5:30 p.m. October 14, 2003
Cooper/Howard Hispanic/Latino Group
La Hacienda, Boonville
 

Attending: Andy Melendez, Jamie Thompson, Danielle Blanck, Dick Blanck, Eduardo Crespi, Art Schneider, Chris Angelo, Janie Houf, Dorothy Draffen, and Missy Stock.

Art Schneider Began by noting that Jamie Thompson and he needed to respond to three questions raised by the University Outreach/Extension Alianza (Alliance) Group. Below are the questions and responses:
What is Challenging?
Communication
Medical Field language barriers
Being able to communicate effectively one-on-one
Learning the needs off Hispanics/Latinos
Reaching new Spanish speaking arrivals
Getting the information to the people (e.g. school secretaries, emergency room people, etc…) who are most likely to need and use it.

What is working well?
Gathering of local information and the ability to distribute it
Directing to appropriate people
Medical information
Ability of the mayor to network with multiple organizations and constituencies

What support are members able to provide?
English as a Second Language (ESL) delivered by Janie Houf (and also Judy Stock)
Janie volunteered to put together packets for new arrivals
Ability of the mayor to network with multiple organizations and constituencies

Discussion on possible ways to address Latino/Hispanic needs:
Suggestion that the school system is a key constituency once a child is enrolled to reach the parent(s)
Church flyers (Suggested Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist and Pentecostal the key spiritual contacts)
Suggestion that the key number list prepared include the churches and also major employers.
Learn where they socialize.
Health services (such as Nursing Service having a certain day a month Spanish speaking people can come in and have a translator available)
Distribute key information through employers, churches, and schools

Report on employers, schools
Fuqua-Currently has 18 Latino employees-only one lives in Boonville. The rest live in Marshall.
Nordyne-One Latino employee who lives in Jamestown
Isle of Capri (One Latino employee lives in Columbia)
Missouri Pacific Lumber Co. of Fayette. (Three Latino employees who live in Columbia)
Cooper County Memorial Hospital-No Latino employees
Boonville School District and New Franklin School districts have no Latino employees or Latino students.
Caterpillar-Has two Latino employees from Sedalia. Mentioned either in an aside or later conversation that Caterpillar had perhaps 20 temporary Latino employees. I checked with Darrell Bailey, Human Resources manager at Caterpillar, and he said that the temporary information was incorrect.
LaHacienda-15 employees
Total: 40 employees
It was suggested that Pilot Grove and Bunceton schools should also be surveyed on Spanish first language employees and students.

Huffstutters’ Orchard: On Nov. 4-as a follow-up to below-Art visited with Rick Huffstutter of Huffstutter’s Orchard outside New Franklin. He employs migrants beginning about September 1. At that time he employs seven to eight. By the end of September he increases that number another seven to eight. Apple picking is completed by Oct. 15. He said almost all the migrants are males, those occasionally there are females. No children. He said a typical workday is 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Most live at the Orchard while they are here.
I asked if there is a route that migrants follow or a central office though which they are placed. He said there is not. Two or three weeks before the picking season begins he receives a call, usually from someone who has worked the past year checking on the number of people needed.

Interestingly, he believes that many are members of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. He said a number of the employees took Saturday off for religious purposes, suggesting Seventh Day religious affiliation.

Art found a Seventh-Day Adventist listing in the SBC Boonville-Fayette Phone Book. The number listed for the pastor is WRONG! The pastor (Al Oetman) is at 573-441-8018. There is a local contact: Edna Fountain of Bunceton at 660-838-6522. The church has services at 10:30 a.m. Saturdays at 314 Chestnut in Boonville.

Translating Services: Chris Angelo has been called on to provide translation services, the most recent at Cooper County Memorial Hospital. Two issues emerged through this experience:

1) The key people who need the information on translators do not necessarily have it. The emergency room did not have the list of possible translators. Art will talk with administration about this. Chris was referred through members of our network and not because of the list sent to the hospital.

2) The needs of migrants and possibly other Spanish as first language workers at Hufstutter’s Orchard. While Chris was translating, she found many questions being raised by the migrant worker at the hospital.

She contacted Art afterwards and Art contacted Sr. Linda Dean, who is with Ss. Peter & Paul Church. The nun indicated she had possible parishioners who could assist and she would contact them. Art invited her to this meeting. The nun said the parishioners would follow up with Chris. This has not happened. Art will contact Huffstutter’s and invite a representative of Huffstutter’s to the next meeting.

Web Page: Art reminded members that there is a web page on Mo-River.Net targeted for Hispanics/Latinos. Going to Mo-River.Net and then clicking on the Hispanic/Latino Page can access it. He requested suggestions on pages or linkages to add.
He also noted there is a Spanish/English directory of medical terms. He passed around a hard copy (it is more than 150 pages thick).

English as Second Language:
Janie Houf said that six are currently attending the ESL classes-five are Latino (two of the five are women) Judy Stock is currently teaching the Hispanic ESL classes and Janie the one Canton Chinese class.
This is the second ESL class in the area that Janie is responsible for establishing.
She had talked with Fuqua and expected that the company would have 10 participants. There is a $30 fee for the two books ($21 if 10 or more). However, none participated. The First Baptist Church of Boonville will pay for the books when the participant cannot afford them. The class is after work at First Baptist Church.

It was suggested that if there were a classroom at Fuqua that participants could go to immediately after work it might facilitate a larger enrollment. It might also be possible to use the facility before the work shift. It also was suggested that Fuqua might be interested (or willing) in paying the book fees. Mayor Blanck will contact Fuqua to see if a classroom setting is available and to encourage the company to fund the two textbooks for each participant.
ESL meets one day a week and will conclude in March. A third class could be started at that time.

Spanish second language-Spanish first language small group discussions: Art Schneider noted the Extension Center had sent out a news release asking those who have some proficiency in Spanish and interested in being paired with a proficient Spanish speaker to contact the Extension center for future placement.

Important Missouri Laws: It was mentioned (perhaps by Jamie) that Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon’s office has a booklet titled “Important Missouri Laws.” It was suggested that it would be worthwhile to have a Spanish language copy of the booklet.

Sister City: Art distributed information on the Sister City organization. It costs $210 a year to be a member. He also reported contacting Robert Ross of the City of Columbia. Robert is available to meet with our group. Art also distributed a list of South and Central American cities interested in having a sister city in the United States.

Robert said that in Columbia the sister city effort was driven by civic and social clubs who then came to the city. The city provides staff assistance to the clubs and pays the annual dues, but the organizations drive the sister city relationship. He said there was some interest in a sister city relationship to promote business markets with one of the sister cities, but the relationship with Columbia’s four sister cities is primarily cultural and educational. There are exchanges between the cities.

If there is a sister city relationship it may take a year or two to build a supportive foundation.

The mayor said that is the city is expected to participate it needs to be informed very early. She suggested that with gaming revenues the local expectation that funding for cultural, educational or other development would in some way be expected to be funded through the city’s gaming revenues/

Eduardo Crespi suggested Salyuita, a fishing village as a possible sister city. He said it is about the same population as Boonville. He currently is working on constructing a small hospice building there that could possibly be used by visitors.

He suggested that the relationship be one in which Boonville assists this town. (He said it is an unusual village because it has a large middle class due to the resort cities within an hour of it. However, middle class there is poverty in the U. S.)

He suggested donations of computers to the schools, helping establish Internet access, would be helpful. Also, the town only has one physician-usually a person doing residency and that there is considerable turnover in medical care because of this. Eduardo also said there is only one Internet Café in Salyuita.

The governmental structure is an ejido-with which Chris Angelo is familiar.
It is an agrarian system and the town leader has a two-year term, according to Eduardo.

Members discussed that it is important that local civic and social clubs be contacted to explore their interest in establishing a sister city relationship and to tease out what they would expect from such a relationship.
Chris suggested that adopt-a-community might be something to consider. It was noted that geographic size and population density are different and that density in Mexico is much greater than the U. S. so that a community of a certain geographic size there would have a much higher population that a city of the same geographic size here.

It was noted by Dorothy Draffen that 4-H has had exchange programs and that it might be of interest to 4-H.

Jamie raised the question of “what will Boonville gain in a sister city relationship?
Eduardo provided Art with the Fax number of the secretary of the town council. However, she does not speak English.

The Sister City discussion will continue at the next meeting in December,

Meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m.
Next meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 10 at LaHacienda

(RESCHEDULED TO JANUARY BECAUSE OF BAD WEATHER)