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Dear Governor, begin the letters of migrant children
By RYAN DAVIS © St. Petersburg Times, published February 5, 2001 DADE CITY -- The recently strengthened push for better wages and working conditions for migrants has gathered more support: nearly 200 east Pasco children, their pencils and notebook paper. Dade City's Farmworker's Self-Help, which teamed with the state's four other major farm worker advocacy groups to stage a 22-mile march to Tallahassee last month, is putting a child's face on its push for better wages and working conditions by organizing a letter-writing campaign to Gov. Jeb Bush. Organizers from the social service group have gathered about 200 letters from children who are farm workers, from farm-worker families and friends of farm workers. They plan to mail the letters this month, said Margarita Romo, the executive director of Farmworker's Self-Help. "We just want to write letters to let him know we're here," said Erik Limas, 16, who works to help his single mother support him and his three siblings. "To him I believe we're just some workers who are giving America their food." The group has been pushing for Bush to meet with the growers and organize talks between them and the farm workers, who struggle to make $9,000 a year with no benefits. Bush has said the growers do not want to meet, and it is not his role to get involved in private labor disputes. About 500 protesters from across the state concluded a two-day, 22-mile march from the farming town of Quincy in front of the Governor's Mansion on Jan. 14. "If we can walk all the way up there and he won't see us, we're going to send him a letter," Romo said. The Dade City letter-writing campaign is spearheaded by the Self-Help's Teen Dream Team, a 59-member group of 10- to 17-year-olds who tutor other students and meet each week to learn about government and U.S. customs. "They're hoping to find their place of power that says they can make a difference," said Evelina Bearden of Farmworker's Self-Help. "It's kind of like a living civics lesson." East Pasco is home to about 10,000 migrant workers and their families during the peak winter season, Farmworker's Self-Help officials said. Most are Mexican. Many are here illegally, so they did not put their return addresses on the letters. The letters offer a glimpse into the life of farm-working children: "You know our parents have to wake us up at 6:00 a.m. in the morning just to go to work. Sometimes I even have to be absent from school just to go and work in the fields," Jose Corona wrote. "My dad doesn't have . . . money to pay the bills," Diana Farias wrote. "Sometimes I cry because I want to go to school instead of work," Maggie Montes wrote. It's only the first letter-writing campaign, the children said. If this doesn't work, Bush can expect more letters. "He'll probably read a couple of them," Limas said. "I hope he does feel in his heart that we want to make a difference." - Ryan Davis covers higher education and social services in Pasco. He can be reached at 800-333-7505 ext. 3452 or by e-mail at rdavis@sptimes.com. Recent coverage22 miles on the road to justice (January 15, 2001) Hundreds march to protest wages (January 14, 2001) Farm workers to stage march on Tallahassee (January 13, 2001) Protecting farm workers (December 12, 2000) Farm workers get short shrift over fair wages (October 29, 2000)
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