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The stories of 'Nosotros'
By Janine Anderson
Journal Times
RACINE - "Nosotros," the play presented Sunday afternoon in the basement of Cristo Rey Parish, was not just for entertainment.
The interactive social drama, performed by members of the Milwaukee Public Theatre, is part of a larger project called Saber Para La Gente. In English, that's Knowledge for the People. The study is providing ground work for the Spanish Center of Racine, Kenosha and Walworth counties.
"We need to hear from the people what is the best way to begin," said Carolina Gonzalez Schlenker, a physician and adjunct professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
"We inquire, at the grass-roots level: 'What are the needs of people?' " she said. "We took groups of (teenagers), men, women and the elderly to tell stories about what they're going through."
From those stories, she worked with Milwaukee Public Theatre to develop a script that presented real-life situations in a new way.
About 20 people came to Cristo Rey, 800 Wisconsin Ave., to see "Nosotros" ("we" in English). The play, and all other information that afternoon, was in Spanish. The audience was just what organizers hoped to see: Older Hispanic adults.
The story performed Sunday afternoon was about a woman whose husband had died. Her children were deciding what to do for her. First, she went to stay with one of them, and was forced to share a room with a teenage granddaughter. Their lifestyles did not mix well. Then, her sons found her a place in an English-speaking retirement community. The woman was not happy with the choices she was given.
When the audience was asked to participate, they had many suggestions. Instead of moving into someone else's house, they suggested letting the older woman stay in her own home, or finding a duplex that the mother and one of her children could live in together, so everyone would have space. They wanted to see the grandparent speak with the grandchild, finding ways to connect, instead of ignoring and annoying each other in the tiny room.
Ramona Delgado of Racine brought her mother to the performance. Delgado was the first one in the room to stop the performance the second time through: She drew from her own experience to suggest an alternative ending for the scene. Delgado's family had to work through that exact situation when her father died, she said. Instead of forcing her mother to live with one of her children or sending her to a retirement community, Delgado said, they worked with her mother to find a solution that worked for everyone.
"It's sad to see so many people go through this situation when they lose their husband," Delgado said. "(My mother) feels lucky with the way we have been able to handle the situation."
Delgado said they had asked her mother what she wanted and worked to accommodate her. A grandchild came to stay with her for about a month, so she still had some time in her own home. After that, the family got together and decided that her mother and one of the daughters would sell their houses and purchase a side-by-side duplex.
"I think that got us closer as a family," she said.
Gonzalez Schlenker hopes that seeing the plays, and the solutions suggested by their peers, will help spark healthier interaction for families. Ultimately, the lesson for older adults is straightforward.
"Don't feel the victim," she said. "Remember: You have wisdom. Your family needs you.
"The method of the play is to give back their story and let them see that they know what they need."
The process has been fascinating, she said.
"It's awareness-raising for them, to look at a situation with objectivity and suggest things that could make them better," she said.
Once the study is complete, with information gathered from teens, parents and the elderly, they plan to have a community forum to look at how they begin the work that needs to be done, Gonzalez Schlenker said.
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