Voces of a Pandemic

By: Voces Staff

Alicia Cisneros works as a dental assistant in Elgin, Illinois. Due to COVID her work closed for almost two months (March to late May) and they only attended to emergencies. Although the staff and herself always had enough PPE, she didn’t feel safe in her work environment. She contracted the disease and spent five days in the hospital and has since felt nervous about catching it again or transmitting the virus to others and family and friends. She lost her mother and her brother to the disease.

By: Voces Staff

Rosana Resende, a resident of Florida, is a post-secondary instructor transitioning into a job with the federal government in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. She is dealing with challenges as an instructor during a time of distance learning as well as the risk factors that come with traveling out of state to relocate for work. 
 

By: Voces Staff

Sandra Gonzalez is a registered nurse based in San Antonio. Her focus is on pregnant women, new mothers and their newborns. However, COVID-19 has brought changes to her work environment that affect how she practices health care. She uses the same preventive measures outside of the workplace to continue as a mother and mariachi musician in the age of distance learning and social distancing. 

By: Voces Staff

Tony Pena is 29 years old from Phoenix, Arizona, who currently lives in Portland, Oregon. He works at Squarespace, an internet domain tech company, where he has worked as a senior customer advisor for three years. He also works as an employee resources group co-chair for the Queer Resource Group. He first heard about coronavirus back in October 2019, after reading about this virus in Wuhan, China in the BBC or NPR. He didn’t think it was going to impact his life all that much at first, given how far away it was all happening and spreading. 

By: Voces Staff

Elizabeth Villa is a 51-year-old kindergarten teacher and mother of six. She has five sons and one daughter and is also a grandmother to two girls. She has been teaching for 20 years and has lived all over the country, but mostly in Phoenix. Villa discusses the challenges she has faced during the pandemic and the impact COVID-19 has had on her family. As an educator, she also discusses how COVID-19 will affect the education system and what the future holds for teachers and students. 
 

By: Voces Staff

Fernando Jimenez was born in Valle de Bravo, Mexico, and at 27 years old found himself in the United States in pursuit of the “American Dream.” Since his first day in the U.S., work has been his main priority. Jimenez currently resides with his family in Phoenix, where he is a contractor/painter. His work has not slowed down during a time of social distancing and quarantine, but the COVID-19 pandemic has brought new financial, social and health concerns for Jimenez and for relatives who still live in Valle de Bravo.