Building Communities From Abroad
TRADITION: A resident practices rodeo riding on a hill overlooking Nochistlan, in Mexico’s Zacatecas state. Nearly every public works project in the town is subsidized and overseen by Mexicans working in the United States. (Don Bartletti / LAT)
HOMETOWN GREETING: Efrain Jimenez visits with a donkey on a road in La Villita, the pueblo where he grew up in Zacatecas state, Mexico. (Don Bartletti / LAT)
BACK FROM THE NORTH: Efrain Jimenez, third from the left, who owns a San Fernando auto shop, is introduced by Nochistlan Mayor Ramon Jimenez at a neighborhood meeting. Efrain Jimenez is project director of the Federation of Zacatecan Clubs of Southern California, one of many U.S.-based migrant groups investing in Mexico. (Don Bartletti / LAT)
A PLACE TO PLAY: Youths enjoy a game of volleyball in La Villita, a pueblo near Nochistlan, Mexico, on a court built with money from immigrant clubs in the United States. (Don Bartletti / LAT)
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BUILDING THE FUTURE: Neighborhood committee members in Las Animas, outside Nochistlan, Mexico, talk with the construction foreman on the bandstand at a new park being built in the pueblo largely with the financial help of migrant workers in the United States. (Don Bartletti / LAT)
MIGRANTS’ ROAD: Workers in the United States helped pay for this four-lane boulevard leading into Nochistlan, Mexico. A large sign along it declares in Spanish: Migrants, this is your home. (Don Bartletti / LAT)
