"Keeping traditions alive"
Perhaps because they live so close to the United States, children along the U.S.-Mexico border are quick to adopt everything American, from music and clothes to sports and food. But that doesn't mean they have abandoned their own culture. In one of the most enduring of Mexican traditions, the quinceanera, Mexican girls at about the age of 15 say goodbye to their childhoods.
I was privileged to witness one such quinceanera, for 15-year-old Cecilia Iovanna of Magdalena, Mexico. I was with Cecilia as she dressed in an elaborate pink gown, got her hair done and rode to the church in a car topped with a giant pink bow. I watched with her family and friends as the parish priest read from the Bible and reminded her of her duties as a woman. And I laughed at the fiesta afterward as the boys of the town surrounded Cecilia for a traditional dance. I could communicate very little with Cecilia, but she understood perfectly when I told her, "I'm so jealous – you are lucky to have such a beautiful day!"
Photos: Children of the borderlands 2/4
Children of the borderland
A photodocumentary project funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation
Jeremiah Armenta
Kelley Karnes
Danielle Peterson
Brandon Quester
