A story worth imitating

HUMBERTO CASPA

Before coming to the United States, Mirna Burciaga thought about

being a pediatric physician in El Salvador, her native country. That

dream may never come true, as her career goals shifted dramatically

once arriving in the United States.

Still, she has been able to accomplish much more as a mother and

particularly as someone seeking social justice. Mirna changed the

lives of so many children in our community through a lawsuit that

brought national media attention years ago. Today, her goals continue

to focus on children, but they also involve the community.

Although politics is running deep in Mirna’s life lately, it

didn’t make much of an impact while she attended college in Santa

Ana, El Salvador. Unlike most Latin American students, known for

being active in national politics, Mirna was a soft-spoken

individual, more concerned about her graduation and professional

future than planning to run a governmental agency. She wanted to save

lives, cure diseases and, especially, take care of children.

“Politics just didn’t appeal to me,” she told me while we both

enjoyed a neat conversation at El Chinaco, her beloved restaurant

located on West 19th Street. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t even

know why my [former] country was undergoing a painful civil war.”

When Mirna got to the United States in the early 1980s, tired of

her career goals being disrupted so many times by the social

conflict, she found herself starting her life all over again.

Initially, her intentions to keep studying were impossible, at

least in the short run. The little English she brought with her,

after taking a few classes at the university in El Salvador, could

barely help her to carry on a conversation. In fact, it only served

her to get odd jobs and didn’t allow her to compete with the broader

middle-class population or to enroll in a university here.

I sensed a deep sorrow, mixed with disappointment and frustration,

when she said in a bitter tone: “I just couldn’t open up doors due to

my lack of English.”

She is now an accomplished communicator, a very successful

businesswoman and on the verge of making the transition to a public

career.

A key ingredient to her success, she confessed to me, is: “Backing

off a problem is never the solution.” This is a popular expression

articulated by many people nowadays. However, when it comes out of

someone committed to live that creed to the fullest of its

consequences, the expression itself acquires real meaning.

Mirna doesn’t deny she left El Salvador in the middle of a chaotic

situation. Perhaps she might have put aside some unresolved issues

back there. To her credit, though, the problems facing her country

during a decade or so of social unrest were entirely structural in

nature, tied closely to the Cold War, in which the U.S. government

had more say than the people themselves in El Salvador. Therefore,

Mirna’s sudden trip to the U.S. in no way demeans her personal

principles.

Nonetheless, when problems began to pour into her life, as she

became integrated to the American mainstream, Mirna started to

demonstrate her ability not only to solve difficult issues but also

her leadership abilities.

The media and the community remember her for being in the middle

of a controversial court case involving the Newport-Mesa Unified

School District and students at TeWinkle Intermediate School. Mirna

brought charges against the school for violating educational

procedures affecting her own kids and students of Latino background.

She eventually won. But this ordeal wasn’t easy by any means.

As a result, the school district was forced to make some major

systemic changes. Mirna’s leadership provided, among other things,

equal access to all programs and services to students learning

English.

In short, my daughter, who is 8 and attends Adams Elementary

School, would not have had a smooth transition to English from

Spanish had Mirna not acted against the system. When I explained to

my daughter the benefits provided to her at her school thanks to

Mirna’s courageous efforts, she readily said, “I found a new hero,

Daddy.” Indeed, she did.

Despite the changes, Mirna can’t help having second thoughts about

public education. “There’s more to do there,” she said. The

self-spoken medical student has now virtually turned into a conscious

political activist, whose leadership in the growing Latino community

in Costa Mesa is badly needed.

I don’t know how she is able to handle her time in so many

directions. When I opened up the Internet to get more information

about her background, I found myself navigating from one site to

another, accumulating data of the various tasks she performs on a

daily basis. Besides managing her successful business, she chairs the

city’s Human Relations Committee; she is founder and current

president of Madres Costa Mesa, a nonprofit organization; she helps

the Spanish outreach at UC Irvine; she also headed the Parks

Commission in the city.

I asked her how she does it. Her answer: “I keep my life in

balance.”

Mirna ran for the City Council last fall but didn’t win a seat. It

did give her exposure and needed experience for the future. She

doesn’t yet know whether she will run again, but she said to me:

“There is more of Mirna ahead in Costa Mesa politics.”

I’m sure my daughter would love to see her making headlines again.

* HUMBERTO CASPA is a Costa Mesa resident and bilingual writer. He

can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].