Juana Gonzalez
El Salvador
In the 1960s and 1970s the growth of the Washington, D.C. area created a need for service industry laborers. This need for labor brought Juana and many other Central American women to the D.C. area during the decade before the civil war. They found domestic work with Washington’s diplomatic and federal government families. Juana worked as a housekeeper in Maryland for a diplomatic family and for a time was separated from her children, Pablo, Sara, and Ana, who had remained in El Salvador.
In the 1960s and 1970s the growth of the Washington, D.C. area created a need for service industry laborers. This need for labor brought Juana and many other Central American women to the D.C. area during the decade before the civil war. They found domestic work with Washington’s diplomatic and federal government families. Juana worked as a housekeeper in Maryland for a diplomatic family and for a time was separated from her children, Pablo, Sara, and Ana, who had remained in El Salvador.
Juana Gonzalez left Cacaopera, El Salvador, for the United States in 1978 because job opportunities in her home country were few and far between. In the 1970s El Salvador’s drastic and growing wealth inequalities, extreme poverty, and political tensions were leading the country toward a brutal twelve-year civil war that lasted from 1980 to 1992.
Juana Gonzalez left Cacaopera, El Salvador, for the United States in 1978 because job opportunities in her home country were few and far between. In the 1970s El Salvador’s drastic and growing wealth inequalities, extreme poverty, and political tensions were leading the country toward a brutal twelve-year civil war that lasted from 1980 to 1992.
1 - Juana just after she arrived in the US, experiencing snow for the first time
2 - Juana Gonzalez in Bethesda, Maryland, early 1980s
Eventually, Pablo, Sara, and Ana reunited with their mother, and together they formed a much larger family with their U.S.-born siblings, Juan Carlos and Angelica.
Eventually, Pablo, Sara, and Ana reunited with their mother, and together they formed a much larger family with their U.S.-born siblings, Juan Carlos and Angelica.
While Juana’s childhood dream was to become a businesswoman, her motivation for leaving El Salvador was to provide a better education and future opportunities for her children.
While Juana’s childhood dream was to become a businesswoman, her motivation for leaving El Salvador was to provide a better education and future opportunities for her children.
Not only did Juana reach her goal to become a businesswoman, but she also supported and guided her children in reaching their educational goals. She opened her own Mexican and Salvadoran restaurant and food truck business in Derwood. All of her children went on to professional careers. Her son, Pablo, earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Maryland and now works as a counselor for the Montgomery County Crisis Center. Juana's eleven grandchildren include a West Point graduate, a doctor, and two soccer players at Good Counsel High School. Juana also continues her own educational goals and takes classes at Montgomery College to improve her English writing and conversation skills, planning next to take computer courses. Her advice for young people is to dream really big so that if only a quarter of that dream comes true, life will be good.
Not only did Juana reach her goal to become a businesswoman, but she also supported and guided her children in reaching their educational goals. She opened her own Mexican and Salvadoran restaurant and food truck business in Derwood. All of her children went on to professional careers. Her son, Pablo, earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Maryland and now works as a counselor for the Montgomery County Crisis Center. Juana's eleven grandchildren include a West Point graduate, a doctor, and two soccer players at Good Counsel High School. Juana also continues her own educational goals and takes classes at Montgomery College to improve her English writing and conversation skills, planning next to take computer courses. Her advice for young people is to dream really big so that if only a quarter of that dream comes true, life will be good.
1 - Juana with her son, Pablo, at his graduation from Gaithersburg High School
2 - The Gonzalez family playing in the snow
Below, Juana poses with her food trucks in the 1990s and her restaurant in 2013.
