Concepción Caballero Antonio is chopping squash in the kitchen of Los Yaquis Salvadorian and Mexican Restaurant. The massive knife she’s using is about the same size as her arm. She’s very small, and grins a lot.
Concepción’s happy about her job as a cook and dishwasher here. She proudly points out the fish she’ll be frying later today.
Concepción came to San Francisco from El Salvador in 2013. She makes $248, working 20 hours a week. She says she tries to keep her spirits lifted, but there’s a heavy sadness that lingers.
“There was a massacre in my country,” she tells me. “They killed the love of my life.”
Back in El Salvador, Concepción had been a vendor selling goods in a market. She lived in the same town with her three daughters and six grandchildren, and they mean everything to her. But after her partner’s death, she knew she wasn’t safe in El Salvador. She says she’d made eye contact with a gang member fleeing the scene of a murder.
