6
Youth & Young Adults
May 27, 2014
T
he Valley Catholic
Santa Teresa Youth Group tunes in to immigrant
issues; assists farmworker mother
By Anne Peterson
Special to The Valley Catholic
Last August the Youth Group at
Santa Teresa Church in south San Jose
began a journey to reach out in meaningful ways to effect the lives of migrant
farmworkers in Watsonville.
During a one-day retreat in San Juan
Bautista where our theme was “One,
Holy, Catholic, Apostolic,” about 40 of
our high school and junior high youth
heard a short presentation about the
plight of a group of hardworking adults
and kids working in the fields less than
an hour from where we live.
They then watched a short video
and were asked: as One, Holy, Catholic,
Apostolic Church, how are we called to
respond? The presentation so moved our
kids that they were called to action, a
committee was formed and discussions
ensued about how to help.
In October, I invited Dr. Ann Lopez
to come speak during a youth group
gathering. She is a well-known activist
who authored a book, The Farmworkers’ Journey, and formed a non-profit
organization for charity and justice
for farmworkers. After hearing some
of the following facts, our teens were
motivated:
• There are 40,000 children working
in fields in the U.S. Many are as young
as 10 years old.
• These children work up to 30 hours
per week for very little pay.
• Under the Fair Labor Standards
Act (FLSA), the legal age to perform
most farm work is only 12 if a parent accompanies the working child. Children
who are 14 or older can work unlimited
hours before or after school hours. The
same law requires a minimum age of
14 years for non-agricultural work and
limits such work to 3 hours per day
while school is in session.
• Children of farmworkers move into
areas like Watsonville in May every year
and are forced to leave Nov. 1. This is
disruptive to their education and fewer
than 50 percent graduate from high
school.
The youth of Santa Teresa decided to:
• “Adopt” a single mom raising her
three young daughters on a farmworker’s wages. After 2.5 years of effort, she
received a work visa and a government
subsidized apartment. Santa Teresa
provided her with furniture, bedding,
and other household necessities, books
for the children, prayers and love. We
remain in contact with her.
• We have started a household
goods, clothing and shoe drive for farmworkers returning to the migrant camp
in Watsonville. Because many of them
return from Mexico they cannot carry
much and are in great need of these
items. After making announcements
at Masses, the outpouring of support
from our parish community has been
overwhelmingly positive.
On May 4, some youth along with
their parents drove trailers to the farm
camp and held a “Free Flea Market”
where families could find long sleeve
shirts and hats to protect them from the
sun as well as household items.
• The youth made “no sew” blankets
and collected new pillows to provide at
least one pillow and one new blanket
to each of the 104 families in the camp.
During summer we plan to bring
teens to the camp on a regular basis to
help tutor children who are struggling
in school. Dr. Lopez said many of the
teens there have aspirations to break the
tradition in their families of generations
of farmworkers. They dream of finishing
high school and going to college. We
want to help them do that!
• This month we went to the fields for
a “reality tour” to learn more about life
as a migrant farmworker, picking fruit
as well as hearing testimonials from
farmworkers.
All this charity and education is a
wonderful thing, but our project will
not be complete until we begin to understand how we can help affect change
in some of our country’s laws which
neglect to protect this population of
people…so that’s next!
• Anne Peterson, Director of Finance
for California Sports Center, is a volunteer
adult facilitator with Santa Teresa Parish
youth ministry.
Connect with Youth
and Young Adult Ministry
Youth Ministry | www.dsj.org/ym
Diocese of San Jose Youth Ministry
@DSJYouthMin
@DSJYouthMinistry
Young Adult Ministry | www.dsj.org/yam
Young Adult Catholics
of San Jose & Santa Clara County
@DSJYoungAdults
www.valleycatholiconline.com
Santa Teresa Youth Group show “no-sew” blankets they made for farmworker families.
Comments/reflections about our Migrant Project…
When the youth group and I first
discussed our plans for helping migrant farm workers, I wasn’t sure what
to expect. I knew we would get some
donations but I didn’t expect to have
the back corner of the vestibule full
of donations after almost every Mass.
Seeing that was jaw-dropping for
me and many other members of our
church. Then, to be a part of making
“no-sew” blankets for the 104 families
was such a great feeling. It felt nice to be
able to make something for them after
everything they do for us in the fields.
We also watched a movie, The Harvest, which opened a lot of our eyes to
what farm workers have to go through
on a daily basis. I am so proud to be a
part of this project.
-- Karlie
St. Lawrence Academy students
experience homelessness
By Mariah Marshall
Sophomore
Eleven St. Lawrence Academy (Santa
Clara) students spent three days of
Spring Break helping financially burdened people in San Jose while learning
about social justice issues that affect
many of the underprivileged.
The three-day Immersion Trip, organized by Principal Bridgit McGarry
and Associate Campus Minister Yajaira
Morales, started at Sacred Heart Community Service in downtown San Jose.
Students learn