
The biggest issue that was revealed to me during my participation with Student Action with Farmworkers includes being exposed to issues that have remained the same for over ten years. From my family, I have always heard stories about their struggles with living and working in the fields. They would mention the lack of space in their living vicinity, the mistreatment from their employer, or the horrible working conditions they had to face. While doing outreach through the theater project I have been able to see firsthand all of the issues that my parents talked about, everything looked the way they described it. Workers were still living in small beaten-down trailers with no proper washer machine and no personal space. They were still experiencing bad working conditions under the sun or in the tobacco fields and most importantly they were still unaware of all of the resources that were available. But even though this is the harsh reality that they are faced with I was not surprised to see that very little has changed for the farmworker community. I know that there are still people out there who are ignorant of these issues. Some still believe that this is better than what they have in their home country, which is not true. Farmworkers come here for various reasons, some come to support their family, to pay for their children's education, or to simply afford Christmas presents. From interacting with these workers, I have seen that no matter how tiring or demanding the work is they still keep a positive outlook on life. During outreach, we have always been welcomed with open arms, they were happy to invite us into their space. I greatly appreciated every second of outreach because I was able to learn something new or feel closer to my community. I was also able to participate in providing resources pertaining to advocacy, legal aid, and health education. Overall the workers have left a positive impact on me through their courageous stories. I am very thankful for the experience and opportunity that SAF has given me.