Week 5 thoughts

Seeing that video really shocked me. Throughout the course, we have spent time hearing and reading about the difficult lives of migrant farmers but that clip helped me visualize what a farmer in the central valley goes through. I live in Tracy, which is about 30 minutes away from where that video was created, and often times the weather can easily reach temperatures of 100 degrees during the summer and barely reach temperatures of 70 degrees at night. What shocked me the most was the nonchalant attitude the farmers carried with them. Even though they were working strenuously for hours, suffering injuries and even deaths, and with little food and water, work was just another day for most of them, including the teenage girls.They have been involved in such work for years to the point where they have no other choice but to accept their lifestyle. Even though there are programs who attempt to help these people receive the attention they deserve, it saddens me to see that ranchers or contractors don't even provide the simplest of aid. Even though there was a law requiring shade, there were still locations that did not have such shelter. I mean, how difficult is it to simply buy or build a simple structure to provide shade that could greatly help the farmers and could have even saved some lives? How effective can the law be if it is in no way being enforced? I do agree with what we briefly discussed in class about still having hope when hearing what people like Dr. Grover are doing. I simply wish that the simple acts of providing shade and water were not being overlooked, which could even slightly improve their healths.