| Transcript of Willie Cartagena Interview |
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Interviewee:
|
Willie Cartagena |
Interview 23
Recording starts
Cartagena:
(inaudible)
Interviewer:
Where?
Cartagena:
In Coamo, Puerto Rico, is that I have
Interviewer:
Guamo?
Cartagena:
Cuamo
Interviewer:
Ajá
Cartagena:
It’s at south part of the island
Interviewer:
Mjm. Near in what, what is about it?
Cartagena:
it’s near Ponce, one of the
Interviewer:
ok
Cartagena:
biggest cities in the south of the island, mjm.
Interviewer:
I have a book on Puerto Rico fishing, I want to send it
to you
Cartagena:
(chuckles)
Interviewer:
Should I send it here, at this (inaudible)?
Cartagena:
Oh, yes, yes, yes
Interviewer:
Ok. All right. so, so c, could you just kind of tell us
how you ended up, I mean, how you started out in life, and
then how you en, en, made it your way into North Carolina,
in leadership?
Cartagena:
Yes, so I will. I, what I said before, I born, I born in
Puerto Rico, on a, you know, one, two, schools, until I
graduated from high school. After that, I joined the army,
where I, retired in 2000. my wife is from here, from, North
Carolina
Interviewer:
Ok
Cartagena:
So, we decided to stayed in, in this area, in (Darley?),
North Carolina, and that’s when I start connecting
with the Latino, ah, community. Some of the people ask me
why I get involved in the community, in the latino issues,
when, you know, I’m born, born in Puerto Rico, I am
not, I am a US citizen
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
So why I am working very hard to try to help those
Latinos in need, you know? I love to help people, I
that’s the reason why, I’m doing this. Me, ma,
one of the main things that we find out is, or I find out
was that we have is the lack of n, oh, of information that
the people need to know, and that’s the reason why I
get involved in this, oh, type of, oh, situations, so try
to help the people. I started by going to the, city, the
court, city, and try to translate for some of the Latinos
that they need to go to court, and you know, and I went to
court, I tried to help, on, I we, in there I found out that
is a lack of information
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
That the people need to know to better themselves, so
try to stay away f, from, problems, troubles. Ah, I went
with, ah, the first guy I met here in North Carolina, when
I moved to (Darley?) was, or is mister Gaspar Gonzalez,
that’s how I get involved with the community,
‘cause, he is well known in this area, of the state.
And from, two thousand, that when I moved from here to
North Carolina, this side of the state, I’m being
working with him, hand to hand, hand in hand, to try to
help the, the community. One of the things I decided to do
was to, build a, a center. The center was a, a part of, of
the community. We decided to build the center because of,
again, tried to help pass information. We decided, to teach
English in, in, in, in the center, we have computers, we
have, clinics that come to the center, and that’s
how, how we get involved with the community. Again, you
know, we no make no difference we come from
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
We need to work together to try to better ourselves. And
that’s what we try to do.
Interviewer:
Why, Why don’t you tell us something from the
beginning, from the time you were in, in Puerto Rico? Ah,
how was it? Ah, where were you, ah, Puerto Rico? Ah, how
was the community where you come from? Was it, what, what
kind of community was it? Say something about from the very
beginning and try to move on.
Cartagena:
Ok. Well, ah, I came from, I was born in Cuamo. Cuamo is
a small town down, ah, in the south part of the island,
where, ah, the main thing that we do over there is play
baseball, because that’s what, what Puerto
Rican’s we do well. I played baseball, and also, ah,
ah, we have the half marathon, one of the best in the
world, the “Marathon San Blas”, that’s
what we, were knowing the around the world, so that would
become from playing baseball and, run marathons
Interviewer:
(laughter)
Cartagena:
So that was my part of my life. When I decided to join
the army, in 2000, I mean, in, in 1970, that, when I joined
the army until I retired in, in 2000
Interviewer:
So you joined the army there?
Cartagena:
Yes, sir, I joined the army in Puerto Rico, so, I wanted
to see the world, so
Interviewer:
(laughter)
Cartagena:
That’s what I did
Interviewer:
Were you, were, was the army open at that time, is that
army or is that air force, or what?
Cartagena:
Well, I was, the army was, air force, and then you have,
the navy station in (level 2?)
Interviewer:
Aha. There’s (Rosenberg road?)
Cartagena:
Rosenberg road is a
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
Is navy
Interviewer:
Aha
Cartagena:
So, yes. Then we have Camp Santiago, where the national
guard
Interviewer:
Aha
Cartagena:
Is training to the, deployments around the world
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
Yes
Interviewer:
So, were your station there, in Puerto Rico, (right
aware?), or did you go…?
Cartagena:
No, ah, I went to, ah, my first station was South
Carolina
Interviewer:
¡Oh!
Cartagena:
Fort Jackson from there, I went to, Fort Bliss, Texas,
Fort Bragg, I’ve been all over the world, so
Interviewer:
And you’ve been (in the world?)?
Cartagena:
Overseas, I’ve been overseas
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
I’ve been in different, complex, that we, that we
have, we’re being involved, so
Interviewer:
And how did you meet your wife? (inaudible)
Cartagena:
Well, I was stationed in, Germany, and she was in
Germany, too, so that’s how we met
Interviewer:
¡Oh!
Cartagena:
And we found out she’s from, from North Carolina,
so that’s the reason I spent lot of the time here, in
Fort Bragg
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
And then after we retired, we decided to stay here, and
the, and the, and the first thing was, to stay here for a
couple of months, and then move to Puerto Rico, where I
have the house, (bugs?), we (kept the plants?), and we
stayed, and, ah, ah, I’m glad, that that happened,
because right now I am very involved with the community
and, ah, and I’m glad, that, so
Interviewer:
So, when you, when you were (in the military?) (Sounds
of something moving over the table), in what, places were,
were you, you said you were in overseas, Germany, what
else?
Cartagena:
Well, we was five, ah, different, activities that we
went to, Kosovo, at Panama, and Granada, Germany again, you
know, and all the, the different places in the world
Interviewer:
So you, you were in Granada? (inaudible)
Cartagena:
I were in Granada, ah, Panama, and, ah, again in
different order
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
Of conflict that we were involved
Interviewer:
Ok. Ok, so, so, so that was from 1970 to ninety,
2000
Cartagena:
1970 to 2000
Interviewer:
Yeah? A, a, and then, you have the chances of, of, of,
in terms of education, you finish your high
school…?
Cartagena:
Yes, I finished my high school, and I have soon, ah,
college, yes
Interviewer:
And you did that after you left military?
Cartagena:
Well, I was doing that during the, my time, free time
that I have during the, in the army, so I took some
courses
Interviewer:
Oh
Cartagena:
College courses, so
Interviewer:
Ok
Cartagena:
Yeah
Interviewer:
Ok. So, so, ok, why don’t we try to think in terms
of, of, of connect the history to what you are doing now,
here, so, then you wife was from North Carolina. (phone
rings) From what part?
Cartagena:
My wife is from here, from, from (several noises, the
man gets the phone, turns it off) There
Interviewer:
Ok
Cartagena:
Go on, I’m sorry (inaudible) Snowhill, but I call
back then (laughter) I’m sorry about that
Interviewer:
So how did you ended up, how did you end up in this part
of, of the state?
Cartagena:
Well, my wife is from, Goldsboro
Interviewer:
Ok
Cartagena:
In the (Darley?) area
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
So we decided to stay the month from July 2000 to
August. That was the plan, to stay here for, and then fly
back to Puerto Rico. But, I met Gaspar San, I mean, Gaspar
Gonzalez, mister Gonzalez was in, very involved in the, in
the Hispanic community, and we met, and we discussed on
issues around, was going on here with the community, so I
decided to stay.
Interviewer:
Mjm. So that was your main motivation
Cartagena:
That was my main motivation, ah, I met a couple of
families, they were in need, and when we, I asked questions
about how, why they can’t get the, they cannot get
the services, of the services they were looking for. So
that’s what I get involved in, in, in the
community.
Interviewer:
Ok. Now, this was right after hurricane Floyd and flood
and all that, wasn’t it?
Cartagena:
Aha
Interviewer:
So were you involved in all of that?
Cartagena:
No, I just get, ah, get peered in July, July 2000,
(abrid?), it was before
Interviewer:
About it, about it
Cartagena:
About a year
Interviewer:
Yeah, mjm
Cartagena:
or so, before that, yes
Cartagena:
‘Cause we understood that a lot of, there were a
lot of problems with trying to
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
Get services, and, (it can just?) just basic water and
food and stuff after the flood to, to the latino
population
Cartagena:
Right. Ah, the main thing is when, when I started
getting involved with the community, I, I felt the need, in
someone to, example, to try to get the information, and,
and, and set the, set their, their direction the way was
supposed to go; establish good communication in different
agencies that, that’s were, that, that’s what
we’re doing right now, we’re having good
communication with different agencies, every time
we’re going there now, they open the doors so we now
have no really big issues right now, in this county, in
Wayne County, where I’m working with
Interviewer:
And what issues, for example (inaudible)?
Cartagena:
Well, at the beginning, when I start dealing with the
Hispanic, ah, population, number one, health, we have some
issues in health, that, they try to get into the clinics,
and because of the, ah, situation that they are, ah, they
cannot receive the proper care for, for the , for, for the
families, so we try to get involved with the communities,
having meetings with the agencies, so now the agencies are
coming, I, I, we organize our center here in Darley, so
they come to the center and they provide those services for
free to the, to the, different, families around the, the,
their, their area, here in Darley.
Also we went to see the Red Cross, they opened the door
for us, now is more easy for the people that if you have,
an accident, or you have the house that’s being
burned, so we go in there and they provide a go, a good
service for us so we, we no have any more complaints about
that, in the same way with the (damned?) clinics, and all
the, all the different agencies
Interviewer:
So, so you were able to make this, establish this
relationships with the
Cartagena:
We have established a good relationship with those,
agencies that we spoke before. And, again, right now, here
in Wayn, Wayne County, we now have two more sh, issues and
problems with the community, the Hispanic community that
what we have before. Ah, ah, right now we are working very
hard with the sheriff department, sheriff Winders is a
great person that right now we are, one of the Counties
that we’re having nom, too much problems with the,
with the sheriff department, and the how they patrol
Interviewer:
And you do not have
Cartagena:
No, we don’t have
Interviewer:
Because of
Cartagena:
too many, because of the rela, relationship that we have
established, and, the main thing that we, we are doing
right now, we are inviting those, ah, different leaders of
the agencies lice the sheriff Winders to come to different
areas of the community, I can, I can talk to the people, we
can answer questions, so we can, ah, have a very
understanding of the, of the law, and then that’s
what we try to communicate to the, to the community, what
is the law, what the law say, you need to obey the law, and
respect those, ah, in uniform, and that’s the reason
why we no have too much problems in this county
Interviewer:
So do you have, ah, people to come to talk to the
community, to tell them about this thing?
Cartagena:
We have, again, we have some, some, ah, personnel from
the sheriff department, and the, and from the how they
patrol they come to different, right now we are visiting
different, churches, where ma, the majority of the, of the
members are Hispanics, so we’re going there and try
to talk to them, and bring some information. Right now the
same way what we are doing from, from, some of the
immigration issues that we have, so we are bringing now a,
a lawyer from immigration, from the (dinner?) law, to go
out and talk to the people, and answer, ah, answer, answer
questions.
Interviewer:
Yeah. How do you manage with the all of that given that
you work? You work, right? You have this, a job?
Cartagena:
(laughter)
Cartagena:
Well, ah, the main thing is that, (without?) my
recommendation, I always say that to be a leader of, of the
community, you need to work a seven, 24/7, you know, yo,
you need, you know?, I, I met some people tell me well, I
can help you out from, from 8 to 5, so to me, ah, you know?
I’ve been, I have received calls 2, 3, 4
o’clock in the morning, that I need to get up from
the, from my bed, I go to, to see the (main street?), I
talk to him, and try to release the guy, or try to help the
much that I can, and, and that’s the leader, you
know? We need to have leaders that, you know? First of all,
if the people that we need to care, because you don’t
know, you cannot be involved with the community, and then 5
o’clock you need to (snap)
Interviewer:
(Chuckles)
Cartagena:
You know, quit and go home, that’s, that’s,
to me that’s not a leader, you know, that’s,
that’s not, that’s not a leader
Interviewer:
That’s right
Cartagena:
You know, that’s what I do. Saturdays and Sundays
I’m being, ah, working on, ah, after 5 o’clock
I go, I meet some of the people, visit some of the
families. Sundays, ah, I go to different churches, with
mister Gaspar Gonzalez, Gonzalez, and we ca, we go out and
talk to the community, try to maintain them inform, of
what’s going on, you know? An, an, and right now
we’re doing, to me we’re doing a great job
because, ah, we have less problems in this community, ah,
re, related to the, to the Hispanic population than what we
had before, so we have, we have, we’re doing a good
job on that area.
Interviewer:
So mostly your work is right around, ah, Wayne
County?
Cartagena:
Wayne
Interviewer:
(inaudible) working, ‘cause, cause right near
here, of course, is Duplin County, which is also a huge
Cartagena:
Well, that’s, that’s one of the things that
we need to, (talk?) up to Gaspar, so we need to concentrate
on Wayne County, but we also receive phone calls from, what
to say, Duplin, Johnston, Way, ah, Wayne, ah, Lenoir
County, so we need to try to go on and help the much that
we can. We want, to, ah, develop new leadership, in
specific the young, youth guys, that, that are bilinguals.
I need to go out, and, and, and, you know, try to help the
much that I can, cause that is going to be the difference
between now and what’s gonna happen in five, six
years down the road, so I need everybody to get involved,
you know?
Interviewer:
And are there youth people in, youth involved in any
ways now, with your organization?
Cartagena:
Well, we have, we have, we have youth, ah persons that
they have their own, their own problems
Interviewer:
Oh
Cartagena:
Because, oh, what I told, ah, ah, Gaspar, and all the
leaders in the, in the communities, we need to then, we
need to let them, develop the leadership, you know? Because
sometimes they have an ideas, let them develop those ideas,
let them start, the programs and let’s see wa,
what’s gonna happen, but that’s the only way we
can do it, let them, let them, develop their own
leadership
Interviewer:
Mjm, but, you said, that is it a group already,
(inaudible)?
Cartagena:
Is it, is, it’s a group
Interviewer:
Yeah?
Cartagena:
It’s a group we have, they call it the Youth
Counsel, ah, it is involved with the, with the city, city
hall counsel, that’s the major keen, and, miss
LaTerrie Ward, she is the community affair director, they
develop that, that group, that we, I introduced some of the
Hispanic, ah, y-young pe, pe, persons, they’re going
there to that group and, and, and establish
communications
Interviewer:
Aha
Cartagena:
and relationships with them
Interviewer:
Ah, ok
Cartagena:
And when they come back to the, to our organization,
they, ah, bring us an ideas abou, how abou, about how are
we gonna help the, the youth in our
Interviewer:
Ok
Cartagena:
Community
Interviewer:
So
Cartagena:
Hispanic community
Interviewer:
So there’s, so there’s some Latinos that
have joined the Youth Council
Cartagena:
Right, yes, yes
Interviewer:
A, a, and this, this Latinos, this youth, they meet with
you, ah, as, as the Hispanic Development Center
to…?
Cartagena:
Yeah, they, they, they get with me and then, example of
this, right now, some of the youth are the ones are doing,
giving the, the, ah, ISL classes, the English classes
Interviewer:
¡Oh!
Cartagena:
At the center, so we have English classes, we
established that program, that we have, English classes, at
some of the, some of the youth that are in high schools, or
they are g, just graduated from high schools, they are the
ones that volunteer to, to help, that’s, that’s
one of the thing, things that we do right now, they are
trying to go and, and, and help the other, ah, ah, ah,
people in the community.
Interviewer:
That’s very interesting. There’s, there are
youth groups that are trying to, or there are some
organizations that are trying to develop youth groups
Cartagena:
Right.
Interviewer:
Ah, here, ah, we, ah, we are working with some of them,
mjm
Cartagena:
Well, some, ah, some of the, the things that I want to
recommend is you need to let them develop their own
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
Their own ideas, because sometimes I, I, I’m
being, ah, going to different agencies, or different, ah,
organizations, that they have youth, and they use for some
(sinelsis?), so when
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
When they try to develop ideas, and they try to develop
programs, they say “well, you know, ah, (all long?)
for a little while, let’s see what we can
do”
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
And then that sometimes discourage them to
participate
Interviewer:
Yeah
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
You know? You let them run the program and see how hard
it is to run a program, and, and, and let them develop
their leadership
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
‘Cause that’s hard to telling, it l, it l,
it looks easy, but it’s not
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
You know? When they get involved, then they come to us
for advice, ah, Willy, what of this, what about that, I say
I told you so
Interviewer:
(laughter)
Cartagena:
So let’s go get an, ah, you know, because
that’s part of the learning, a learning
experience
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
And I try to telling, you need to go over here, and
sometimes we have, ah, to go to the, mm, PTA’s that
we are organizing, so we need to go to different
schools
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
And they have PTA’s, Spanish PTA’s that we
no had before, so it is another, ah, goal, and another, ah,
that we established, so we went to each school now, and
myself, Gaspar, and now we have youth that go out and talk
to the parents and, and their teachers about how, how are
we gonna help the schools, that’s what we
established
Interviewer:
We were, ah, talking with a person in Johnston County,
at the school system (Blair?) about having a latino kind of
contest, business contest, so that they would develop a
business plan, or something like that, and we were thinking
of providing them some, having a workshop, to provide them
with a little training upon how to put together a business
plan, and then have them take the initiative to go ahead
and develop, and then we would, at the end of the thing we
would have a little award ceremony. Do you think that would
go over here, too?
Cartagena:
Yeah
Interviewer:
Yeah?
Cartagena:
I believe so, we have, we have, uh, we have established
a good communication with mister an, Adeucio Lugo, Adeucio
Lugo is the, is in Greenville, he’s the self help
(cred?) union, that helped develop businesses, in the
latino community
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
So sometimes we bring him to talk to different, uh
Interviewer:
Aha
Cartagena:
(inaudible) establish some of those programs
(inaudible)
Interviewer:
And he’s in Greenville, no?
Cartagena:
He’s in Greenville, yes sir
-
Interviewer:
Ok
Cartagena:
In (ohem?), (inaudible)
Interviewer:
I, I think I met him before, yeah, aha.
Cartagena:
He’s a great person, and he likes to come and talk
to the people
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
And sometimes we take people to the, to the, ah, center,
and he come and he talk to them about how to establish a,
a, a business, and how to get help to initiate those,
business
Interviewer:
Because your plan is willing to work with youth, mostly,
right? Mostly youth, yeah, we
Cartagena:
Yeah
Interviewer:
We are also, you know, we have some we, well developed,
trained develop latino, ah, entrepreneurship
Cartagena:
Right
Interviewer:
So we have some web pages materials for adults, and for
business, for (variety?) and business, so they
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
Can access some of their, ‘cause they don’t,
often don’t have time for classes, they’re too
busy
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
So we thought, but we thought when we can work with
youth, and in fact partly, (would?) the last time we met
with you and Gaspar (inaudible)
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
You would mention the importance of kind of mixing
civic, you know, engagement with business ownership and
stuff like that, and, and getting
Interviewer:
Right
Cartagena:
Youth
Interviewer:
Right
Interviewer:
Involved right away and s
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
And we, I, I talked with my colleagues at California,
who were also with me at this project
Cartagena:
mjm
Interviewer:
and they thought it is a wonderful idea
Cartagena:
right?
Interviewer:
We really need to, yeah
Cartagena:
Mjm?
Interviewer:
We really need to the, the workshops that include
parents and youth together, yeah?
Cartagena:
Exactly
Interviewer:
And then maybe have some speakers coming like you
and
Cartagena:
Mjm, mjm
Interviewer:
And guess part of it. But I, I’ll just send you a
brief proposal on what were I thinking about
Cartagena:
Ok
Interviewer:
‘cause I think we (are looking at it?), maybe we
have some of this, ah, “talleres”, in like
October
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
So…
Cartagena:
Yeah, I’ll be, I’ll be glad to help on
that
Interviewer:
Ok. So, when you come 2000 here, ah, did you get a job,
ah, how did that part work out?
Cartagena:
Well, yes, I get a job in here with the cage farms, it
was a chicken processing plant
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
And I was working about the HR, ah, I say HR manager for
ten years
Interviewer:
Aha
Cartagena:
And that, when I met most of the, needs in the
community, they get the, they get the opportunity to me (a
lot?) of, agencies, leaders and civic leaders, and then
that’s when I get more involved with the, with the
Hispanic community, had to break the ice, you know?, the
misunderstanding about Hispanic population this, because
they always have, we always have, miscommunication,
misunderstandings, and that’s what we try to, try to,
ah, accomplish
Interviewer:
Mjm. And how was that job? What kinds of things did you
have to do as part of that job? (inaudible)
Cartagena:
That, wa, I, what we, what we tried to, I, I tried to do
is try to, ah, talk to the people, you know, higher people,
disciplined, and that’s, they give me the opportunity
to speak to more, more people, because we have, I like to
give orientation, and that’s how I get, get involved
more and more in the community.
Interviewer:
Orientations about the company?
Cartagena:
Sometimes when I have the opportunity, I say, we ca, we
have this orientation about the company or whatever, I try
to introduce something about the community, how, how you
can get involved with the community, the needs that we have
in the community, because of that, we have established some
programs at the center. Number one, we call it “El
Beso” program, it’s the book bags
Interviewer:
Aha
Cartagena:
For students, needed students, we call it “El
Beso” program. In that program, what we, what we do
is we collect, ah, school supplies and book bags for, for
needed childrens. Those book bags go directly to the
schools, and we are giving to the, ah, ah, social workers
at the schools, where they have a list. That is how we try
to get Hispanic community involved in the community.
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
You know? Ah, we don’t want to know who receives
the bags, what color or what race, because
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
Because it’s from us, from the Hispanic community
to the schools, and the school system. We also established
the, ah, thanksgiving baskets, that we helped 75 families
last year, that came from that, orientation that we give in
cage farms, ah, we saw the need of the families during the
holidays, so we established that program where, ah,
employees from cage farms, you know?, they receive a turkey
during the holidays and the, the, the, the employees that
no, that no want the, the turkey, they donate it to the
center
Interviewer:
Mm
Interviewer:
Mm
Cartagena:
And we pull together a ba, basket, and we give it to the
needed families of the community. Again, we don’t
want no, we’re don’t look for color, race or
whatever, (let’s go for nozzle?), we show that we
care for the community
Interviewer:
Yeah
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
Before than we started was concentrating most on the
Hispanic side of the house, but now we saw that there are
in nee, there are needs in the community, so to show, ah,
the community that all of the Hispanics, Latinos, we care
for the community, we include in everybody
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
So that’s, that, that’s the way that we are
braking the ice, and that’s the way wa, wherever I go
with mister Gonzalez, we don’t have no problems, we,
we can go to anywhere in the c, in the, in the, in the
county, the city hall, the, the c, the, the commi,
commissioners, or whoever I can (see share?) departments,
or we no, help departments, we no have no, no really
issues
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
Because we have established that communication, and the
main thing is they see that we are for real, this is a
serious situation.
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
Right now, example, right now we are working with the
HIV testing. We are doing that at the center, because we
saw that that is one of the things that we are lack of
information in the c, in the Hispanic community, so they
ol, you know how it is, they’re always talking about
where are the Hispanics, or (inaudible) ok, we’re
gonna establish something that is ok, we’re looking
for, to try to solve the problem in the community, and
established that program at the center.
Interviewer:
A, and in that program, for example, you only reach out
to the Hispanics, or there are other people?
Cartagena:
No, we, we, we, we reach to everybody in the community,
because that’s one of the things that we try to do,
as part of the breaking the ice: we show the community that
we are care, we’re caring for the community, so
we’re open to everybody, so they see the Hispanic
Community Development Center is doing. HIV testing for
everybody, to try to help with the situation that, that we
are g, what’s going on right now on North Carolina,
not only in Wayne County, but on the hoke, on the whole
state, so we try to help in that, in that area, too.
Interviewer:
So, for example, regarding the HIV testing, how do you
to let not Hispanics note you can also serve them, giving
of the name of the organization of Hispanic Develop,
Development Center
Cartagena:
Yeah, we, we have, we have a good communication with the
ECU, Dr. Larson, Kim Larson, she is a professor at the
nurse
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
Ah, department
Interviewer:
We, we know Kim
Cartagena:
And he is our, she’s one of our, ah, advisors at
the center
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
And she’s the one, ah, dealing with the, ah,
because of her background, she’s our, our
communicator to the not Hispanics
Interviewer:
Ah
Cartagena:
in the, in the county
Interviewer:
Ah, ok, ok. So, for example, she, what kinds of things
does she do for the organization?
Cartagena:
She, she, she provides advice on how to reach those,
those programs, that, that, thinking to her, we, we ha, we
reach the HIV testing
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
Program, so she, she helped bring the program to the,
the center
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
So that’s one of the things that we, we thank her,
thank her for that. Also, we have established some, ah,
clinics, health clinics at the center because of her, her
background, she brings on the nurses from the ECU, their
students, so they can help us on that, in that, area, so
she’s being very helpful on that.
Interviewer:
That’s wonderful. Going back a little bit on your
work at the chicken company, how does that experience in
that company helped you in your work that you are doing now
in the community?
Cartagena:
Well, they helped me a lot, because they give me the
opportunity to, to, uh, search, search, ah, ah, about the
problems that we have in the community
Interviewer:
Mm
Cartagena:
They give me the opportunity go out once I was in there,
and I, I supposed to represent the company in different,
ah, ah, workshops, different ah, ah, type of, we call it
“charlas”.
Interviewer:
Mjm
Interviewer:
“Charlas”, “talleres”
Cartagena:
“Talleres”, and, ah, we find out,
‘cause, you, they knew I was Puerto Rican, but they,
they don’t, they, they, they don’t know that I
was working with the community already
Interviewer:
Aha
Cartagena:
Know I wasn’t engaged in full force in that, but I
was engaged a little bit, so once I was going to all those,
ah, “talleres”, you know, I learned more and
more of the needs, of the, of the, ah, of the community, of
the Hispanic community in the area, so that’s when I,
I said well, I need to do something and that’s when I
get involved in full, in that.
Interviewer:
(noises, inaudible) have contact with the company, do,
do they support you on your activities?
Cartagena:
Sí, they always support me, and support to me, ah,
you know, I was working in night shift, that’s the
reason I decided to, well, I need to (have?) a change
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
Another job, because, you know, I was working maybe 20
hours a day, you know, working night shift from, ah, 11
o’clock in night, to 7:40 in the morning, 7:40 I
change hats, and then I go to the center, I go to
different, they buy me to speak in different, ah, agencies,
or different “talleres”, so I need to go change
clothes, go to that, maybe 2 or 3 o’clock in the
afternoon, I’m in s, still out, talking to people
Interviewer:
(laugher)
Cartagena:
(laughter) so
Interviewer:
So when do you sleep? (still laughing)
Cartagena:
Well, ah, that was probably was my (chuckles), my, the
US army give me that training, so
Interviewer:
Oh!
Cartagena:
Ah, the less sleep that I get, you know. But, ah, you
know, again, you know, to be a leader and, and, and reach
the people, you cannot set the time from
Interviewer:
Mm
Cartagena:
From 8 to 5, because that’s not going to work. You
need to go out, you know, like, and my reward, you know, I
don’t get paid for this. What I do is for free, you
know? And the reward you get is when you go to different
areas of the community, they see you, and they shake hands,
and they give you hugs, and they give (chuckles) you, you
know? and you feel good about that
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
Because you are doing something. Everywhere you go in
the community, somebody’s gonna recognize you, you
know? And, and you know, you, I, I’m not doing this
for recognition, because that’s, I don’t, I
don’t care about that. I’ll, I like to see the
satisfaction that we’re gonna give to the, to the
families when they’re coming, I hear to the area, the
first thing I got is I got receive a phone call, either
myself or Gaspar get a phone call, so I need to, you know.
Welcome committee (laughter), to the community
Interviewer:
Ah
Cartagena:
You know? And than, that’s, that’s,
that’s what I like to do. I love that, you know? But
again, and, and, and this, to the leaders, I would believe
that you need to be a sincere, sincere leader, you know?
some people have professions, some people, I know there are
doctors, and there are engineers, or lawyers, and one is
professor, whatever, but you need to, you need to sometimes
come to the same level that the, the people is,
that’s the, that’s the way I like, I like to
go, you know, to the same level that they are, because if
you expect, if I expect the people to come to my level,
they’ll never come to you
Interviewer:
That’s right
Cartagena:
You know? That’s the reason that I live as we are,
myself and Gaspar, we’ve gone to whatever, trailer
parks, and we’re going to the same level, you know?,
we work, we try to fix trailers, we try to fix the air
conditioners, do you know what I mean? But, ah, we sweat
with them, are we doing this, are we doing that, and
that’s the way it is, you gain the respect of the
people. Because the main thing is you need to get the
respect of the people, and the trust of the people. Because
you can bring the best program in the world, but if the
people no trust you, they no come to you. If the, if they
no trust you, they don’t come to you. So you need to
gain the trust, the way to come to you, you try to give a
100%. I know it’s sometimes hard to get an answer, or
try to get a circus, but at least you got an extra mile to
say well. Sometimes to (tonk?) you need to sit down there,
go to the health, health department. I go to the help
department, sit down there, well, Mr. Roosen no have no
time now, he can be busy for an hour or two, sit in there,
in nowhere valley, wait, wait, wait, when the chance is
coming, go in there and say “ok, this is the
deal”, you know? One of the things that I like to do,
I like to be myself, you know? I don’t like to be, be
yourself, you know? I say “I’m here, this is
the problem, we try to fix the problem, and this is, ah,
what we recommend. So how are you gonna help me?” But
before I say that, I say “I’m here to help too,
so how may I help?” And that sometimes the, mister
Roosen he’s, he’s the director of the health
department, in Wayne County, he says “you know what?,
the community is looking more better than few years
ago”, and it’s not because me, it’s
because people start trusting him more and more and more.
Now we have a, a watch program, It’s a truck that
comes to the different locations of the community, and now
they have come to different areas where are more of, most
of the, of the residents are Hispanics, so there are often
that for them, too
Interviewer:
This is the neighborhood watch?
Cartagena:
It’s the neighborhood watch, so they coming too,
so
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
Yeah. We established a pro, a good, communication with
the Baptist churching (caring?), they have a dental bus
that comes to the center, and they provide those services.
We know t, I know we need to pay for those services, but at
least they bring the dental clinic to the center. We pay
200 dollars for the, for the bus to come to the, to the
center, we provide the, the dentist, the assistant, to
provide those services, and that’s one of the reasons
why, right now we are doing much better, in that area in
the community, because we have established a good
communication with the health department, mister Rooser,
the director. Then, when we need the dentist, yes, you can
have one, they come. So before was a little bit different,
because, well, we no have no time, or we, different
excuses, but when you show that you care, and when you show
that you are serious about what you try to do, then you
(may?) resolves our differences
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
Because they say “ok, yes, the people are here
for, for a reason, they are here because they want to do
something”
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
And that’s what we are doing
Interviewer:
Ok
Cartagena:
You know
Interviewer:
You told me the other day about, a little bit about the
history of the organization. Ah, could you say something
about that, when you created it, and, and, and when you
moved from one place to the other, how was that?
Cartagena:
Well, it was, it was, first of all, we, we wasn’t
thinking about all the organization, because it was myself,
ma, Gaspar Gonzalez and myself, that most of the people are
trust, and get in contact with. So what happened was we was
going to the schools to give, ah, “charlas” to
the PTA’s, and then, ah, Gaspar said “well, we
need some more help, because me, myself and you,
we’re getting burned out”, so, I said
“well, let’s gonna start an
organization”. So that’s the way we started. I
remember, ah, we have the family, that I wanna say no
names
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
But we have the family they call us, they say, ah, they
call me “Willy, we need, we need some help about
translate at the court, court house”, I say
“ok, I’ll be there”, so I get off from
work, that’s what I went to court house, we spent
there almost all day, after the, after that, the result was
good for them, so they told me, ah, they got a store, they
told me “well, let’s drive back to the store
and, we give you a soda”. So I went to the store and
get, you know, give me a soda, that was my pay
(chuckles)
Interviewer:
(laughter)
Cartagena:
(chuckles) for the whole day of a court (inaudible,
chuckles). Ah, I enjoyed that. And then, ah, we was talking
about probably organizing a, an organization, and having a
place where the people can come, because the people that
come to the house, and you know, knocking the door, (we?),
and it is ok. So we decided to have a location, but in fact
they have a small building behind, or beside the, beside
the store, but, while you are talking about the
hurricane
Interviewer:
Ah
Cartagena:
It was half full of mud
Interviewer:
¡Oh!
Cartagena:
And we wasn’t aware of that, so I called Gaspar,
and I said “Gaspar, (slap) there you have, we go, we
have a loca, ah, building, it’s not too big, but
that’s, it’s gonna be a worth beginning”.
He said “well, where you are?” That’s, I
to, I told him where I was, and then he came. He said
¡Wow! (rubbing his hands together)
Interviewer:
(inaudible)
Cartagena:
He looked at the building, (about?) this big. Right
here, about this big. So, the guy say, “well, I need
to find the keys, because I believe it is lost”. I
say ok, so he, he came, er, he brought, the (crobar?), and
he opened the (chuckles), the door
Interviewer:
¡Ha!
Cartagena:
And man, when he opened the door, all the mud (slay?) at
me, it wasn’t me
Interviewer:
(laughter)
Cartagena:
I say oh, lord, Gaspar! What are we gonna do? (chuckles)
So the, it was, it was good, because it was concrete
blocks, you know? So, man, it was stink everything was in
there! So we started cleaning. And that’s what I was
doing in cage farms, so I asked for some volunteers. And,
men! We had about ten of those volunteers that came with
showers and, clean the house, clean, clean, we took about
three days to clean the mess
Interviewer:
Mm
Cartagena:
So we, the first organization that we contacted was the
fire department. So they say “well, it is an
emergency, or what? I say, I went over there, I say
“no, this is what, what is going on, we try to
establish this organization, and the building that we are,
we have right now is no really in condition, so I need you
to go over there with a truck and try to (chuckles) spray
(laughter), spray down the t”. Then he says
“well, I never heard that before, this is the first
time that that happens”
Interviewer:
(laughter)
Cartagena:
I say “well, we need some help, how you, how are
you gonna help?” He says “well, let me tell you
what: we can use an acid (raining?)
Interviewer:
(laughter)
Cartagena:
I say “ok, ok” (laughter), so that’s
the way we cleaned the building, so we were using acid
raining. So let’s say, you have light a fire, and
you’re going (chuckles) there with the new guys and
shhh, and spray the, ah
Interviewer:
Ah! (laughter)
Cartagena:
The building
Interviewer:
(inaudible)
Cartagena:
So that’s the way we cleaned, so they came with
the (hosts?) and shhh, so we have a (training?)
(laughter)
Interviewer:
(laughter)
Cartagena:
So, we cleaned that, and then we started, we, we built
two offices, we have a nice floor, with the, ah, we put
some kind of a, a (bainium?)
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
In there, Gaspar donated a window, because we needed to
have a window, so (chuckles). As soon as we finished, the
guy came, and says “the building looks very nice,
thank you so much for taking care of the building, but you
need to move”
Interviewer:
Huh!
Cartagena:
Adds! You know, it was hard, it was hard and I say
“wow, why?” So, Gaspar started getting upset,
and I started getting upset. But I say, “Gaspar, you
know what, me it’s ok. No worry about it, let’s
move on. Let’s move on. So we finished and, and, ah,
we put some of the money, our money to build the offices,
and he was talking about, we need to ta, take care of those
guys, I say no worry about it, because it’s going to
be (soon in better somewhere?), than we are looking for. So
that was the beginning (chuckles). So, I was driving around
my area, and it was an old store, a Mexican old store that
the owner told me “Willy, I don’t recommend you
to come to this area, because it’s a lot of bad guys
and every, every week we have somebody robbed that store,
so”. I say “I don’t want, I don’t
want to have a store; I want to have a center”, I
started talk to him, and he says “yes, I give it to
you”. But beside it was another room that have a pool
table, a pool table and, machines, to the people, pinball
machines, I say “I don’t want that in there,
because most of the people comes to smoke and drink, I
don’t like that, that’s not my goal”. So
we went back and forth, back and forth, until I convinced
the guy.
Interviewer:
Mm
Cartagena:
I say “Gaspar, how we can fix this
problem?”, so (chuckles) he says “well, if he
keep the, the, pool table in there, we won’t try to
rent (chuckles), because it is our building”
(laughter).
Interviewer:
(Laughter).
Cartagena:
So that’s we talked to him, so he’s decided
to move, remove the, that’s what, they removed the,
ah, the pinball machines and the pool table. That’s
where we put the, ah, sc, classroom, that we have right
now.
Interviewer:
Mjm, mjm, yeah
Cartagena:
Ah, ah, one day I was at the center, and this guy passed
by, and he asked me “what, are you gonna open the
store?”, I say “no, we’re not going to
open the store, we’re gonna have the center,
we’re gonna have the communities, so what are you
gonna do?”, he was an American guy, and I say
“we wanna bring, ah, health clinics, ah, dental
clinics, we’re gonna have schools, we’re gonna
have, we’re gonna have the children with after school
programs”, he said “so what are you gonna do?
This is an open bay?” I say “we’re gonna
have two offices”, so he asked me “how do you
want the offices?”, I say “I want this, this,
this, what ten by ten, and a door here, and that”.
That guy, mister (Cornelie?), told me “I’ll be
back”. Ah, Gaspar came in, and then I told him what
happened, I said, I said “a guy named (Cornelie?), he
said, told me to wait here”, he said “Willy,
that guy is not coming back”. I say “I got the
feeling yes, because he asked me a couple of
questions”, he say “ok”. So about 20
minutes later, this guy came with a trailer full of
(sheer?) rocks
Interviewer:
Mm
Cartagena:
2 by 4 (laughter), you know? and he downloaded that
stuff
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
So he says “tomorrow I’m gonna send my
carpenters”
Interviewer:
Mm
Cartagena:
“To build your offices”. So tha,
that’s how we started. So there, the guys came the
next day, they built the offices, then he donated the to,
the doors and everything, everything was donated. I was in
there, one day, at the center, when I received a call from
the, ah, air force base, Seymour Johnson air force base.
They told me “we have, ah, fourteen computers, or
sixteen computers, and we need to do some with the
computers because we need to upgrade it every, so often
need to be upgraded, so” I say “how much are
you gonna, how much is it gonna be”, he says
(chuckles) “free”
Interviewer:
¡Ah!
Cartagena:
So (clap) I called a friend of mine that have a truck,
and there we go. We went, we pick up, ah, the keyboards,
and e, and the, computers, and then we, ah, Miss Kim Larson
helped to have this, ah, a grant, a grant from the (hip?)
program to es, to buy a desk for the computers, so we, we
have now fourteen computers ready to be used for the
community. We have, ah, internet
Interviewer:
Oh, there’s internet?
Cartagena:
Internet and everything ready, so we are disclosing now,
try to bring the comuni, co, comuni, “plaza
comunitaria”
Interviewer:
Mjm
Interviewer:
It is an interesting thing
Cartagena:
“Plaza comunitaria”, the “plaza
comunitaria” is a pro, is a program that
Interviewer:
With the consulate, right?
Cartagena:
With the Mexican consul that where you have from zero to
twelve grades, you can use the computer to obtain your, uh,
the aik, ah, the equivalent of high school diploma
Interviewer:
Oh, ok
Cartagena:
And also you can use it for the, ah, for the, ah, GD.
Also we, we’re gonna use it for, at now we’re
gonna, now the center’s being used by the census
Interviewer:
Mm
Cartagena:
To take, to try to reach everybody, and count everybody,
so we donate that center for them to use it, so
they’re going to finish at the middle of, of august,
dating September the seven, that’s when we’re
gonna start again with the ISL classes, computer classes,
and then we’re gonna focus more now on the, on the
citizenship test, that we need to use the internet for
that, so that’s the way we started. And the main
thing about this is nobody is getting paid for this
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
Everybody works for free, so
Interviewer:
Could we use that center for one of this
“talleres” that we are talking about?
Cartagena:
Yeah, that’s, that’s, that’s the
reason they, they, it is there
Interviewer:
So it has facilities and stuff, too
Cartagena:
Yeah!
Interviewer:
Great
Cartagena:
We have the computers, we have telephones
Interviewer:
Have, have people used the computers to communicate back
to Mexico?
Cartagena:
Well, we s, we s, we established a, a, you can use it,
yes, but you need to file some forms to ensure that then,
you know, the communication are the, you know, used
properly
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
Yes
Interviewer:
Right
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
Oh!
Interviewer:
Do they have cameras?
Cartagena:
Ah, no, but we can, can work some now, and try to get
some like that, so we can communicate
Interviewer:
A, and the people who go to that, to the center, you
mentioned that there are a number of trailer parks,
near
Cartagena:
Yes. Most, most of the people we have about six to seven
trailer parks, ah, in, in the area, so that’s the
reason why we moved in that area (throat-clearing).
Because, ah, you know, we want to be where the need is
Interviewer:
Mjm
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
You know what I mean? Sometimes, you know, like, I met
with the major King of Goldsboro, he told me we have some
buildings down, downtown that you can rent for a dollar,
and then you can, we can fix it, but (what he?) know,
because the, the need is over there
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
It’s not over here, the people don’t wanna
come downtown
Interviewer:
Mm. And those people who live in those trailer parks,
where do they come from?
Cartagena:
The, we have from all over the place, we have people
from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, it’s a m,
it’s a mix, you know? Central America, Mexico, some
people from South America
Interviewer:
South America
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
And the Mexican, they come from different states,
or?
Cartagena:
Dif, dif, different states, everybody comes from
different states, that’s the, that is why this is
very unique that, you know? One of the things I want to
talk to the leader is you cannot look for your group, you
cannot have your own group, you know? You’re gonna
have the, for example the Mexican looking for the Mexican,
the Guatemalan looking for the Guatemalan. I disagree on
that. That’s the reason why sometimes I try
don’t participate in, in, in other organizations,
because I say “no, this is Hispanics, Latinos, we no
say nothing about any other, you know, from El Salvador, or
Guatemala, no, no, no, no, this is for everybody, so
everybody needs to be in the same, in the same boat”,
com, what I say, you know? Because I don’t want
nobody be better than nobody. That’s one of the
things that we try to teach, nobody is better than nobody.
No group is better than this group. Everybody is Latino,
because when you have a problem downtown, or whatever, the
newspaper say “Latinos”, they don’t say,
you know. No, we need to try to brake that
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
One of the things I’m looking forward, and I
talked to Gaspar about 2, 3 days ago, we need to have, some
kind of organization here, in North Carolina, that we can
have something that say “ok, we want to have one
leader”, ok who’s gonna be that leader that can
push us, or move us to the right direction? You know what I
mean? Right now we have some issues looking what happened
in Arizona
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
You know what I mean? So we need to be prepared to say,
we’re gonna have an organization to show ok, those
people are for s, for, for real, you know?
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
People that can go to vote, or people that can say
“ok, you, you have people, youth, I’ll be
teaching them, you need to vote, register for
vote”
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
Because one, two, three, four, five, and then you may
have ten, maybe twenty, that’s gonna be the
difference
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
Because when you, myself and Gaspar going, we are only
two
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
We need to have twenty or forty or fifty people,
that’s the push for the same thing
Interviewer:
A, are you connected with any organization in the state,
ah, ah, other organizations?
Cartagena:
Yeah, we, we, we, well, most of the people call us to
see how we are doing, the things that we are doing. We know
budget, because ri, we only thing that we do is getting,
you know, nothing, we don’t get any grants from the
states or federal go, that’s what we are looking
right now to see how we can do it, do to. And the reason
what I say that now is because the services are getting,
and more people are coming, and more services we need to
provide and sometimes I need to pay myself and Gaspar for,
for the services. But now we are looking for a, for a
grant, to have those, ah, accomplish that. We (add us?)
getting paid, because we don’t want no to getting
paid.
Interviewer:
And are you looking for one, ah?
Cartagena:
I’m looking for a thousand. I say ok, we wanna
have the money that we spend in paying for electricity, or
the phone bill, or something like that
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
We can use it for some (sinels?), try to bring programs,
more food for the center, more book bags for the little
children, you know. Sometimes we want to do more, right now
we have 300 book bags, they’re going to six different
schools
Interviewer:
Mm
Cartagena:
And we want to cover the whole county. I’m
talking, I’m talking about elementary schools, and,
ah, sometimes the money that we have for that is going to
(cover?), ah, electricity bill, or phone bill, that come
from out packets. And we want to have, ah, my wife timing
pool by the center, sometimes she pool forty, fifty hours
in there, you know, we want to have somebody that can run
the center, and at least get reward for that
Interviewer:
And, and, and how would you go about, ah, a plan for
some funding
Cartagena:
Well, right now, we, we made the decision not to apply
for no funding. Because, you know, we no want to, hum,
create any, anybody in pression in the community. Well, ok,
the, listen, they’re getting the money, and do na,
they’re not doing nothing. Right now we aren’t
showing that well we are doing is, is, is there
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
We showing that we, we, we have, ah, the book bags
program, the, ah, the, ah, thanksgiving baskets
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
The clinics, and all that program come from volun,
eh,
Interviewer:
(inaudible)
Cartagena:
Donations and volunteers. So nothing coming from, ah,
grants, to prevent problems. Nobody gets paid at the
center. Everybody’s working for free
Interviewer:
Mm
Cartagena:
We have, meetings every, the second Sunday and sa,
second Sunday of the morning, second Saturday of the month,
is our meeting, so, if you have an ideas you can come, you
know. We, uh, we have, uh, a open community, ah, so you can
come and give us ideas on how we can
Interviewer:
So, so your next meeting will be on au, august, the
10?
Cartagena:
Se, some like that, I believe so, yeah, let me check my
calendar
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
But
Interviewer:
I believe I’m gonna be out, something, Mexico, in
Mexico, in a conference
Cartagena:
Yeah
Interviewer:
I’m gonna be in Mexico
Cartagena:
To, to raise funds we have also September 25th, this
year, we’re gonna have the, the, ah, the banquet. The
banquet, what we do, we recognize those agencies and
individuos that help us during the year, you know? people
that donate, you know, ah, we say thank you giving a small
appreciation award, thank you, and then we, a, at the
beginning, ah, the meal was free, and somebody came with
the idea from the, from the, ah, city hall, say
“Willy, I believe you can, you can charge 20 dollars
for the meal, so that money go to, to help the
center”, I say “well, ok”. So
that’s what we are doing now, we
Interviewer:
Mm
Cartagena:
We are charging 20 dollars for the meal. We have a
Hispanic meal, that can come, and then we have a guest
speaker, they can come and talk, and talk a little bit
about the Hispanic, ah, community, and what we are, the
contribution that we are doing to the community.
Interviewer:
And that’s a, that’s a Saturday?
Cartagena:
Saturday September 25th, this year
Interviewer:
At what time?
Cartagena:
From six to nine o’clock
Interviewer:
Ok. Now, ah, the origin in the state, there are some,
ah, networks of organizations like collaborative stuff
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
Bring together different brasses of organizations. Do
you belong to any?
Cartagena:
No
Interviewer:
No
Cartagena:
We have, we have, we talk to them, like El Pueblo
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
You know, or Change Latino. We talk, sometimes they call
me “Willy, about this”, ah, but the main thing
right now, they are asking for advice, what about this,
what about that (chuckles)
Interviewer:
Mm
Cartagena:
So I give them “yes, I believe, I believe this is
good for the community”, “no, I don’t
believe, this is not good for the, for the
community”. And, ah, now the, ah, now we went over
there to the, ah ECU for that meeting, that was great. So
we met some more people, now we are helping the
“Mujeres sin Fronteras”
Interviewer:
Yeah?
Cartagena:
And because of that meeting, ah, we talked to this, to
mister, ah, Richard (Diner?), he donated two houses for
needed families who (there are?) in Kingston, so
Interviewer:
Ah! So just more than one? I told you about Guillermina
getting the house
Interviewer:
Yeah!
Cartagena:
They, they go, so we watched
Interviewer:
That’s the one?
Cartagena:
I talked to him, and, ah, he
Interviewer:
Tell me about him!
Cartagena:
(laughter) so I don’t wanna (chuckles) talk about
it, so that’s the way you get involved, see that? I
d, I d, I was invited to go to Kingston to talk a little
bit about the center, working with the, working with
mister, mister Richard (Diner?), so he said me over there,
say “you’re gonna be the representative of the
community, I want you, we want to help the community, so
give me your ideas”. So I went to the meeting
(chuckles), and we found out that they are in need
Interviewer:
And when was that?
Cartagena:
Ah, we had a meeting about, what was that, what? A month
ago?
Interviewer:
Aha
Interviewer:
Ok
Cartagena:
And I was supposed to have another meeting, coming up in
august, the second, I believe. So now, the, we bring in
everybody to (get?) that area, you know, Kingston, so we
are working together with them, and mister Jimbo Perry to
donate two houses for the needed families, so that’s,
when I talked to him and, and told him, ah, this is how you
can put above other, you know, in the communities, because
you care, you know? and that’s, that’s when he
told me “whatever you want for the community”,
so that’s what I do (chuckles)
Interviewer:
Mm
Cartagena:
So I go and talk and, ah
Interviewer:
Who, where did they get the house?
Cartagena:
There was some houses that were, ah, people cannot, ah,
pay no more, and they repossess the houses
Interviewer:
Oh, I see
Cartagena:
And then say “ok, we wanna help”, and he say
“well, I donate the houses”, that’s when
it was, right now we are looking for some contractor, and
probably have a meeting tomorrow, for the guy that built
the offices over here, to see if can go over there and give
us ideas on how to fix the houses, and all that stuff.
Interviewer:
So did you talk directly with this lady in, in, in, s,
“Mujeres sin Fronteras”?
Cartagena:
Yes, we, we, we had a meeting, and, we had a meeting in
Kingston, as a matter of fact, and the, they came, and, I
ne, I recognized her because I met her at the meeting in,
in, in ECU, so that’s the, that’s the way
we’re supposed to do business, you know? We have a
meeting, we recognize the need of the, of the community,
and because of that now we have two happily, happy
families, because they’re gonna have their own houses
(snap)
Interviewer:
Mjm, (inaudible)
Cartagena:
Yes, because of that, so that’s what we need to
do, you know? uh, and we are (recomish?) because nobody
knew that we was doing that, so, you know
Interviewer:
And, where (sounds of something sliding over the table;
inaudible) remember?
Cartagena:
Ah, ah, I don’t know, we have a meeting on, August
the second
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
And because that, (let’s see?)
Interviewer:
And that meeting will be a meeting between you and, and,
and the family?
Cartagena:
They try, they try, they try to organize
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
The mai, like, an organization
Interviewer:
Mjm
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
So they bring me in there, so I can give an idea.
“(Would you care?) an ideas?” “No, I
don’t like that”. So, you know, that’s
what I try to tell you, that when people respect you, what
you are doing, they always call you for opinion, and you
see down there, and you don’t know the people in
there, but they ask you for advice. And that’s very,
very, I feel good, because they can call you for all over
the state. Greenville, Ashville, you know, I say
“Willy, is this ok?”, “Willy,
you?”, I answer “¡yes!”(chuckles),
you need to sit down, and talk to them, “give me your
opinion about this and that”. And when that, when we
started, I was talking about Goldsboro, see? Darley,
Goldsboro, now we went to Greenville, now we keep going,
keep going, keep going (chuckles) now, we are all over the
state (snap). Ah, you know? And I feel good because you try
to help, you know? And, and, and I feel great about
that.
Interviewer:
That’s really a wonderful thing that you, what
you’ve done, because yesterday I, I have a student
who’s working this (email?)
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
And she mentioned, she said “you know, I just
found that this lady got a house (chuckles) from, and a new
house, and now we are surprised all this was through your,
you know? (laughter)
Cartagena:
But it well (laughter), it is, is, is like, you know? We
no, I don’t like to get rec, you know,
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
Recognition is not, just to see those people happy,
that’s the only way, you know, you feel good inside
yourself, you know?
Interviewer:
That was an also wonderful, ah, presentation of, of what
happens when organizations come together
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
You know, in their meeting
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
When you met, and
Cartagena:
Right
Interviewer:
In a sense, what we are trying to do is also sh, ah,
being useful
Interviewer:
Mjm
Cartagena:
Right, right. And again, you know, we need to come
together and we, we try to focus on one thing at the time,
because you, you guys in the organization they have ten,
fifteen different projects and, and, and none of them are
being successful because of that (snap)
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
You know? We have a good s, right now we have, again,
the book bag program is being a good program for us, and is
simple thing, but the people is very appreciative of what
they’re doing
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
In specific the schools
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
you know? we’re working with the whole school, and
our students, and, and you build, you feel good when you go
inside the any elementary school, here in Wayne,
(Caroline?), the kids come running to you (chuckles)
Interviewer:
(laughter)
Cartagena:
You try to (laughter), how’ you doing, you know?
You look like a politician, hi (laughter)
Interviewer:
(laughter)
Cartagena:
But, ah, you know, ah
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
Yes, we, we need to, we need to concentrate, and we need
to do, ah, more meetings like what you did over there in
ECU, because from there, you know? I met, ah, Mujeres from,
Sin Fronteras that, ah, ah, is a great organization
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
And we (whom?) tried to help them, through Mister
Richard (Deran?), ok, say “ok, this is the
deal”, you know? I know how we can help you up, so we
now we have a lawyer that gonna sit down with them
Interviewer:
Oh, great!
Cartagena:
To say “ok, this is the way, how we can
find”
Interviewer:
Find
Cartagena:
You know?
Interviewer:
(I’m gonna help them free like an?) (the three of
them speak at a time, the voices are indecipherable)
Cartagena:
Right!
Interviewer:
Organization
Cartagena:
Right. To go to the right, right direction, do you know
what I mean?
Interviewer:
Yeah, yeah, that’s great
Cartagena:
Ah, he’s, because he’s from the (way?)
it’s free, you know? You, to establish an
organization is not easy
Interviewer:
Right. And that’s so important, because they were
(struggling?) with that
Cartagena:
Right! So, now
Interviewer:
(inaudible) to perceive to create an organization
Cartagena:
Right
Interviewer:
How you can do that
Cartagena:
Right, how you can do it, aha, you know? They got the
phone, you can call me, and, you know
Interviewer:
Excellent
Cartagena:
And that’s the way it’s supposed to be, you
know?
Interviewer:
Well, no, we’ve taken you the hour that we (has?)
you for it, right? But, ah, there are so many things to
talk about
Cartagena:
Yeah, I understand
Interviewer:
Right. What are we gonna do, David (throat-clearing), do
you think we should, we should end now, or, it’s an
hour
Interviewer:
Yeah, it’s a problem, but, we let, of course, like
to, I’m gonna, still talk you further about this
“talleres”
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
You know, and I’ll send you a
Cartagena:
Yeah, any time
Interviewer:
Send you a
Cartagena:
Any time
Interviewer:
A proposal that we are circulating with other groups
and
Cartagena:
Ok
Interviewer:
And
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
But it’s a, but it provides, it provides funding
for speakers, and for organizers
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
As well as, ah, it provides supplies for the
participants
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
And I think we’d like, you know, someone of near
of 30 years old participants, you know, youth, and, and
Cartagena:
That’s good
Interviewer:
(It could?) be a mix, but it also provides for
refreshment and foods
Cartagena:
Ok
Interviewer:
And stu, and that stuff. And it just would be like a, an
afternoon
Cartagena:
Ok
Interviewer:
Not, not a whole day or anything, but, but, ah, I think
that this is an ideal situation
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
To do it in, if we have it at the center, because we can
offer those, those, surrounding, trailer parks. And, you
know, this is funded by USDA
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
And so that’s what they’re interested in,
it’s a
Cartagena:
Ok
Interviewer:
They’re, they’re interested in rural
communities, latino rural communities, so
Cartagena:
Ok
Interviewer:
Yeah
Cartagena:
Yeah
Interviewer:
Yeah, ah, and let’s try to, ah, think about the
next meeting of Nuevo South
Cartagena:
Ok
Interviewer:
And, I was wondering if it’s a (inaudible,
movement of the tape recorder) website of the Nuevo South,
have you visited the website?
Cartagena:
No, (I’m not?)
Interviewer:
Ok, I’m gonna send you (the news?). Ok? Because on
the first page there is a session there we call news
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
Ok? And news of things are happening, and I would very
much like to, ah, ah, say something about what is happening
between you work with “Mujeres Sin
Fronteras”
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
Ah, would that be ok?
Cartagena:
Yeah!
Interviewer:
Yeah?
Interviewer:
Yeah, that’s a good thing that I like, because
it’s very interesting
Cartagena:
Yeah
Interviewer:
Kind of synergy of (chuckles) this coming together
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
But in order to, to write the right thing, maybe it
would be best if you resend me an email
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
In which you describe what happened, I mean
Cartagena:
(how about?)
Interviewer:
How you made the connection, so that I, I can put that
there, instead of trying to, ah, ah, listen to the
interview, so, and maybe you can write
Cartagena:
Ok
Interviewer:
A short email
Cartagena:
Yeah
Interviewer:
And say “this is what happened”, and also
with what you said there, ah, “and now we, ah, we now
have two happy families”, you know that?
Cartagena:
That, that’s right
Interviewer:
That’s
Cartagena:
Mjm
Interviewer:
Central point
Cartagena:
Right
Interviewer:
Ok?
Cartagena:
Ok, no problem
Interviewer:
All right. Well, I would like to transcribe this,
and
Cartagena:
Yeah, (if you wanna?)
Interviewer:
Then give it to you
Cartagena:
(laughter)
Interviewer:
And you can read it, and you can
Cartagena:
Yeah
Interviewer:
Tell us what you think. OK?
Cartagena:
So now I’m on my way to Snowhill? (laughter)
Interviewer:
Right?
Cartagena:
Yeah (several noises, movement of the tape recorder,
steps)
Interviewer:
Yeah, you know that?
Interviewer:
Where, where’s that, the (inaudible)
- (inaudible for several seconds)
Interviewer:
I don’t know if I know how to get there
Cartagena:
(Would you mind?), go out there?
Interviewer:
No, but in fact, why don’t you give us some
directions, how to get there?
Cartagena:
Ok
End of the interview