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Description
Over the last six decades migration within Mexico and to the United States has reshaped the social fabric of many Mexican families and communities. An overlooked phenomenon is the effect migration has on the elderly. As a large migrant community, San Pablo Huixtepec, Oaxaca, offers great insight into how those who are aging in Mexico are experiencing the long-term effects of outmigration. While most families benefit from the remittances received from and linkages between their family members in the US, outmigration along with a lack of state and federal support, have left many elderly in San Pablo in difficult social and cultural conditions. In response, a group of elderly community members joined together to organize a support group called 11 de Octubre (11th of October). The purpose of my research is to explore what it means to be a senior community member in rural Mexico in the 21st century by capturing the lived experiences of members of 11 de Octubre. My research serves as a case study on group empowerment and consists of two phases. In the first phase I collected quantitative data using surveys in order to explore participants' ages, number of immediate relatives (son(s), daughter(s), or spouse) who are living in the U.S. or elsewhere, household size, and their relationship to household members. In the second phase I collected qualitative data by interviewing 15 participants. The interviews consisted of open ended questions in order to explore their subjective view of aging, their perceptions of 11 de Octubre, and what a support group like this means to them. Research on the elderly is critical to our understanding of shifts in family structure that impact a large segment of Mexico's population and that have not been addressed through public policy or in familial and community social structures. This research provides insight into aging, shifts in traditional family structure, and the potential success of community-based programming that emerges from the elderly.
