Elio G’s Homemade Pepper Sauce
A San Ignacio resident is reinventing himself after his life took a significant turn following an accident. In 2013, forty-five-year-old Elio Grajalez was repairing a sofa when a metal spring struck him in the eye. After multiple surgeries he was deemed legally blind. He lost his long-term employment and means of providing for his family. The normal life he once enjoyed was suddenly stripped away. But, Grajalez, with the support of his wife and son, has found a new way to engage in work and provide for his family. He established Elio G’s Homemade Pepper Sauce to show the world that even though he is living with a disability, he is still able to pursue his dreams. News Five’s Paul Lopez tells us more on tonight’s installment of Belize On Reel.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Forty-five-year-old Elio Grajalez’s story is one of tragedy and triumph. As a child he partially lost sight in one eye after being hit with a rock. A decade ago, a spring from a sofa set damaged the optical nerves in his second eye. He was deemed legally blind.
Elio Grajalez
Elio Grajalez, Owner, Elio G’s Homemade Pepper Sauce
“In 2013 I was on my day off and I was at home working on a sofa aset and I had an accident. The spring went loose and stabbed me in the eye, punctured the eye. The next eye was already a little damaged from I was very young. The good eye was the one that was damaged. So I had to go to Guatemala for surgery, I had like five or six surgeries and the doctor said I had a high chance, but it didn’t work, the eye did not come back. So, I was deemed disabled.”
At the time, Elio was a pump plant operator with the Belize Electric Company Limited. He had to leave his employment of eight years. It was a harsh new reality that Elio, his wife, Christy Grajalez, and their son had to come to terms with. Christy decided to take up the financial reigns of the home.
Elio Grajalez
“In 2007 I got married to my wife, she is Christy Grajalez. She works at Central TV. We have been married for sixteen years. I have one son, he is sixteen years too. It is hard to talk about it. My wife said let us not worry about that right now. Let us focus on your recovery to do what needs to be done to get you back. The hardest part was one I went to doctor and he gave me the final. He, I understand what he was trying to tell me but it was so sad I couldn’t take it. He told me that nothing can happen. My wife said doesn’t worry. She is a very supportive wife, she has always been a supportive wife.”
In the left eye, his vision is impaired by a dark spot. His right eye has a tubular effect. This prevents him from driving and limits his use of computers and cell phones. But, his condition does not stop him from maneuvering around his home and kitchen where he now spends most of his time making pepper sauce. Elio G’s Homemade Pepper Sauce was his way of reinventing himself and creating a new source of income for his family.
Elio Grajalez
“From small I like peppers and I said let me do something, I starting doing research and work with different formulas and finding out how to get it to last longer and stuff you know. I started doing my own and gave people to taste and they said this is really good. What I do before I start, I disinfect the bottles with a little Clorox and water and I spray them and leave them for a little while and rinse them out and after I get the peppers and I go through them and make sure they are all good. Then I rinse them with a little vinegar to kill anything or get the firt off. I clean the onions and wash those off, I wash the cilantro. I use a little cilantro and that is it. I just get everything together, I got a blender and I just put everything together in there, the ingredients, salt, vinegar, cilantro, the onion, the pepper and my secret ingredient.”
It is hard to tell that Grajalez is visually impaired when observing him operate in the kitchen, even with knives that he tries to avoid using when possible. But, he has wholly familiarized himself with his surroundings, his ingredients and the necessary measurements. Some of his ingredients come directly from his home garden where he grows a wide variety of herbs and other plants that he also has on sale. Elio says becoming an entrepreneur, in spite of his disability, has restored his sense of purpose in life.
Elio Grajalez
“My wife is proud of me because of what I am doing. I could stay home and not do anything but I didn’t grow up that way. I am a person who goes out and tries to find ways how to help and my son is going to high school. He needs to pay his CXC. That pushes me more to help.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.
