Fourth Friday attendees got a heartwarming and heartbreaking introduction to the harsh live of migrant worker and their families in the Salinas Valley. The film featured Jose Ansaldo, a young son of migrant workers, who loves school (especially math) and dreams of being a teacher or engineer. Unfortunately, the economic realities for his family are harsh, with frequent moves and sometimes not enough to eat. And because Jose is undocumented, his prospects for building the kind of life he would like are not promising.  But Jose is encouraged and introduced to new experiences by his third grade teacher, Oscar Ramos, also the son of migrants to dedicates himself to making a difference in the lives of Jose and other children.

Some follow-up from our conversation after the film:

You can read more about Jose Ansaldo on his Facebook page. And here is 7-minute short video update on Jose filmed this year.

Thomas Atwood spoke about the work of Fools Mission, which builds friendships with the local Latino community and accompanies members of the community as they deal with the challenges of the ‘system.’ Check out Fools Mission here. As Thomas would say, more Fools are always welcome!

Natalie Elephant mentioned ‘10 Books a Home,’ a project she’s been involved with to help preschoolers from families like Jose’s to get a better start in school. Learn more: http://www.10booksahome.org/