The importance of cleanliness - taught through
Redlands Christian Migrant Association
By Barbara Wunder, FFVA Communications Manager
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Parents of students at RCMA Head Start centers are now able to
wash their hands of pesticide residue before greeting their children
thanks to a program partially funded by Bayer CropScience.
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Since we were children, we’ve been taught the importance of
washing our hands. It’s even more important to people who have
been working in our farms and come in contact with chemicals such as
pesticides – especially when they greet their kids after the
workday is finished.
Through the generosity of Bayer CropScience, state and federal
funding, and the efforts of the Florida Specialty Crop
Foundation, child care centers serving the children of farm
workers and other low-income parents have brand-new outdoor sinks where
parents can wash up before greeting their children.
That funding also pays for classes for parents to learn why
it’s important to wash their hands and take other measures before
hugging their children at the end of the work day.
“It is so wonderful to see parents walking in and heading right
for the hand-washing sinks before they pick up their kids. There is
definitely a new level of understanding,” said Barbara Mainster,
executive director of the Redlands Christian Migrant
Association, which runs the Head Start programs where the
sinks have been installed and the training offered.
During the past year, RCMA served more than 8,000 children of
low-income farm worker families in 74 child care centers and two charter
schools. The pesticide awareness program is offered to families in
33 centers and was anticipated to reach 835 adults each year, or
approximately 2,500 over the life of the three-year program. More
than 1,000 parents participated in this year’s round of
sessions.
All children served in RCMA Migrant Head Start programs are from
working families. They are 98% Hispanic and most are younger than 5.
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Parents learn how cleanlines helps keep their children safe
from pesticide exposure.
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“Families who work in agriculture receive some basic training
regarding pesticides from their employer, but there is little covered
with regard to the importance of hand-washing before greeting their
children and being careful that possibly contaminated clothing does not
come in contact with very young children,” Mainster said.
“Because these parents are like all others, happy to see their
children after a day’s work, there is usually hugging and kissing
at greeting when they come to get the children.”
The educational sessions are offered in Spanish and include a meal
and babysitting services. Materials were developed by the Association of
Farmworker Opportunity Programs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and
others, and were customized to fit the needs of workers employed by
producers of various commodities.
“What is presented to those working in citrus may be different
from those working in vegetables, strawberries or melons,” said
Mainster. The importance of hand-washing and washing work clothes
separately from children’s clothes also is emphasized.
In addition, the centers distribute clean men’s shirts
collected from various charitable agencies.
“After having our pesticide training, we realized how important
it is to wash our hands before carrying our children, said Marcelino
Velasquez, a parent who participated in one of the sessions.
“Being that we live far, washing our hands before picking up our
children is sometimes impossible.”