The Migrant Child

The Migrant Child is a wonderful and heartbreaking article. We live in a state with one of the highest rates of migrant workers and I have never even heard of the Migrant Head Start program. Pearleane Reese says “There’s not a lot of value placed on what we do. Our programs are often unseen. Nobody knows we’re out there, tucked away in farm labor camps.” This is obviously true in my case. To hear even a very small portion of what these children face and overcome on a daily basis is tragic. It is also paired with a deeper sense of family loyalty than I will probably ever understand. The fact that this program exists is so wonderful to me. The resources, education, and support that they provide to these families and their children should not go unnoticed. These teachers and families are working together to give these children a chance at a life other than being a migrant worker. I am interested in what the statistics would look like if research was done to show how many migrant children grew up to become something other than a migrant worker, based on attendance in this program. As more and more crops are tended by large machines, the rate of work for migrant workers is destined to decline more and more. This program allows us to support these children through education to give them employment options other than a brutally manual, declining field. I hope that the awareness of this program continues to increase until they can acquire the funding and staff they need to successfully accomplish they’re goal of changing the lives of these children and their families