Tandas

Tanda also known as cundinas, susu, hui, or quiniela depending in which country is being perform. Usually tanda is a Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 and Latino

Latino

The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...

 tradition for financial help. Rosalba Gama, Delma Medrano and Luis Medrano give the definition as a form of rotating credit association and a monetary practice that we, as a Chicanos have grown up knowing but never really understood the detail, except that our parents or other relatives participate.

Tanda could be managed in different ways. The way it usually works is a group of people that know each other get together to collect money (either weekly, monthly, yearly) to help each other financially. You can come up with any rules as long as it benefits each other. Usually there is an amount of money and amount of people in the group that they all agree to in order to have cash right away. When they come to an agreement of who will be in the tanda and how much it will be (either weekly, monthly, yearly), they have to come up with the order of whom is going to receive the money. You can either raffle the numbers or make the decision in who needs the money badly or depending on how the bills come to the person. It all depends in the group’s decisions.

Tanda is beneficial to many people especially immigrants because there is no identification ask or an amount of interest for the advance of the cash or something as a down payment. The reason of a tanda is to help each other money wise. Many times people join tandas because they are in need of money to pay their debt right away. Or emergency come up that the money is need it right way.

As we hear the word TANDA, we might think that this is a tradition or thing for just people that are financially needed. But as Lourdes Gutierrez Najera inform us that tandas are common among Oaxacan migrant, especially women because they create a network and although, they life in Los Angeles, their gathering makes them miss less of Yalaltecas. Like she quotes “the only reason women participate in tandas is for the gossip, otherwise it doesn’t make sense.” Tandas can be run any way you want as long as it helps you economically.