A lot to work on in Buena

BUENA, Wash. -- Soon there will be more to this empty lot than rocks and dirt.

Once the ground is tilled and the irrigation system installed, when the sod is unrolled and the lines painted white, and after the goal posts are erected, this will be a place to play soccer.

It will all happen by early-June -- and possibly sooner if the farm workers who live in the nearby apartment complex stay motivated about the project.

"We're getting anxious, even though we know it's not something that can get finished from one day to the next," said Belén Alejandre, a 35-year-old fruit packer who lives at the Buena Nueva apartments with her family. "I'll be able to know where my kids are, that they're safe.

"There is so little here in Buena to keep our young people entertained."

That might be an understatement for this rural community of roughly 1,000 mostly Spanish-speaking residents, north of the Yakima River and divided by the Yakima Valley Highway. It's anchored by a convenience store, mobile library, post office, church and Buena Nueva -- a farm worker housing complex built in 2003 by Catholic Charities Housing Service (CCHS).

The 36 families who live in the complex already have access to a swing set, computer room and community center for meetings, exercise classes and social gatherings. But parents have long asked staff what it would take to transform the empty CCHS lot that stands between the complex and highway into a soccer field.

"They basically said, 'We have this spot open, is there any way we can get something built?'" said community manager Maria Vargas. "All these kids, they love soccer and don't have a place to play."

Michael Rodriguez, a slim 15-year-old who laughs softly between sentences, is one of those kids. He admits to having kicked a ball between cars in the parking lot, and that he's even twisted his ankle playing in the rock and dirt lot.

"When we don't play soccer we're MySpacing and stuff," Rodriguez said. "That's pretty much it."

Now there's more to do. CCHS recently received a $19,000 grant from the Yakima Valley Community Foundation, courtesy of the Helen Jewett Youth Advisory Council, to purchase materials and rent the equipment needed to create the field. There was one catch -- the residents would have to do the work.

There hasn't been much of a problem drumming up enthusiasm, though.

"I wanted to keep going out there but the weather doesn't always permit it. When it rains the tractor gets stuck in the mud," said Juan Carlos Lopez, a 31-year resident with four children who volunteered to till the dirt with a borrowed tractor. "But we need to get the job done -- and, well, I love working. That's why I offered myself."

Because many residents are farm workers, they know a lot about outside manual labor.

Belén Alejandre's husband, Gerardo, said digging out the rocks is easy work compared to his regular field work in local orchards, where's put in as many as 100 hours a week. He and other residents volunteer time on their days off.

"It's rewarding," Gerardo Alejandre said, adding that it won't just be the children playing once the field is complete. "It'll be for the kids, the adults, everybody who likes soccer will get in on it.

Bringing the complex's younger residents into the planning is an important component of the project, said CCHS services coordinator Sandra Aguilar. Rodriguez, for example, was asked to design the goal posts for the field and now spends a few hours a week researching measurements online.

And a council made up of young people will decide on the field's rules. It's a way to empower youngsters, give them sense of pride and help them develop leadership skills, Aguilar said.

"Since there are no other parks there, that's going to present a lot of questions," she said. "Who is going to be able to use it? Is it for the Buena community? If they want to have guests, can they invite the guest?

Those are questions many parents who live in the complex ask themselves, especially in light of the Yakima Valley's ongoing gang and vandalism problems. That's another reason adolescents should take more responsibility, Aguilar said.

"There's a gang issue in Buena that's kind of like this unsaid thing. You know it's happening, but sometime people choose to not look at it," she said. "But the kids I'm sure are going to have some opinions on that, if other kids want to come and play, or damage the place.

"That's going to get their minds thinking about what kinds of friends they want to come over here."

Melissa Sánchez can be reached at 577-7675 or msanchez@yakimaherald.com.

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