Mexican migrant workers in Ontario say new program helps them finish their studies and find community

After a long day of work at a flower farm, Rolando Morales Ventura arrived at the Lincoln Pelham Public Library's Fleming Branch in Beamsville, Ont., ready to learn.

Volunteers with the Migrant Farmworkers Project (MFP), a group that supports migrant workers in the area, welcomed Morales Ventura and his colleague, Juan Ramón Montes Orozco, with cheers and warm pizza.

Morales Ventura, whose work in Canada has taken him away from his four children in Mexico, said he likes going to MFP events because it makes him feel less lonely.

"Wherever you are, you're going to have to work. But being alone, that's what's hard," he told CBC Hamilton in an interview translated from Spanish.

The two colleagues were at the library on Nov. 28 to hear more about Plaza Comunitaria (Community Square in English), a new program in the Niagara Region that's run locally by MFP and helps Mexican adults finish their elementary and secondary education.

Originally from Puebla, Mexico, Morales Ventura has been travelling to Canada for eight years to work. He said he was interested in the MFP program because he wanted to finish high school.

He's worked in many places in Canada, but said he's felt the most support in Beamsville in the Niagara Region.

"Here it's different because you can go [to MFP events] every week," he said. "If there's something you need to talk about … people reach out."

Workers take on 'I can do' attitude

Plaza Comunitaria is sponsored by the National Institute for Adult Education in partnership with Mexican Foreign Relations. The project extends through the United States and Mexico. The MFP has become the first group to facilitate it in Ontario and the second in Canada, according to Rev. Antonio Illas. The other program is in Quebec, he said. 

Illas is a missionary for the MFP, which offers many services for migrant workers in the region, including health-care checkups and weekly meals at St. Alban's Anglican Church and free clothing at its Tiendita (Little Shop).

Daniel Olvera Flores, a refugee from Querétaro, Mexico, said he attends MFP gatherings mostly to learn, but also to spend time with his "countrymen."

He's also been dealing with the loneliness of being away from his country while getting used to Canadian culture, which is why he appreciates such efforts to bring the community together.

"I have seen this support very few times in the three years I have been living here in Canada, much less focused on Mexicans, so honestly, I am very happy," he said in an interview translated from Spanish.

Illas said the idea for the Plaza Comunitaria education program came from a couple of workers who faced language and education barriers in wanting to become permanent residents of Canada. 

He also shared the story of one worker whose daughter challenged him to finish his studies after he put his whole family through school, including university.

"Many workers might just want to do it for personal success and gratification," he said.

"It's one of the ways where a migrant worker can show the world, show the family that they can do it."

The initial sessions of Plaza Comunitaria, which started in late October and have been running on select Thursday nights, have served as a pilot, but workers are already responding with an "I can do it" attitude, said Illas.

Library a 'perfect environment' for learning

The curriculum is fully online. Volunteer tutors with the MFP help migrant workers with equipment and questions, and work with them on practising their English.

"It doesn't serve them any good to give them a username, a passcode, and there you are," Illas said.

The library is a "perfect environment" for learning, and there's been great success in getting workers into the space and connecting them with the Canadian community, said Illas.

"Seeing how proud they feel getting the library card or borrowing a Chromebook to be able to do online stuff [and their] enthusiasm — it's just positive feedback that I have seen from the workers," he said.

"After all, they are taxpayers like anybody else."

The last session of Plaza Comunitaria for the season runs Thursday. It then returns in March.