Working with the South Carolina Migrant Education Program (Migrant Ed) has reinforced some privileges that I have taken for granted. Every day since I started this internship has been memorable because of the nature of the job and work we do. The interactions I have with farm workers are meaningful in their own unique way; everyone has a story to tell, and some are more specific than others, but each has a reason as to why they work in agriculture. Whether their story was short or long, it was interesting to hear about their backgrounds and where they came from. The majority of the individuals are from Mexico, but it is nice to see how they bond with other workers who come from different backgrounds.
If there is one specific day that I believe to be very memorable, it was July 9th when my intern partner and I did food drops for the day. As we were following our food drop route, we stopped at one of the last houses and encountered a woman who lived alone with her fourteen-year-old son. As we were dropping off the food bags, I remember asking her if she needed help with anything before we left. She was hesitant at first but then told us that she needed help translating an insurance bill she had received from a clinic. The insurance bill was already in Spanish, but she did not understand the content. We helped translate to the best of our ability and let her know she had a follow-up appointment. We let her know what number she could call if she had any more questions and then proceeded to leave. Once we were in the car, I had a feeling she still did not understand, so I decided to go back and ask if she needed us to call the number and translate on her behalf. Again, she was hesitant but allowed us to help her. I think at this point my intern partner and I had built some rapport with her, and she began to trust us. We were then able to help her find out when and where her appointment was scheduled. Her situation was a bit confusing as she had multiple bills coming from different clinics & hospitals but eventually, we were able to find out where she needed to go for her next appointment and at what time.
One emotion I experienced during our encounter and conversation was happiness. I was happy I was able to help her out and take away some of her stress. She looked a little more relaxed after we confirmed her appointment. My intern partner and I will also be taking her to her appointment since it is in the town we are staying. She did not have a ride and was worried about who she was going to ask to take her. She seems like a nice person, and I am more than happy to be able to use my driving privileges to help her get to and from her appointment.
With Migrant Ed, there is a lot of recruiting that goes on, and I have had the opportunity to recruit and visit a lot of different camp sites. Through visiting these different camp sites, there are some hardships I have seen. Majority of the people we interact with are H-2A workers who are in the U.S temporarily. There are similarities and differences between the different H-2A camps we visit. Noting the weather patterns here in the South, most camps I have visited do not have proper air ventilation. Some have fans for air conditioning, but it is still very hot inside and the air that is being passed around is hot and humid. Some of the camps, people would prefer to stay outside than inside because of the heat that transfers inside their housing. There are many hardships that these individuals go through, and their injustices are always seen but never heard. I am glad to be part of one of the many programs that serves the farm worker community and recognizes their struggles as strengths.
Written and submitted by: Dany Cardona, ITF intern