Bimbo Maquiladora

Even before I arrived in Tijuana, I had the dream of checking out a maquiladora. These factories (called fabricas by the locals) employ many thousands of Mexican citizens. Big names like Toyota, Sony, Bose, Tyco and Phillips thrive on the (unlimited) cheap labor and close proximity to the border. Three to five years ago, factories were closing, in search of the greener Chinese pastures. I haven’t heard much of this over the last year, however, and the movement seems to have slowed. The threat of having the economic rug pulled out has, for the time being, disappeared; and mega-sized factories are now popping up monthly. I can quickly think of several massive, in-construction sites.

Factories are top secret. No one is allowed inside the gates without proper identification, so I figured I’d never get in—until Bimbo! Bimbo is quite possibly the most popular bread in Mexico and is spreading internationally. A cross between Wonder Bread and Hostess, Bimbo boasts nutrients and vitamins yet delivers only yellow, spongy air. (For our health-conscious readers, I’m sorry to announce that Bimbo now owns what I grew up eating with my PB & J—Oroweat!) It is craved by the masses, especially growing school children. School children like those at our very own Centro Pedagógico Didaque!

Teacher Frida got the inside hookup that gave us a VIP fieldtrip pass to the bread-making factory. To the kids it was like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory; to me it was fascinating to see the intertwined mix of efficiency and capitalism. At the minimum, many hundreds of thousands of dollars in machines hummed in productivity. Yet the surprising revelation was that only a few handfuls of workers were present. I was shocked. The machines run themselves under computer monitoring.

It would have been nice to see a factory where slews of workers were in line doing repetitive tasks (not in any way demeaning!), to receive a full visual of where our students’ parents work. Quick, unofficial mathematics in my head compute that at least half of the parents with whom I’m involved work in a factory six days per week.

I’m energized for Fieldtrip Fabrica #2. I’m pushing for a factory with lots of workers involved in the production process. Results will be posted.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 31st, 2006 at 1:26 pm and is filed under Missionary Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.