Helping vulnerable families give their children and even start toward school success: One rural community's efforts

Childhood Education, 2001 by Dimidjian, Victoria Jean

Eduwiges Alvarez also was born in Mexico, and most of her family remains in Mexico City. She came to Immokalee as a young woman and worked in the fields for several years, then moved on to packing house work. She has three children, between 8 to 14, who attend Immokalee's schools. She came to the Bethune Center in 1997 in order to study English and obtain her G.E.D. That same year, she began caring for infants and driving the bus to pick up families. She learned about the program from other mothers in her neighborhood, where news about Even Start was spreading. "The communication we have with the moms, I think that's really important. I learn from them. If they tell me something, I can share with them, and I learn something every day." In 1998, Eduwiges and three VISTA workers completed Parents as Teachers Training. Now she is completing CDA training and feels she can show moms what she has learned when they come in after their classes are over. "Sometimes the mom doesn't really know how to care for the baby, maybe how to wash and clean the hair and ears, maybe just how to feed them. So we make a time with all the moms, showing how, and then she doesn't have to feel bad, then she learns how with all of them." She expresses strong satisfaction at being able to model skills to "her moms," and she is vigilant about seeing each one get on the bus to come to school with her children each day.

Anicca Pierre-Fils is a 23-year-old university student from Haiti working on a degree in business while also serving as a home visitor for Even Start. Since she is the only Creole-speaking person on the staff, her work with recently arrived Haitian families is especially important. She herself arrived in Miami from her home in Port au Prince in 1996, and she quickly moved to southwest Florida with her father and three sisters. Her mother had been in the area for some years and helped them settle. Since Anicca had studied English in Haiti and even begun university studies there, she found the transition relatively easy as compared to the families she now assists. In fact, she anticipates moving from the area after graduation, saying that the isolation of Immokalee makes it difficult for a single woman interested in the business world to pursue opportunities. But for now, she appreciates the stability and safety she has found here, which are a direct contrast to conditions in Haiti, where a relative was recently shot and killed while waiting for a bus, victim of armed men on a rampage. She feels her work is most meaningful when she can provide help and guidance to newly arriving families like Rosemene Gaspard's.

Rosemene came from Haiti to Immokalee to live with an aunt. She was 29 when she arrived with her husband. She had been born in a rural area of Haiti, and attended school through the 11th grade. While she had been introduced to the English language, she never attained fluency. The language barrier has been the hardest part of laying down roots in her new land. While in Haiti, she had worked in the Dutch embassy for five years. She was a supervisor, and she remembers her job with pride. Turning to manual labor in Immokalee's packing plants was a hard adjustment. Soon after starting work she enrolled in language classes at Bethune Education Center, hoping to gain enough skill to find other employment. When her first child, Wood, was born, however, she realized that working days and studying nights would not be possible. Luckily, the registrar at Bethune told her about Even Start. She brings Wood to his class at 8 a.m., attends her language class, and then they go home together after 1 p.m. She and her husband, who works long hours in construction in the rapidly growing Naples area, are expecting a second child. Rosemene has already applied for this second son to start in Even Start as soon as possible. She remains determined to gain English skills as her children learn English, Spanish, and Creole.