Immersions

I asked him “So where are you from?” he replied that he was born and raised right outside Tijuana, México. He told me that he first came to the U.S. when he was 14. After he got married, he decided to return to the U.S. to give his kids a better education, and a safer life. He explained to me about the danger that he experienced there daily, the fear he lived in, and how he has found so much refuge and hope in being here in the Yakama Valley. Then he looked at me and said “I’m sorry for coming to your country, but I had no choice. I had to do it for my safety.”

I’m sorry for coming to your country.

I didn’t know what to say. I teared up. Over this week we have learned so much about the constant hurdles that are thrown at people who “aren’t from around here”. We have learned about the injustices that keep people waiting for 20+ years if they want to enter the U.S. “legally”, so they are given almost no choice but to enter “illegally” if they want to give their children a safer life. We have learned about the agricultural industry, and how big businesses repeatedly take advantage of farmers, and exploit their workers. We learned the extent to which we as UP members perpetuate injustice merely by thinking of picking and harvesting as “low-skilled labor” (it is, in fact, quite difficult, dangerous, and requires a lot of skill and precision to harvest safely). We learned about how this racism and injustice is SO ENGRAINED in the development of our country that we are still endorsing systems and mindsets that unapologetically oppress.

To put it bluntly: we learned that even those of us who are well-meaning, kind, and champions for social justice are still the Whos who are oppressing. I had known this man for an hour. We were working on pronunciation and conversations in a Level 1 English Language Learning classroom. I asked his story, and he graciously and courageously told me where he was at. But he felt the need to apologize. He felt the need to justify the simple desire to live and work without fear for his and his children’s lives.

This whole week has been memorable and impactful. This particular story, however, will stay with me a little more deeply than the others. I am a college student. In my own mind I have no power, no authority, and I frequently don’t know what’s going on. For me, there is no reason anyone would ever feel the need to justify their being to me. And yet this brave, kind man called me to senses. There is something very wrong. We can’t be brushing this under the rug anymore. No one should feel the need to justify their existence.

Yesterday we visited Nuestra Casa. It is an establishment in which English is taught as a second language to native Spanish speakers. As a group, we were invited to join them in a potluck, in which everyone would bring a dish of their choice. For these people who have endured so much, have gone through so many hardships, and aren’t making the most money – for them to invite us and cook traditional foods made me feel so grateful. Even though they don’t have the most, they are still so giving. They are also very hopeful. They are here when many people from the US want to kick them out, they live in fear of not knowing if they will get deported, and they are here away from their families and friends. And yet, besides all that this group at Nuestra Casa that we met up with was still so loving, forgiving, friendly, warm, and hopeful. To see someone who isn’t in the easiest of positions to be able to keep such a positive mentality is inspirational and really makes me think of how many little things we take for granted, when we need to open our eyes and realize everything we have. Seeing them be so loving, forgiving, and hopeful really resonates with me in that no matter what your situation, it cost nothing to be kind and loving, and to keep fighting and keeping a positive outlook. Things may be hard and they may suck, but the only way you’re going to get through that is by staying positive and digging down a little deeper. So, thank you to those at Nuestra Casa – without even knowing that you all made such an impact – for showing me what strong character looks like and with that I can work towards bettering myself.

-Zach Marx

              This afternoon we met with Eamonn Roach, an immigration attorney in Washington. He gave a brief overview of immigration law and policy of the 21^st century. One of the major points that he brought up that stuck with us was the lack of major immigration policy change since the 1980s and the Reagan administration. It is sad to see the times changing, and yet the laws of the land haven’t. This lack of adaptation has left millions of people in the dust, particularly Latino farmworkers. The lack of change and modernization of the system has also created a huge backlog for migrant applications for visas and green cards, creating uncertainly and unneeded stress in the lives of the applicants and their families for several years. This is unhealthy for the migrants that are seeking refuge, better jobs, or opportunities for better lives for them and for their families.

              Earlier in the day, we got the chance to tour Inaba Farm. This farm is owned by a third-generation United States citizen with Japanese descent. They grow both conventional and organic produce, and they even let us take home some squash, onions, and watermelon. Inaba Farm was one of the first farms in the region to build housing for their workers, which was a nice change of pace from what you hear in the news. The owner taught us that you can make a profit off your investments without ripping off or mistreating your workers. After our lunch break, we did volunteer work at the Northwest Harvest food bank distributor, and we packed nearly 2500 pounds of pears, which will feed 1861 people. We felt an overwhelming sense of joy for providing food to families in need, but we also felt disgusted by the fact that so many people cannot afford to buy adequate food for their families.

-Jordan Duran and Saron Mekonnen

              Tonight, we went to Nuestra Casa, a nonprofit that provides ESL classes, citizenship, health and childcare services, for the local Latino community.  We were all divided into different groups where the UP Spanish-speaking students were placed into the first two levels with the locals knowing very little English. As a Spanish minor, I helped teach in the level one class, not knowing it would require the most Spanish. I was very nervous because I am very shy about speaking Spanish and am scared about making mistakes. However, after introducing ourselves to the class, the Spanish-speaking students welcomed us with open arms. They complimented us on our Spanish, the very little we already said, our majors and they were very sweet. After walking through multiple activities like weather and sickness phrases, and different dialogues like job interviews, buying a house, and more, I was not as scared of making errors or feeling uncomfortable with my Spanish abilities. I truly felt their acceptance of us and their appreciation with being there to aid them. Seeing the students struggle with pronouncing words like happened, job and throat, made me realize what a privilege it is to speak English fluently and what an advantage it is. This experience showed me what life is like for these non-English-speaking students is like and how I can be an advocate for them. They were so brave and bold with their language risks that it demonstrated that I can do the same and share the same mentality. I left Nuestra Casa feeling the impact the place left on my life, my perspective and a desire to find a way to volunteer in an ESL class in Portland. With a smile on my face and my stomach hurting from the laughter of their jokes, helped create a safe, light hearted and warm environment not only for us, the teachers, but most importantly, the students. Although, this is not the end of the immersion, I can positively say this has been my favorite part.

-Asia Gates

              One of the most memorable destinations we visited today was Heritage University, the only non-tribal college built on tribal land in the Yakama Nation. The statistics presented by Melissa Hill, the Vice President of Students Affairs at Heritage University, shows that 65% of their students are Hispanic, of whom the majority are women. Yet, while 90% of the Washington population has a high school diploma, the percentage drops dramatically when it comes down to the Yakama Nation and nearby towns. This makes college impractical and somewhat unreachable to many kids, since their parents, as Melissa Hill suggests, might know the value of love, hard work, and community, but not the power of education. Thus, the goals of Heritage University are not only to enrich students’ knowledge and help them pursue their dreams, but also to educate students about their rights and their potential of changing the future. We had great discussions on food insecurity and ethnicity, as well as on the “then what?” that addresses responsibilities and actions that we might take to bring positive changes to rural communities. One quote I really liked from Melissa Hill is that none of us have the choice to choose our identities, and we should be proud of who we are, of who our parents are, and of the land in which we were born and raised. We had a tour around Heritage University campus, and it was amazing to see how the university, started as an idea proposed by three women, has become a place where knowledge is valued and all identities are respected.

-Anh Nguyen

Bright and early, after having breakfast we headed to a farm which is not far from where we are staying but is far from what we expected, Just Living Farm. Before having a tour around the farm, we sit down and had a good conversation with the owner of the farm and a white man, Dave.

“What does justice have to do with your major?” he asked. This question seems simple but it got stuck in my head and made me keep questioning myself “what can I do with my major to make the society become more just?”, which is something I have never thought of before.

Having the discourse with Dave about theology and the history behind that had led to white supremacy, the system that has been a benefit to the White and neglect the Black and indigenous, I started to realize that there are unjust systems and policies that should have done better. I have learnt so much from Dave, the wise man, that I could not put into certain words.

After a meaningful conversation, Dave gave a walk around the farm and explained to us how his farm works. It is so interesting to me that we, humans, are made of just water and minerals. We should take care of the animals and plants as we want to be treated because we are nothing better than them. I am so fascinated by how a full land of grasses can grow from soil that seemed like nothing.

The last key takeaway before we left the farm was that instead of blaming and complain the systems that already existed, we, the younger generation, should do something to make it better and that is what we are going to keep asking ourselves throughout the immersion and after that.

-Sahas Sok