The Migrant Workers
‘Fields of Dreams’
by Sandy Lindsay
Each spring, they travel northward to another part of the world for one purpose … to earn a living in support of their families.
They are … the migrant workers from Mexico.
Residents of Saugeen Shores on the Lake Huron coastline often drive by and look out over the fields and see the men in their wide-brimmed hats toiling under the hot sun. For both however, there are benefits.
For the residents and summer visitors, it means being able to enjoy fresh seasonal crops once a year from the fields of Hi-Berry Farm.
For the workers however, it means leaving their homes, their children and their way of life for six months at a time. It has become for them another way of life, with one foot in Mexico and the other in Canada and that, for some, has been on-going for 20 years or more. Some began as young husbands and, now, are grandfathers.
Toiling in the fields for the dollars they earn in Canada means that, for many, they have a better standard of living in their home country of Mexico and their children can go on with their education. There are also those who support not only immediate but also extended family.
Most of the workers have extensive experience in tilling the land and growing needed crops and, here in Canada, their skills are invaluable each year. For those who are fairly new to the program, they are acquiring the knowledge that will one day be needed to replace that of the older workers.
Throughout the spring and summer months, they cultivate and harvest crops that are extremely labour intensive requiring hours of bending and hands-on skills …. growing and cutting asparagus one spear at a time … picking the ripe strawberries …cutting fields of lettuce … gathering the ears of sweet corn … all the while deciding which should be harvested and which should be discarded as below standard.
With them, the workers bring not only their skills and knowledge of the land but also their strong, deep in-grained faith that is a pillar of strength for them. Many of their names are, in fact, biblical …. Daniel, Simon, Jesus, Juan (John), Paulo (Paul) and many others.
It is their faith, their knowledge and their work ethic that keeps them returning year after year to their …
Fields of Dreams – where dreams for their families begin and are realized.