The entrance to the camp says NO TRESPASSING, but every day15 children ignore the sign and keep walking. After about a mile hike up and down dirt roads, they finally make it to the hills where they can see their make-shift house hidden within the trees.
The shanty houses are made out of scraps of plywood to form rooms similar to those in a house. The Inocesio family's house is the largest among the approximately15 other houses on the hill. It is the first house you approach on the hill and it houses Inocesio, his wife Maria, their six children and other relatives. This abode is nothing like the one in their native town of Oaxaca, Mexico, where the father traveled from 16 years ago.
With no running water or electricity, it makes it hard to surviveÑbut not impossible. The nature of the living quarters bring the family closer; closeness is already a natural trait of their culture. The children enjoy living here; they have a large area of land to ride their bikes on and a stream no more than10 feet from their house to play in on hot summer days.
Some days in the late afternoon, the parents send their children down to a food truck that arrives daily to gather food for their meals. The children do go to school; the older ones can even speak a little English. But with no electricity, it makes it hard for the children to get their homework done after dark.
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