Maquilapolis

This film truly opened my eyes to what a maquiladoras is and how it affects women on the Mexico/United States border. I had recently learned about maquiladoras last year in another women’s studies class, but only read various texts and articles. Actually seeing the different factories and communities and how they affect the lives of women was heart breaking. It was startling to see how the factories tempered with the health and lives of women and their children. One woman for instance experienced severe health problems from the content of lead in factories. She was forced to take a leave of absence from her job and quit soon after. If she would have continued working, the possibility of contracting leukemia would have gotten greater and greater.

The communities were greatly affected by these factories. When a rainy day would present itself, the factories would dispose of their water runoff channels and release them into the streets and streams of the communities. Years ago, children used to bathe in the streams, but now most communities fear the possibility of contracting something. It is no longer a safe and healthy environment.

The premise of the movie was to get the Environmental Board of Mexico to look at how the communities have been affected by this runoff and to make changes. There are various sites where bins of toxic waste are just sitting in fields and contaminating the surrounding areas. The communities are trying to clean up this mess and once again be able to live in a clean community. In addition, various families won settlements from one factory for health problems that have affected their work and cost them their jobs and salaries. This was a very significant movie in my opinion.