By CLIFTON A. KELLY
Marilyn Bigney, manager of the Spanish Fork division of Centro de la Familia, has dedicated her life to helping migrant workers enjoy a better life than they first find when they arrive in the United States.
“These people don’t get paid very much for the jobs that they do,” Bigney said. “The dream is to come here and earn some money to be able to send back to their parents and family because there is no work with the way the economy is going over there [in Mexico].”
Centro de la Familia has been in action since 1973, helping migrant Latino agricultural working families break the barriers by becoming self-sufficient in order to lead more meaning full lives in Utah communities, according to the mission statement.
The program acts as a daycare for the children of the parents who work in fruit or vegetable groves of the agricultural industry while helping Latino families bridge language and cultural barriers.
Two graduates of BYU’s School of Marriage, Family and Human Development now work at the center, helping migrant children and their families get a head start on life in the United States.
Nancy Rupper from Lima, Peru, graduated from BYU in August, 2003. As a family service specialist, she works to recruit families to the center in order to assist them in their transition to the United States.
“This is my dream job. I went to school for a higher education,” Rupper said. “My message to my people is that we can do it-we can make our dreams come true.”
Terri Burch, a graduate from the class of 2000, is putting her degree in MFHD to work serving as the facilities disability specialist.
“This is my third season here working with the kids who have special needs-the ones who have behavioral problems and who have the need for special attention,” Burch said. “I love this job. These kids are my life.”
Members of the Migrant Head Start staff said they want to spread the word about their presence in Spanish Fork and are in the process of recruiting families to receive the help they want to provide.
According to a press release, the Head Start program recognizes that parents are their children’s most important teachers, and the staff wants to work to strengthen these disadvantaged families as the primary nurturers of their children.
The Centro de la Familia staff is very dedicated to helping the migrant worker families.
Blanca Tijerina of Chihuahua, Mexico, has been with the program for 32 years. As the service specialist, Tijerina is in charge of getting the children enrolled in the program, beginning with immunizations and physical health screens.
“There are few major requirements that a disadvantaged family needs to meet in order to get accepted into the program,” Bigney said.
First, the parents must work in agriculture.
Second, the family’s annual income must fall 250 percent below the current poverty level (the lowest of the low).
Finally, the children must be between 6-weeks-old and 5-years-old.
“We don’t ask if they are legal or illegally working and living in The States,” Bigney said. “We just want to help people so their children don’t have to be in the fields while their parents are working.”
But the center provides more than a babysitting service. It provides an outlet for the children and the parents to learn helpful family skills that both parent and child can put to their advantage in the future, Bigney said.
The children have a large playground, a room full of toys, paint and other art project tools as well as musical instruments. They even have access to a computer donated by IBM.
One of the most important skills learned at the center provides a door to a better life by giving the children a desire and incentive to learn the English language, Bigney said.
“Maybe the kids lives will be different and they won’t have to work in agriculture,” she said. “Their dream is no different than yours and mine-to have a better life.”
Bigney said with obvious emotion how fulfilling it is to help and watch their work in action.
“I have a passion for working with these people, they are people with real needs, and there are a lot of things you can do with your life,” she said. “I find it very rewarding to work here. I get to speak Spanish and work with children all day.”
Bigney said the real beauty of her job is in the visible difference she and her colleagues make.
“We see an immediate difference in what we do because we work with immediate needs,” she said.
Teachers in Centro de la Familia de Utah’s migrant Head Start program will begin classes June 7 for nearly 300 children of migrant farm-working families.
