Livermore Student Wins AFOP's 2014 Farmworker Children Contest

The 2014 winners for the annual Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs (AFOP) Migrant and Seasonal
Farmworker Children Essay and Art Contests have been selected, and a Livermore student is among the top winners. Evelyn Arroyo, 10, won second place for her essay entry in the age category 10-13.

As the third-place winner, her essay appeared in AFOP’s September issue of the Washington Newsline. Her essay will also be compiled along with other selected essays and artwork entries in a booklet to be presented to key members of Congress.

Additionally, she received a cash prize to be used for school-related needs. The theme for this year’s contest was From Our Hands to Your Table, which drew entries depicting the hardships farmworkers in America endure to put the fruits and vegetables we eat each day on our tables. Children across the United States, ranging in ages from 10-18, submitted descriptive essays or powerful works of art describing their lives and goals.

Children as young as 12 are legally allowed to work for an unlimited amount of hours outside of school in our nation’s fields and orchards. Despite agriculture being consistently ranked the most dangerous occupation in America for children, as many as 500,000 children work to harvest the fruits and vegetables that end up on our tables.

Burdened with an overload of school and work responsibilities, health injuries related to pesticide exposure, musculoskeletal problems, and the prevalence of accidents with machinery, their future often looks a lot like their present. AFOP gives these children a chance to have their voices heard in their annual Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Children Essay and Art Contests.

The Children in the Fields Campaign is a project of the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs (AFOP), a national federation of non-profit and public agencies that provide job training and services for America’s farmworkers. The campaign strives to improve the quality of life of migrant and seasonal farmworker children by advocating for enhanced educational opportunities and the elimination of discriminatory federal child labor laws in agriculture. For additional comment or interview from an AFOP expert, please contact Robert Crumley at (202) 828-6006 x140 or Crumley@AFOP.org.

Read Evelyn Arroyo’s essay: Translated from Spanish

I have challenges. I remember the time when I was 4 years old. My mom, Mamá Leonor and Papá Jose Luis would wake up very early. It seemed like it was night when they were preparing their food and their tools for work. My mom carried me in her arms, blanketing me and my head leaned on her shoulder. This is how she carried me to the car and fastened me to my seat. Later, she carried me with covers and did the same with my brother for us to go.

In the nursery, after lunch, we played with toys and did an activity with the teacher. On the patio the kids and my brothers were playing but I took care of the plants and watched the bugs walk. After we were given a meal to eat and went to sleep again. My aunt Pina picked us up because my mom was working. Among other things, my mom works in the melon harvest.

She brought me my favorite fruit, the melon. My mom would pack the melons. Each box weighed up to 30 pounds and fit 9, 12 or 15 melons. At night my mom had cramps on her fingers and they hurt, they swelled in a way that her hand could not make a fist.

My mom tells me about the dangers of the field. One is the temperature. Sometimes it is up to 105 degrees. You can have heart attacks, headaches, or faint of dehydration. The fertilizers are chemicals that are also dangerous. The most used fertilizer is called “Sulfur”. They help the plants to grow more and produce fruits, beans, and vegetables quicker, but they hurt the little bugs so that they don’t eat the plants. The worst is also that it affects the health of the workers. It causes irritation in the eyes and skin and can get in the lungs.

We do not always go together to follow the seasons. Sometimes only my brothers, my mom and I stay. I cannot see my father when he goes for cotton, alfalfa, or for grapes. He works very hard. My parents inspire me to study hard at school and I know that I will achieve what I want to.

I will study and achieve my dream. I am going to be an engineer. For now I work making scarves with two needles and a hook to sell. I have saved some 200 dollars. My new project is to embroider blouses by cross stitching in order to sell them and this way to save more. With effort, I will realize my dreams.

—Information submitted by Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District