Read this great news in Spanish
Carolina del Norte, Raleigh- Every year about 70,000 workers help make agriculture North Carolina’s main industry. However, more than 90% of these workers have Spanish as their mother tongue and sources of information in their own language are scarce. For this reason, Enlace Latino NC launched El Jornalero, the first newsletter in Spanish for agricultural workers in the state.
The newsletter will be published weekly to provide news, resources, services, and relevant data all in Spanish; concerning the rights, well-being, and health of agricultural workers.
The Jornalero will be published every Friday between June and September in 2021, during the months with the highest incidence of agricultural work in the state. In addition, to facilitate access, it can be shared in various formats such as email, WhatsApp, text message, and social networks.
Narrowing the Information Gap
«North Carolina’s agricultural workers are the backbone of the state’s most important economic activity and, paradoxically, they are also one of the most vulnerable and marginalized sectors,» said Paola Jaramillo, co-founder and executive director of Enlace Latino NC, the Spanish-language first nonprofit news organization in North Carolina.
Indeed, farm work, including crops, food production, and forestry, contributes more than $ 70 billion annually to North Carolina’s economy and accounts for nearly 20% of the state’s income.
But the contribution of the farmworkers does not seem to be recognized. «Low wages, precarious working conditions, language barriers, and difficult access to information are some of the problems that agricultural workers face on a daily basis,»; said Walter Gómez, co-founder, and CEO of Enlace Latino NC.
In this context, journalist Nicolás Baintrub, who oversees El Jornalero said that «by publishing this weekly newsletter for agricultural workers we seek to reduce the information gap.»
Rights and Well-Being
To this end, three editions of El Jornalero have been published so far in June that covered fundamental issues for the life and well-being of agricultural workers.
In the first installment, for instance, we addressed the current vaccination status of farmworkers in North Carolina, provided information on vaccine safety and the rights of immigrants to get vaccinated, and informed about free and accessible vaccination events in rural counties.
Anticipating the start of the North Carolina hurricane season, the second installment included practical and educational tools on how to stay safe during a storm. The newsletter also included a link to Prepare NC, Enlace Latino NC’s guide to preparing for the hurricane season.
The third installment highlighted one of the silent dangers that threaten farmworkers during the summer: heatwaves.
As Gómez explained, El Jornalero «is a way to serve marginalized rural communities, with little access to reliable information about their rights and well-being.»
«The task is arduous and the work is just beginning, but we are happy to carry out such an important mission,» concluded Jaramillo.
About Enlace Latino NC
Since 2019, Enlace Latino NC publishes daily news on politics, immigration, and community affairs through its website at http://enlacelatinonc.org. It also shares information through its weekly newsletter La Tortilla, Latinos en la Pandemia, a monthly podcast, live coverage through Facebook Live @enlacelatinonc, and alerts and news distributed through social mobile platforms, among other publications.
Enlace Latino NC is based in Raleigh, NC. It covers news from across the state, with an emphasis on Eastern North Carolina and the Triangle, including Wake County, Durham and Orange.
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