Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/587184
Scientists predict an unusually strong El Niño this winter, a phenomenon where warmer than average waters in the Eastern equatorial Pacific affect weather around the world. It may bring much-needed rain to parched areas of California. PRAYING FOR EL NIÑO In some households on the outskirts of Porterville, people turn on the tap and nothing comes out. Wells have gone dry; residents must truck in water tanks. "If you live within the city itself, you have water, but outside the city limit you are on your own," says Henry "We are farmworkers in the fields," says Jose Estrada, a senior at Orange Cove High School in Kings Canyon School District. "We're not doing great. So far the oranges are not the regular size and the grapes in the vineyard fall off at the slightest touch. We're managing, but our income is less. We've cut back a lot when we go to the grocery store and are only getting the necessities." Nancy Reyes, a junior at Orange Cove, says her family can hardly afford to buy fruit that they pick in the fields. Her father, a farm labor manager, has noticed an exodus of farmworkers from the area. "The drought has had a major impact on my family," says Daniel Fonseca, a junior at Orange Cove. "Most all of us work in the fields. We go to my grandma's house on Sundays, and all the uncles and aunts are stressed out. All I hear is: 'How are we going to pay for that?' It's tough for them and for my dad, too, because his hours were cut." School sports have suffered, says Ubaldo Perez, a junior and football quarterback at Orange Cove. "It's gotten hot- ter and hotter, and that impacts how long we practice and how long we can wear our gear on days when it's too hot. On some days the air quality is so bad that we can't prac- tice. Here we still have turf, but at other schools we're playing on dried-up patches of dirt. I'm worried that if it gets hotter and drier, certain sports will be eliminated." Jane Kisling Franco, a history teacher at Monache High School and president of the Porterville Education Association (PEA). "You either have your own well or are part of a private utility company. You can own a house, but it's not worth anything if it doesn't have water." Jane Kisling, a law and justice pathway lead teacher and AVID coordinator for Granite Hills High School, is hoping her family farm survives after some of its wells went dry. Her husband and sons work on the farm, which grows almonds and alfalfa. The family took out loans to drill new wells, and she is hoping they will turn things around. "But it's nothing compared to what my students are experiencing," STUDENTS SPEAK THE HARDEST HIT: T H E E X T E N T O F T H E S U F F E R I N G in some communities caused by extreme drought is largely unknown to most of us. The impact of the disaster is not only altering school enrollments and town populations, but families' livelihoods, health and stability as well. Students are among the hardest hit. "It's really depressing," says Leslie Ontiveros (left), a junior at Granite Hills High School in the Porterville Unified School District. She says her family con- stantly runs out of water and has tanks trucked in, which is expensive for her mother, a single mom. "I go to my aunt's house or to friends' houses to shower." Yazil Iniguez (right), also a junior at Granite Hills, moved to Porterville three months ago from Ducor after her family's well dried up. One of six children living with a single mom, she says the family lacks water again and is considering selling their house because her mother is having a hard time finding work. "My mom is thinking of going to another state where they don't have this problem. We sometimes shower with buckets and use our neighbor's water hose. People don't realize what it's like out here." 29 V O LU M E 2 0 I S S U E 3