize quickly that we have a meeting with the people of Politur.” There everything was clarified. It is that his level of commitment so that things continue to work well with the new work, is too great. They do not want to look bad on who has turned out so well for them: David Collado.
“You cannot imagine how grateful we all are for this project. Although at first we were incredulous, because it was too beautiful to be true, later we realized that it was true, that we were not being deceived”. This quote is from Yanira, a woman of arms who confronted the engineer and how many people she understood could be playing with “my children’s bread.”
The murmur they heard when talking about knocking down the booths, had them with “the spurs on.” There were reasons to be like this. On several occasions, rumors reached them that the owners of those lands were going to get them out of there. “Then these people come and tell us that they were going to transform this, we couldn’t believe them. That is why today we say that this is a dream come true that has changed our lives”. Yanira says it speaking for all.
The process
“It was not easy at all, but they knew how to do the job. First they made temporary booths for us so that we wouldn’t stop working, they know that many families live off this. Then they started and in about a year and a half, or less, everything was ready and they delivered it to us as I told you, fully equipped, and we didn’t have to pay a peso”. This is told by Aura, also happy about the bathrooms that both plazas have, and that there is a staff paid by Tourism to keep them clean all the time.
There are people from the Tourist Police and from the Control of Local Tourism Works (Coidet), who keep an eye on everything that happens there to guarantee the safety of the “fry shops” and their customers. “And we have an angel who has helped us like no one imagines, she is a young woman named Lorna Carrasco, who is always there for us.” They are grateful.
scam victims
The “fry-fryers” of Guayacanes, and perhaps those of other tourist spots, have not only had to face the danger of dealing with fire, oil, or inclement weather. They have also been victims of heartless people who, knowing with the effort that they earn their livelihood, deceive them mercilessly.
“So that you have an idea of everything that we have gone through here, that nobody took us into account except to take advantage, as did someone who told us that we were in a union and that is why we paid 2,400 pesos a year, which for It’s a lot for us, and in my case I lost that money for 13 years, and when they now investigated whether we were in the damned union, it turns out that we never were, they scammed us”. The experience makes Yanira known. It was because of this type of case that it was so difficult for them to believe that someone could help them selflessly.
Today, they and their colleagues are happy because although they do a job that requires a lot of dedication, they are doing it in a safe, clean, beautiful place and each one with their stamp.
crying and satisfaction
There have been many times that they have cried with impotence and rage. “Nobody imagines how great it is that you borrow money to buy merchandise and that it comes and it rains and everything gets wet, there are no customers and you still have to pay that money. Look, that’s not easy, and we go through that many times.” Says Aura, in charge of another space called Plaza del Pescador.
His partner Yanira has also had to cry from impotence. “When we didn’t have bathrooms and the clients asked us to go to one, and what we could offer was ‘cubeticas’, and no matter how much we talked with people from the so-called union, we never achieved anything because they told us that the authorities had not approved that project. . However, they took our hard-earned money from us.”
Source-listindiario.com