The Hispanic Women's Association of Mobile (Asociación Mujeres Hispanas de Mobile) brought Latin American culture and cuisine to the Guadalupe Center on May 4 with their Tamale Fair.
Tables and booths, decorated with national flags, held a variety of goods for sale ranging from hand-crocheted booties to jewelry to original pieces of inspirational artwork. The highlights of the fair were the tamales, with versions from Hispanic nations including México and El Salvador. Other countries represented at the fair were Costa Rica, Perú, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia, Honduras, Argentina, Chile, and Guatemala.
"We want to reach out to the Hispanic community, to help people and to let them know there are resources available," said association president Evelyn Monterrosa. "We try to make them feel that as part of the community they are part of a big family. They need someone to trust and for them we are like a confidante."
All proceeds from the event were designated to help needy members of the community, particularly those who have suffered financial hardship due to a death in the family or the loss of a job.
The association was created in 2004 by three Mobile women who have Hispanic heritage: Gloria Schneider who grew up in El Salvador; Minerva Pettway whose family was from Puerto Rico; and Estela Dorn who was born in the Philippines. They began the group as a cultural outreach program of Mobile International Festival in an effort to assist the Hispanic women of Mobile.
"We have a panel of people who give seminars, such as how to do your taxes, mental health issues, how to buy a house and how to be a parent," said Monterrosa. "We have meetings during the year but not in the summer. Then, we do not meet but plan trips and celebrate life, celebrate that we're friends and healthy and have a job."
The Hispanic Women Association of Mobile currently has 50 members, with membership requirements only that participants be female and pay $10 annual dues. Current officers are president, Evelyn Monterrosa; secretary, Yajaira Jaume Miller; and treasurer, Beatríz Jordan. Board members are Brunilda Smith, Beatríz Jordán, María del Carmen Parnell, Yolanda Mendoza, Elizabeth Medina, and Josefina Puga.
