#teamfarmworker

Week 1:

This past week Team Farmworker had a very productive week. On Wednesday night we were able to travel with Ana who is one of the NC Migrant Farmworker Project workers to one of the farmworker camps to do surveys on the farmworkers health insurance. On Thursday morning we were able to go out into the fields with the migrant farmworkers to see for ourselves what it is like for them to work for a day.

On Wednesday night we met at the NC migrant Farmworker Project house to meet Ana and leave from their and go out to a farmworker campsite. We ended up having to wait a little while due to the farmworkers still not being back from working in the fields before we headed over. At this time the sun had gone down and nighttime had come with it being dark outside. The farmworkers start very early in the morning before the sun rises and finish after the sun sets. There work hours can be as long as 14 hours a day, and 70 plus hours per week. We traveled out to a farmworker camp that we had not visited yet so it was another new sighting for us. When we showed up a few of the farmworkers were inside the small block building and making dinner. Other farmworkers must of still been getting cleaned up or changing since there was only a few around at the time. Slowly as time passed by more and more farmworkers started to show up to the kitchen and they continued cooking for their dinner. The smell of the food they were making was great but standing in the kitchen looking around the environment was not clean and which falls back onto hurting their health. These kitchens and living conditions do not look as if they are only getting cleaned once a year. This actually makes me wonder if they do clean their living areas and if they do how often it is done. Without the farmworkers staying in good health they will not be able to work intense hours if they become sick and could possibly even be sent back home. In my opinion they should regulate the living conditions and make them keep where they sleep and eat, clean.

Thursday morning we got the chance we had been waiting for all semester and that was to go out into the fields with the migrant farmworkers to get a feel for how their work days were. Team Farmworker met at 6:30am to start our way to the fields the migrant farmworkers were working in that day. This day the farmworkers were working in the sweet potato fields and when we arrived the farmworkers were already in the fields and working. As we got out and walked through the field over to where the farmworkers were at I could see the buses they used as long trucks to hold the sweet potatoes in wooden crates. The farmworkers were all in a big group working on the rows of sweet potatoes. It was very organized with how they worked and on top of it they worked extremely fast. To me it seemed like a race for everyone, but I know how vital money is so the more sweet potatoes they could pick up the more they would make. We were all given a bucket and were able to pick up the sweet potatoes. The first bucket we filled and I took it to the truck and went to hand it to the worker who was taking the buckets to empty them into the crates and he looked at my bucket and said “no good”. I looked at him confused and asked why it was no good and he said not the correct size and he reached to his belt and pulled up a square piece of plastic that was a certain length long, a certain length in width and had two different size holes drilled through the plastic. He said we only pick up anything that can fit through the two holes and if it fits through the big hole it has to be the length of the length on the plastic piece and if it fits in the small hole it could only be the length of the width on the square plastic piece. He then said that’s why the ones you picked up were left behind, and then it all made sense to me because I wondered why the areas they had gone over still had sweet potatoes left behind. So I went back and told the rest of Team Farmworker exactly what sizes we needed to be picking up and we began to work. As we would take full buckets to the truck to be emptied they would put a small ticket into our bucket which counted for $0.50 cents. We started working at a good pace but definitely not at the pace the farmworkers were. We started off at about 30-40 feet away in front of them and within less than 5 minutes they were right where we were. Watching them work was amazing at how fast they could get the potatoes up from the dirt and pick off which ones they needed to collect and how they would run to the truck and run back to where they left off. This showed me how vital it was for them to collect as many small tickets as possible which in return would be exchanged out for money. We were also told that any potatoes that had holes or big nicks in the potatoes were no good because it was a sign that bugs had starting eating into the potato. As I continued to work, I could notice that the farmworkers would take all of the potatoes that they uncovered from the dirt and would take the ones they were collected but would place the other sizes on top of the dirt mounds so that they other workers could come by fast and pick up the ones they needed. So, even though this is all about making money and getting the most buckets filled and emptied the farmworkers worked as a team to help each other also. In place of just looking out for themselves only, they still looked out for each other and which this also showed me that yes they want to make as much money as possible but that they would also help each other to go faster and get the job done and which could possibly make everyone more money in the end. In my own phrase, time is money and money is time, they sure utilized there time spent on picking the sweet potatoes. Every so often when the farmworkers would finish picking a row they would holler for excitement and possibly motivation for the next row.

This past week Team Farmworker had some exciting activities take place. Two major overall things that took place were attending the 26th Annual Farmworkers Festival on Sunday from the morning time and running into the afternoon. The second major activity we worked on as a group was writing our first grant for Wal-Mart. Some of us did not know what writing a grant would consist of while a couple of us have either helped apply for a grant before or have been part of a group that applied for a grant as well. We also called to check in with Food Lion to get an update with where we stand with receiving possible donations as well.

With the farmworkers festival it was located in Benson, NC. We arrived mid morning, and first decided to take a quick look around at everything that was going on so far. We decided since this was a very important event for the farmworkers that we would wear our Campbell University shirts to represent not just what university we are but exactly what program we are from. Interesting enough thinking that these farmworkers have seen us recently or in the past that while we were walking around how we all felt that we were being noticed by everyone and sometimes even awkwardly stared at. As we were walking around we would talk to each other about the situation asking each other if we felt this way and how interesting to feel that way was. As a group we asked ourselves if this is possibly how the farmworkers feel themselves while working here in the United States.

In my opinion I feel that these farmworkers are severely overworked and underpaid. I know that the farmworkers come to work here because they can make in one day what they make back home in two weeks for salary income. So to sacrifice leaving there families for six to nine months at a time is heart breaking but also is very heart touching to know that they do whatever it takes for their family back home to live the best as possible, Even though I am not a farmer who runs a farm with farmworkers but I feel that these farmers should provide a better living situation for these farmworkers. Back at the beginning of the semester we visited two camps and the first camp was built decently but just needed to be cleaned up and taken care of a little more. When we visited the second camp it was a total different scenario. When we pulled up the first thing we saw were all run down trailers from the outside. We were able to experience part of where they interact and eat by walking through the trailer that was used as a kitchen. It was very dirty and run down which was not sanitary, and very bad for the farmworkers health.

While at the farmworkers festival we noticed a few different things taking place such as a soccer tournament, a lot food tents and multiple vendors who were setting up to sell things from jewelry, clothes, to some games. Also, the Benson Area Medical Clinic was set up with their own tent and was giving out vital information for anyone and the farmworkers. We being fortunate were able to set up a table beside the Benson Area Medical Clinic and put up one of our own visual aid poster boards. We did have a group of farmworkers come over and which we were able to display and go over the information we had for them on heat stroke. Majority of the farmworkers only speak Spanish and very little English, if any at all. Because of this barrier, Taylor did all of the talking since he is very fluent with the Spanish language. By using the poster board we were able to provide the farmworkers with vital information for them to constantly remind each other about, and to keep an eye out for each other while working. Since heat stroke is one of the most important factors they have to deal with we asked if they knew any other workers that suffered from this, and they all said yes. The more these farmworkers are educated on this particular health factor the less they will suffer from it.