Area farmers learn to celebrate culture, family during Mexico trip

Local dairy farmers recently had the unique opportunity, though Puentes/Bridges, to see life from a new perspective as they traveled to Mexico to meet with their employees’ families and immerse themselves in the culture. On Monday, April 17, the Preston Lions hosted farmers Michael Johnson of Fountain, Cole Hoscheit of Caledonia and Puentes/Bridges President Mercedes Falk to speak about their experiences.

Puentes/Bridges is a small non-profit with its roots in Buffalo County, Wis. The group’s goal is to bridge the cultural gap between dairy farmers and their Mexican employees.

Falk explained, “Our local extension agent (UW-Extension agricultural agent Carl Duley) worked with farmers and realized there was a really big communication gap between the farmers and their employees, so he reached out to Shaun Duvall who was the local Spanish teacher and asked if she would be interested in teaching Spanish to some of the dairy farmers. As they started to learn a little more about the language she quickly learned so much more was needed besides communication; that there were larger cultural differences.”

In 2001, Duvall led a group of 15 farmers to Mexico where they immersed themselves in the language and the culture. At the end of the two-week trip, the group met with family members of their employees.

“When they showed up there were four different local Mexican television stations there to film the event and all families showed up; they were dressed to the nines and so honored that the employers of their brothers, sons or cousins would come all the way from the United States to get to know them as human beings,” Falk shared.

The experience was so illuminating and life changing for the farmers that Duvall and John Rosenow, who was on the original trip, created Puentes/Bridges in 2003. Since that time over 150 farmers and various community members have travelled to Mexico to immerse themselves in the culture of their employees.

“Although the trips started with wanting to learn the language it quickly became clear there are a lot of connections that can be made when you have the desire to want to learn and understand another person and you don’t necessarily have to have all the right words. So our trips have evolved into meeting the families, seeing the villages where all the employees come from, the houses they have built for their families, shared meals and learning about culture,” Falk said.

In February, a group of four farmers, including Johnson and Hoscheit and five community members ventured to the mountainous regions around Zongolica and Cuatepec de Hinojosa, Mexico.

Many of the families the group met live in very rural, hard to reach areas where electricity is a newer concept, coming just within the last two decades, indoor plumbing is not always the standard and kitchens can be found outside.

Falk shared how emotional it can be when meeting these families and hearing their stories and learning of their sacrifices.

“These are the conversations that are really hard to have when you are going about your day to day work life, so when you take a chance get to know employees on a deeper level you can understand how much those connections mean and how important it is to know people on that level. The more I get to hear these stories the more any preconceived notions of what divides us just melts away and the more I know we are really connected to one another,” Falk expressed.

As Johnson further explained, family is the core of their culture, to the extent that Johnson found there are no words for daycare or nursing homes because the concept just doesn’t exist in this region.

So in a culture where taking care of family is the main priority, leaving to come to a foreign country and putting trust in an employer all to create a better life for their family as a whole can feel all the more daunting.

Hoscheit shared how learning this part of his employees’ culture is beneficial, “The biggest takeaway is family. When we are working with our guys day in and day out you become a family, so the stronger you can make that bond, the better employees you will have to continue to build your business. It is a team building trip.”

While the trio shared numerous stories of their time in Mexico, for Johnson one of the moments that stood out was experiencing a new way of farming.

The group was able to take part in one family’s tradition of planting the first corn of the year as part of their preparations for the Day of Three Kings celebrations.

“It was fit enough, so they were actually planting a field that day, but a little different than what we think of planting. So we said we want to see where you are planting. We are farmers, we want to feel the dirt, want to touch it, want to smell it and understand what you are doing,” Johnson shared. “The hill was really steep, steeper than the hills along the Mississippi and they are planting corn on it. It is all planted by hand; it was a whole different world than I’ve ever experienced.”

The group also met with several previous employees, including Hoscheit’s former employee Fatima, who have come home and created their own successful businesses, not only bettering their family’s lives, but also their communities.

For Hoscheit, the trip served as a reunion of sorts, “Every time I go down there I get together with them,” Hoscheit said of Fatima and her family, many of whom also worked on Hoscheit’s farm. “It brings me back to the community and family. It’s not just about every dollar; it is about taking care of our families.”

The trip also taught the group how to celebrate life more. Toward the end of their visit, the group travelled to a village in the state of Hidalgo where many of Johnson’s employees families live. Over 50 people came to welcome them, with a feast of barbacoa, a traditional roasted lamb.

It is this cultural tradition of celebrations that resounded with Johnson, as he noticed everyone they met was “so happy.” When Johnson asked a local gentleman why this was he said, “We celebrate everything all the time. We love to be with family and celebrate.”

So let us all learn to celebrate each other, our families and each other’s cultures.