25th Anniversary East Coast Migrant Stream Forum

Guest post by Magdalena Fernandez

Last month the North Carolina Community Health Center Association (NCCHCA) was once again proud to host the annual East Coast Migrant Stream Forum.  In celebration of the Forum’s silver anniversary participants were invited to reflect on the theme, “A Rededication to Health Harvests”, as they remembered the rich history of the conference and joined together to create a strong vision for the future of migrant health.

Every year since its inception in 1988, the East Coast Migrant Stream forum has brought together a broad spectrum of migrant health professionals from outreach workers and promotoras to clinicians and administrators representing Migrant/Community Health Centers, community-based and faith-based organizations, as well as government officials from across the nation.  The conference is targeted towards participants from eastern states in order to increase communication and partnerships between organizations that serve farmworkers who migrant in the Eastern Stream.  The fellowship and camaraderie that is inspired through East Coast motivates participants to collaborate and learn from each other in order to better serve their patients. 

This year’s forum hosted 174 participants and 21 innovative workshops that covered a wide range of current issues relevant to migrant health professionals.   Popular workshops included: “Tools for Preventing HIV and STD Infection among Seasonal and Migrant Farmworkers”, “Intensive Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Programming in Rural North Carolina”, “Building on Common Ground: How to Strengthen Collaborations among Migrant Health Centers, Hospitals, and Public Health”,  “The H-2A Guestworker Program – An Overview for Migrant Health Care Providers”, “How to Use the Pesticides and Farmworker Health Toolkit in Your Health Center: A Train-the-Trainer Workshop”, “Clinica en el Campo: Taking Medical Care and Medical Residents to the Fields”, and “Promotoras de Salud [Lay-health workers] Promoting Early Breast Cancer Detection, Health Literacy and Care Access in Hispanic Immigrant Communities”.   

In celebration of the conference’s 25th anniversary, the opening plenary featured a panel discussion entitled, “25 years: Reflecting on our Past, Envisioning our Future”.  The panel was composed of five individuals whose dedication to farmworkers has shaped the field of migrant health.  The presenters reflected on the history of migrant health and their experiences working with migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families.  They then each presented their vision for the future by focusing on five areas of farmworker health: clinical, administrative/programmatic, outreach/ lay health, research, and policy.  The insights of the panelists sparked a great deal of discussion among participants and helped to set a tone of both reflection and innovation for the conference.

Participants also had the opportunity to see a powerful performance of, “The Stories of Cesar Chavez”, performed and written by Los Angeles based actor, Fred Blanco.  Featured in theatrical venues throughout the US and Canada, the one man show employed both humor and drama to bring to life the California farmworker struggle of the 1960s.  From youthful zootsuiters and humble farmworkers to racist teamsters and angry radicals, the audience relived the struggle of the labor movement through a parade of captivating characters.  The bilingual show was developed by Fred Blanco from interviews with members of the Chavez family and other individuals including Dolores Huerta who fought alongside Chavez.  Participants left the show with a deepened appreciation for the great triumphs that came at the price of terrible suffering and sacrifice.

Mark your calendars for next year’s East Coast Migrant Steam Forum to be held October 17-19, location TBD.  It is always an incredible opportunity for migrant health education and networking with fellow migrant health professionals.  Scholarships and special rates are available for students and lay health workers.  For more information on the forum including the full program and educational session handouts, go to www.ncchca.org under calendar.

Faces in the Fields

Workers harvesting sweet potato in 2009. Photo by Peter Eversoll.By Zachary Kohn
Law Intern, NCJC 
J.D. Candidate 2013
UNC School of Law

This summer on outreach, I had the privilege to talk to farmworkers about everything from La Copa de Oro to minimum wage laws, and witnessed everything from scrimmage soccer matches, to workers trotting home under a majestic sunset with dozens of buckets strapped to their limbs, to tractors spraying pesticides in fields right next to farmworker housing. I enjoyed the aroma of delicious traditional meals being prepared at the end of the day, shared tortillas off of a truck with famished workers and even filed a few complaints with the NCDOL on behalf of farmworkers. 

Among the most memorable experiences so far was at a migrant labor camp where workers are suffering from bed bugs, snake bites, inadequate bathroom and water breaks, and housing with malfunctioning toilets, refrigerators, and stoves. The farmworkers at this camp, a talkative and friendly bunch, did not bring up any of these issues until we had been talking for hours. Even when the problems came to light, almost no worker wanted to file the complaint, even anonymously, out of fear that their employer might retaliate. Fortunately one worker had the desire for change. He told us that he would make the complaint not for himself, but for his fellow workers and future workers living at that camp. I cannot imagine a better client or a more righteous act.

Migrant farmworkers, just like anybody else, need to be able to prepare and store food free from insect infestation, earn livable wages, receive proper medical care, have access to water and bathrooms at the workplace, work in a location free from exposure to pesticides, have privacy in their homes and sleep on actual beds with mattresses. And no one should have to work for an employer who takes advantage of him or her.  Unfortunately, most of what we would consider basic requirements for human beings appears to be frequently denied to these incredibly hardworking, optimistic people.

Nonetheless, we can apply the same optimism and dedication the farmworkers have when they travel thousands of miles from home to do back-breaking work, by refusing to let others treat these workers as a distant abstraction. We must do everything in our capacity to demonstrate our belief that these honest people deserve an opportunity for a better future instead of being cheated, abused and lied to. We can witness, speak to farm workers, share our knowledge with others, make documentaries, pressure the legislature to pass bills in favor of humane treatment of farm workers, write about our experiences with workers, file complaints on their behalf, and even file lawsuits. What we cannot do is be complacent and accept their mistreatment. We must act. 

The outreach trips have been one of the most rewarding aspects of my legal internship at the Justice Center. Aside from interacting with clients and brushing up on my Spanish, I witnessed the hidden realities of our agricultural system, awakened to the plight of the truly impoverished, reignited my desire to study law and learned firsthand that even in the most truly difficult situations people can find happiness and hope. While it's frustrating at times to see progress in farmworker's lives develop so slowly, I can only hope that they have received at least a fraction of the benefit I gained from participating in this incredible experience.