Sandy Diaz Hart is at the heart of a small regional group of citizens who are trying to bridge the language gap between local agriculturalists and Mexican farm labourers.
It is, at times, a tough task. Diaz has been offering classes in Spanish to area farmers and orchardists - but has found this year that there are few agriculturalists interested in meeting their foreign labour pool half way.
Using the Elim Tabernacle in Keremeos, for a classroom, along with the assistance of Minister JasonWiebbe, she offered free classes - and no one showed up, save for a couple of paramedics.
“People are busy,” she reasoned, but at the same time she finds it discouraging that so few in the farming community can find the motivation to take a few language lessons.
Penticton lawyer Robert Wahl makes regular commutes to Keremeos to lend a hand, assisting Mexicans by teaching English in Cawston and Keremeos, and assisting the workers with computer s and cell phones.“Tony Dawson has been a great help, settting up classes in the irrigation office in Cawston to teach English to labourers in the Cawston area,” Diaz added. “He’s been an immense help.
These people care about the migrant workers.”
Diaz explained that, unlike Canadian transient farm labour, Mexican workers are assigned to farms, and sometimes need assistance with labour, language or health issues.
“There simply aren’t enough people around to help,” she said. Diaz is allowed nine hours through the Women’s Centre to provide liason services, but spends nearly half the week going from farm to farm to lend a hand.
“I spent three hours in emergency at Penticton Regional Hospital yesterday,” she says by way of example, “providing interpretive services to a Mexican worker who had badly injured his knee.”
Diaz has found that some members of the farming community seem to be less inclined than others to make an effort to bridge the gap between worker and employer.
“We are past the point of knowing that assistance is needed,” she said, “we now have to decide what we are going to do about it.”
In recent weeks, other issues surrounding the region’s Canadian based transient labour pool have bubbled to the surface after residents affected by some negative behaviour brought their concerns to the village.
One thing seems certain, as the Similkameen growing season winds up for another year-unless action is taken over the winter, through resolve on the part of local politicians, or through committed citizen’s groups, the valley will be faced with more of the same problems come next year.
The looming question remains - is there political will to make changes?
In an election year, it might make for an interesting question.