Remembering the infants of Kettleman City

UPDATE: The story, ‘Kettleman City campaign continues,’ can be found here.

Last night I attended a vigil in commemoration of the three babies who died of birth defects in Kettleman City in recent years.

The vigil was at times spiritual, at times a community bonding event, and at times a press conference. (Read about the press conference in next week’s edition of Vida.)

And at times, the vigil was very emotional.

Toward the end of the night, two members of the youth group Kids Protecting Our Planet presented a slide show of photos of the three infants who passed away, set to emotional Spanish-language music. The slide show captured the very human tragedy that occurred in this farmworker community.

Here are some scenes from the vigil:

From left, Linda MacKay, of the Tri-County Watchdogs, Valerie Gorospe, of the Center for Race, Poverty and the Environment, and Lupe Martínez, also of CRPE, show their support for the people of Kettleman City.

Magdalena Romero (left) and María Saucedo (right) release doves in honor of their babies who were born with birth defects and later died. Each of them wear T-shirts in honor of their deceased infants. María’s reads: Madre en la lucha/mother in the struggle.

Daría Hernández plays with her 2-year-old son, Ivan Rodríguez, and allows him to blow out – over and over – the candle lit as part of the vigil. Daría is wearing a T-shirt featuring a picture of Ivan, who was born with birth defects. He has had two surgeries and - except for a small scar near his upper lip – is now perfect.

• Read more about the vigil in next week’s edition of Vida. Click here to read past blogs about Kettleman City.