Know what those pictures right above here are? This is the foyer of the First Baptist Church, 405 W. 9th Street, here in Pueblo, Colorado. These were taken Friday, June 3, 2011 in the foyer. Now, I know it looks like a lot of trash bags there, but it is not. This represents a labor of love by the Church Women United here in this fair city. What is it? It is growing season and the migrant workers are back! With the migrant workers comes the migrant families which includes children.
These are what are called "hygiene bags". Each one of these bags has been sewn to specifications by some one and then filled with a towel, wash cloth, bar of soap, comb, toothbrush and toothpaste. Way back in 1967 it seems our country ran short of workers for our fields so our federal government, in their infinite wisdom, made a deal with Mexico. Send your families to work our fields and we will educate your children. I will give you a link at the end so you can read up on this.
See, I thought our church did this just cause we were kind, but I finally actually listened this time. This education program is funded by the federal government under the "No Child Left Behind Act" and is administered under the auspices of BOCES which is the acronym for Boards of Cooperative Educational Services. This covers children ages 3-21 who are not graduated from high school. They must be temporary or seasonal and changed districts in the last 3 years.
That is background that you can pursue, what I am here to tell you is that pile of bags up there represents 497 acts of love by 14 churches here in Pueblo. Our women's group is the only one in Colorado that participates. When the migrants show up at BOCES, the first question is "Where are the bags from the church ladies?" Our reputation precedes us! BOCES runs the educational part of the program and Sister (Nameless) runs the social aspect of the migrant population. It is at her center that the doctors volunteer their time, the bags of beans, rice and flour are passed out. Their are diapers for the babies, computers for research and communication. Clothes are donated and dispersed to those in need. No money changes hands, it is all voluntary and is the one oasis in a sea of need.
I do have to tell you a little story here. In 1978 (?) when I was newly divorced and on my own out here, my daughter came home from North Carolina with her hubby and her son. My daughters, Patty and Dona, came up from Lakin. Harvest on the Mesa was in full swing and this looked like an easy way to make money quick. So Patty and Tex hopped in the old '67 Chevy which was my sole means of transportation at the time and headed for the Mesa. 8 hours later they made it back home. They were filthy, Patty's eye was blood shot and Tex was 3 inches shorter than when they left. Seemed their job was to pick peas. This entailed bending over and picking peas and pulling weeds as they came to them. Tex threw his weeds over his shoulder into Patty's eye. Hmm. Wages for the day was $7.20 for the two of them. Good thing I had bought the gas for the car.
The next week they decided that they would do this again. It was onion topping time. This time Debbie, Patty, Dona and Tex ventured to the onion fields. First day was a total loss as I had to buy the "onion topper cutter things" for all 4 of them. The next day would bring me a return on my investment, so I thought. The next day dawned and when they came home, the side of the '67
Chevy was caved in, two of the girls had black eyes and it seems that they were not to return to the fields as they were trouble makers. I, of course, got a different story, but suffice it to say, I decided all by my tiny little self that my children were not cut out to be migrant workers.
I do however, take my hat off in a big salute to those people who do work our fields. I would not be able to stand in one of those fields under the blazing sun for any length of time, not to mention a full day bent over up and down the rows. There just is not that much money in the bank if you get my drift.
Well, I did a definite digression from the main topic. So let me just get some links on here and you can educate yourself. I was amazed at the rich history the "farm workers" have in this country. And, yes, I did read " The Grapes of Wrath."
http://www.scboces.k12.co.us/english/Migrant/index.htm
http://coloradoboces.org/modules/cms/pages.phtml?pageid=144069&sessionid=67a54164cc99a94667d6381b97409394
These are what are called "hygiene bags". Each one of these bags has been sewn to specifications by some one and then filled with a towel, wash cloth, bar of soap, comb, toothbrush and toothpaste. Way back in 1967 it seems our country ran short of workers for our fields so our federal government, in their infinite wisdom, made a deal with Mexico. Send your families to work our fields and we will educate your children. I will give you a link at the end so you can read up on this.
See, I thought our church did this just cause we were kind, but I finally actually listened this time. This education program is funded by the federal government under the "No Child Left Behind Act" and is administered under the auspices of BOCES which is the acronym for Boards of Cooperative Educational Services. This covers children ages 3-21 who are not graduated from high school. They must be temporary or seasonal and changed districts in the last 3 years.
That is background that you can pursue, what I am here to tell you is that pile of bags up there represents 497 acts of love by 14 churches here in Pueblo. Our women's group is the only one in Colorado that participates. When the migrants show up at BOCES, the first question is "Where are the bags from the church ladies?" Our reputation precedes us! BOCES runs the educational part of the program and Sister (Nameless) runs the social aspect of the migrant population. It is at her center that the doctors volunteer their time, the bags of beans, rice and flour are passed out. Their are diapers for the babies, computers for research and communication. Clothes are donated and dispersed to those in need. No money changes hands, it is all voluntary and is the one oasis in a sea of need.
I do have to tell you a little story here. In 1978 (?) when I was newly divorced and on my own out here, my daughter came home from North Carolina with her hubby and her son. My daughters, Patty and Dona, came up from Lakin. Harvest on the Mesa was in full swing and this looked like an easy way to make money quick. So Patty and Tex hopped in the old '67 Chevy which was my sole means of transportation at the time and headed for the Mesa. 8 hours later they made it back home. They were filthy, Patty's eye was blood shot and Tex was 3 inches shorter than when they left. Seemed their job was to pick peas. This entailed bending over and picking peas and pulling weeds as they came to them. Tex threw his weeds over his shoulder into Patty's eye. Hmm. Wages for the day was $7.20 for the two of them. Good thing I had bought the gas for the car.
The next week they decided that they would do this again. It was onion topping time. This time Debbie, Patty, Dona and Tex ventured to the onion fields. First day was a total loss as I had to buy the "onion topper cutter things" for all 4 of them. The next day would bring me a return on my investment, so I thought. The next day dawned and when they came home, the side of the '67
Chevy was caved in, two of the girls had black eyes and it seems that they were not to return to the fields as they were trouble makers. I, of course, got a different story, but suffice it to say, I decided all by my tiny little self that my children were not cut out to be migrant workers.
I do however, take my hat off in a big salute to those people who do work our fields. I would not be able to stand in one of those fields under the blazing sun for any length of time, not to mention a full day bent over up and down the rows. There just is not that much money in the bank if you get my drift.
Well, I did a definite digression from the main topic. So let me just get some links on here and you can educate yourself. I was amazed at the rich history the "farm workers" have in this country. And, yes, I did read " The Grapes of Wrath."
http://www.scboces.k12.co.us/english/Migrant/index.htm
http://coloradoboces.org/modules/cms/pages.phtml?pageid=144069&sessionid=67a54164cc99a94667d6381b97409394
