Puentes/Bridges, Other Resources Aid Producers With Hispanic Workers

By Jane Fyksen, Crops Editor
Thursday, October 25, 2007 11:11 AM CDT

Wisconsin dairy producers with Hispanic workers can benefit from the Puentes/Bridges program, based in Alma. Among many services, Puentes offers cultural immersion trips so producers can secure a better understanding of their employees' backgrounds and why they came "north" to work in Wisconsin's dairy industry.

Each year, Puentes/Bridges takes producers and others to Mexico for a 10-day trip to rural Mexico. Participants live with a Mexican family, tour Mexican farms and historical sites, attend intensive Spanish language classes, learn Mexican culture and even meet the families of their employees.

In addition, this groundbreaking initiative, started by Shaun Duvall, who at the present time is in Mexico, also offers on-site services for producers and other ag businesses employing Mexican workers. These include customized parallel Spanish/English classes for the employers and employees (with special emphasis on "language" commonly used on a dairy farm). Classes in basic survival skills for employees include learning to tell time, read calendars, follow farm safety procedures, basic animal care and milking techniques, how to handle U.S. money, buy and cook American foods, obtain health care and other knowledge needed for day-to-day living in a new country.

Also, in conjunction with the Mexican government, Puentes/Bridges has established training programs for Mexican dairy farm employees leading to a certificate that's recognized here and in Mexico.

Puentes/Bridges emerged from a need. In the late 1990s, farmers in Buffalo County and nearby counties began hiring workers from Mexico. While delighted with their work ethnic and reliability, the language gap was frustrating. Buffalo County ag agent Carl Duley approached Duvall, a Spanish teacher at Alma High School for assistance, who was soon teaching basic Spanish to area farmers and English to their milkers. In 1999, Duvall, with encouragement from Duley and producers, established the nonprofit Puentes/Bridges program to offer cultural education in addition to language training. The first trip to Mexico took place in 2001. Today, immersion trips for college students at UW-River Falls are also conducted, in addition to the trips for farmers.

In 2004, Duvall resigned from high school teaching to concentrate on Puentes/Bridges and her own SJD Language and Culture Services businesses, with which producers contract for the language training on-farm. Plans for English language training sessions in rural Mexico are in the development stage.

"I think the most meaningful part of the trip was the opportunity to see with our own eyes where our employees come from, and how hard they must work to overcome the transition to our culture," says Deb Reinhart, a Puentes/Bridges trip participant. "Most importantly, we have better employees because they see that we have made an investment in learning about their culture and their country. This seems to make them try even harder to be good employees and human beings." Reinhart, a New Holstein producer, was Dairy Woman of the Year for World Dairy Expo this year.

Puentes/Bridges seeks to connect producers with their employees "in a personal and human way." This results in more motivated and productive employees, who stay for longer periods. Producers glean a greater understanding of their employees' homes and culture that enables them to deal with issues on the job in a more productive way. Via a trip to Mexico, greater trust is forged between employer and employees. Obstacles to assimilation into the local community are also overcome.

The work done by Puentes/Bridges is financially supported by ag and food processing firms, industry organizations, government agencies and individuals.

Depending on outside funding and current prices, the cost of the producer trip to Mexico runs between $2,500 and $3,000 per person, which includes air fare from Minneapolis, lodging, tours, lectures, classes and some meals. The trips focus on employees from the state of Veracruz in southeastern Mexico, which includes the communities of Astacinga, San Juan Texhuacan, Tlaquilpa and Tepanzacoalco, among others. As noted, Puentes/Bridges is forging greater linkages by launching various initiatives within Mexico.

Yet another project seeks to educate Wisconsin communities and employees about Hispanic culture through one-day diversity seminars.

Producers interested in any of the above services can contact Duvall at Puentes/Bridges by calling 608-685-4705 or e-mailing shaunjd@tds.net.

Other resources on the web

Fond du Lac County UW-Extension has developed a Dairy Partner/El Companero employee newsletter that's online at http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cty/fonddulac/ag/dairy.html. It deals with issues like milking parlor procedure, bunker safety and passive transfer of immunity to calves, in Hispanic dairy farm workers' own language. It's a good resource for producers to access and share with workers on their farms. This innovative newsletter appears in both English and Spanish, so producers can see what's being presented to Hispanic employees.

The popular Calf Notes website is also in Spanish at http://www.calfnotes.com/CNnotasterneros.htm. It presents timely calf-rearing management tips.

Spanish resources on milk quality topics are available from UW-Extension at http://www.uwex.edu/milkquality/spanish_Resources/index.htm. There are mastitis fact sheets in Spanish and a link to an English/Spanish dictionary on the web and much more.

UW-Extension also has an entire website devoted to Latino immigrants at http://www.uwex.edu/ces/latino.

Farmers can also get help with legal and employment issues from Voces de la Frontera Workers' Center in Milwaukee (414-643-1620) or http://www.vocesdelafrontera.net. The mission of this community based organization is to fight for the rights of low wage and immigrant workers. Legal clinics are offered on immigration, labor rights and more. Services also include English classes, citizenship classes, referrals to agencies and help with the complicated Social Security No Match Letters issues.

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